This paper critically examines the portions of Arthur Jensen's books, "Genetics and Education" and "Educability and Group Differences," that concern Barbara Burks' 1928 study of adoptive families. Jensen cites the low correlations of children's IQs with measures of home environment from Burks' study as evidence that environment…

Siblings are far more likely to be different than alike in personality and psychopathology. Different genes and different environmental experiences can account for why one sibling becomes mentally ill and another is not affected. Environmental experiences play a much greater role in sibling differentiation than has been previously recognized.…

Discusses research concerns of the 1960s, including the heredity v environment controversy and compensatory strategies. Reviews the response to these concerns, particularly the focuses on child advocacy and ethnic issues, which have dominated research in the 1970s. Outlines an integrated (social, developmental, and applied) approach for the…

Hypothesizes regarding factors that enhance prosociality in children, implying that the quality of childrearing and early companionship have profound impact on toddlers' social behavior. Discusses observation space versus companion space, prosocial behavior across cultures, when toddlers abuse, and the implications of a circular reenactment of…

Maintains that even a cursory reading of "The Bell Curve" reveals a skewed methodology that deliberately ignores relevant data. Includes statistical tables illustrating the relationship between environmental factors and test scores. Contends that the basic purpose of "The Bell Curve" is to justify economic racism. (MJP)

Shows how two approaches, nurture (subject-matter centered) and nature (child-centered), have affected education and art education over the years. Concludes that whichever approach is fashionable, art education must be relevant to students' lives and they should be able to talk intelligently about art. (KM)

Reviews books comprised of papers or chapters written by various authors. The books are (1) "Directors of Development: Influences on the Development of Children's Thinking"; (2) "Best Methods for the Analysis of Change: Recent Advances, Unanswered Questions"; (3) "Family Transitions"; (4) "Parent-Child Relations…

Among the issues discussed are the following: whether education is the great equalizer or the great slave, equality of opportunity and equality of results, conservative, liberal, and redemptive conceptions of educational equality, the heredity-environment issue, the causes of educational inequality, incompatibilities and dilemmas of equalization,…

Breaking with conventional wisdom, this book integrates a wealth of perspectives and research-- biological, sociocultural, developmental--to explore the nature and extent of gender differences in emotional expression and the question of how such differences come about. In the book, nurture rather than nature emerges as the stronger force in…

Under the guise of helping girls, many schools have adopted policies that penalize boys, often for simply being masculine. Arguing that boys need help catching up with girls academically, and need love, discipline, respect, and moral guidance, but do not need to be rescued from their masculinity, this book scrutinizes studies and feminist doctrine…

This book provides practical help for parents to enhance their toddler's growth and development. Chapter 1, "The Importance of Being Two," explains why toddlerhood is the best time for providing an emotional foundation. Chapter 2, "The Young Child's Brain and Mind," discusses how recent findings on brain development have…

The Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development reviewed an extensive, multi-disciplinary, and complex body of research covering the period from before birth to entry into Kindergarten to generate an integrated science of early childhood development and the role of early experiences. The result of the committee's review,…

Criticizes Charles Murray's "The Bell Curve" and attempts a more cogent analysis of the respective roles of blacks and the U.S. political economy. Utilizes a sociology of knowledge framework to discuss the evolving nature of blacks in the nation's workforce. Briefly discusses eugenics and the history of racist social theories. (MJP)

Discussed is the continual depletion of the world's natural resources and the plea of conservationists. An examination of the dialectic nature/nurture controversy is used to see whether this may account for the state of disharmony recorded between man and nature. (KR)

The National Multicultural Seminar on Mental Retardation among Minority Disadvantaged Populations was initiated in response to concern about the root causes of mental retardation especially in mild forms which tend to be more prevalent and more devastating among persons living in depressed, disrupted, and impoverished environments. Nineteen papers…