Twelve teachers were assigned to either an experimental (labeled as handicapped) or control (nonlabeled) preschool child. (Author)

The effects of labeling on mentally retarded individuals were studied using 80 psychology students as Ss. Ss reviewed transcripts of two bogus interviews and evaluated the interviewees--one was presented as retarded and institutionalized, one was presented as normal. Ss tended to rate the stigmatized person more favorably, a pattern termed…

Changes in labels for people with mental retardation over the years have not significantly impacted on negative attitudes toward this population. Recommended is selection of labels which are unambiguous in meaning, based on research on connotations of various labels, and based on preferences expressed by people with mental retardation and their…

This article uses a short story by Jack London to discuss the classification of individuals with mental retardation and argues that mental retardation and its various definitions are manifestations of the typological thinking that inevitably creates a simplistic and misleading aggregation of people with very diverse needs and characteristics.…

The disadvantages of the R. Heber, the World Health Organization, and the A.A.M.D. (1973) classifications of mental deficiency are discussed. (Author/CL)

The writings of six mentally retarded people in South Africa are used to illustrate issues relating to the social construction of mental retardation. It is argued that labeling people as mentally retarded may not be to their benefit and that many so labeled individuals are aware of their needs and able to express them. (Author/DB)

Investigates the effects of a label of mental retardation on professionals' perceptions about appropriate treatment for a child with a behavior disorder. (Author/RK)

Predictions were obtained from 36 regular classroom teachers on the videotaped performance of a child labeled either as gifted, normal, or educable mentally retarded. A significant interaction between label and length of exposure was indicated. (CL)

A total of 685 articles in "Mental Retardation,""American Journal of Mental Deficiency," and "American Journal on Mental Retardation" from 1980 through 1989 were examined. The mental retardation classification system developed by the American Association on Mental Retardation was used in over 50 percent of the…

Although Reuven Feuerstein's programs for culturally deprived, retarded, and autistic children have taken him 50 years to refine, this aging practitioner/philosopher/scholar looks forward to making further breakthroughs in helping "hopeless" youngsters grow and prosper. His Learning Potential Assessment Device, instead of pegging…

Investigated with 50 elementary teachers were the connotations associated by classroom teachers to the label of educable mentally retarded (EMR) and the ability of this label to influence teachers' perceptions of child performance. (Author/SBH)

Presents the edited transcripts of some of the discussions authors held over the past year with a 26-year-old man labeled mentally retarded by his family, school teachers, and others in his life. (Author/AM)