CHAPTER 5
PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF MENTAL RETARDATION
Chapter Outline
I. The Role of Poverty
A. The Milwaukee Project
II. Psychosocial Interventions
A. The Wild Boy of Aveyron
B. Early Intervention Research
C. Segregation and Labeling Effects
III. Cultural Considerations
IV. Summary
Key Terms
behavior genetics
compensatory interventions
cultural deprivation
cultural-familial mental retardation
Chapter Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter the student will be able to:
1. discuss the environmental correlates of mental retardation.
2. explain the relationship between poverty and mental retardation.
Suggested Activities
1. Have the students write a report describing how their own environment contributed to
intellectual advantages or disadvantages.
2. Have the class engage in a nature-nurture debate. This can be accomplished by having half
of the class argue for the role environment plays in the development of intellectual
functioning, while the other half argues for the biological aspect of intelligence.
Evaluation Questions
Multiple Choice
1. Throughout history people have argued about whether a person’s biological makeup
as opposed to a person’s environment is more responsible for shaping character. This
is known as the
A. physiological debate
B. psychosocial debate
C. environmental debate
D. nature-nurture debate
2. Dr. Majid is a researcher studying the role DNA plays in determining aggression.
Dr. Majid is most likely a
A. behavior geneticist
B. physiologist
C. psychologist
D. behavior analyst
3. The ______ movement is probably the most dramatic and tragic example of the
nature versus nurture position and its impact on individuals with intellectual disabilities.
A. sterilization
B. psychological
C. civil rights
D. Eugenics
4. Gregory is a fifteen-year-old adolescent male who lives in a low-income
neighborhood with his single mother and two siblings. He consistently scores in the
borderline range of intellectual disabilities; however, the physicians at the neighborhood
clinic have found no known physiological cause for his intellectual disability.
Gregory most likely has
A. developmental retardation
B. inherited mental retardation
C. cultural-familial mental retardation
D. metabolic mental retardation
5. _______ have attempted to argue through statistical analyses that the largest part of a
person’s intelligence, personality, interests and behavior can be traced to a biological
disposition.
A. behavior geneticist
B. biologists
C. psychologists
D. behavior analysts
6. Who studied the economically disadvantaged “Kallikak” family?
A. Jensen
B. Mercer
C. Skeels
D. Goddard
7. Homes that cannot provide the basic environmental stimulation necessary for optimal
child development and generally have low socioeconomic status are called
A. culturally deprived
B. low-income housing
C. projects
D. economically disadvantaged
8. Treatments designed to counteract the effects of poverty are called
A. at-risk interventions
B. The Milwaukee Project
C. Head Start
D. compensatory interventions
9. The most famous work on cultural deprivation in the development of mental
retardation is called
A. The Milwaukee Project
B. six-hour retarded child
C. The Chicago Project
D. the cultural deprivation project
10. The most effective compensatory intervention programs begin in
A. adolescence
B. pre-adolescence
C. preschool
D. infancy
11. The 1969 President’s Committee on Mental Retardation report defined the ______
as “children and youth who were identified as being ‘educably mentally retarded’
only during their school hours and only during their school lives.”
A. six-hour retarded child
B. feral children
C. culturally deprived
D. at-risk child
12. In the Milwaukee Project study, the information from the assessment indicated that
the children who received interventions had IQs that averaged ______ points higher
than those who did not receive interventions.
A. 50
B. 40
C. 30
D. 20
13. The landmark study which suggested that a single factor IQ should not be used to
make placement and diagnostic decisions is called
A. The Milwaukee Project
B. the “Kallikak” family
C. Who Are the Retarded?
D. Arthur Jensen’s study
14. Who is considered one of the forefathers of special education?
A. Itard
B. Skeels
C. Mercer
D. Wechsler
15. _______ skills are learned largely through social modeling.
A. social
B. adaptive
C. communication
D. cognitive
16. Sarah and Louis are twins who were raised by chimpanzees ever since they were
one year old. Since that time they have not had human contact. These children are
considered to be
A. feral children
B. cultural-familial children
C. children of Aveyron
D. none of the above
17. If one does not learn to speak in the first ______ years of life, the full ability to
speak will not develop.
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
18. What name is most associated with early intervention research?
A. Mercer
B. Itard
C. Galton
D. Skeels
19. _______ intervention is associated with improvements in motivation, basic health,
parenting skills, and future placement in integrated settings.
A. preschool
B. psychosocial
C. community
D. all of the above
20. _______ leaned heavily on the idea that achieving the label “mental retardation” was
“a destructive, self–fulfilling prophecy.”
A. Mercer
B. Jensen
C. Dunn
D. Skeels
21. The inclusion movement has its roots in the
A. civil rights movement
B. feminist movement
C. both a & b
D. none of the above
22. Skeels’ study demonstrated that children with normal IQ could become mentally
retarded, given a (n)
A. economically disadvantaged home life
B. nonstimulating environment
C. poverty stricken environment
D. all of the above
23. Advocates of full inclusion believe all children should be allowed to participate in
_______ classrooms all the time.
A. special education
B. regular
C. racially integrated
D. higher level
24. _______ sought to understand what was important for the success of people with
intellectual disabilities living in the community.
A. The Milwaukee Project
B. Who Are the Retarded?
C. Itard’s study
D. Edgerton’s Cloak of Competence
25. Who stated that African Americans scored lower than middle class whites on intelligence
tests due to hereditary factors?
A. Mercer
B. Skeels
C. Itard
D. Jensen
26. Dunn’s article was largely responsible for a movement to abolish
A Head Start
B. institutions for the intellectually disabled
C. special classes
D. housing projects
27. _______ is a world view that is limited by one’s own cultural experiences.
A. microcosm
B. sociocosm
C. ethnicity
D. ethnocentrism
28. In Edgerton’s study, people with intellectual disabilities living in the community
exhibited only one common theme: the desire to deny the presence of
A. a deprived childhood
B. a nonstimulating environment
C. mental retardation
D. mental illness
29. To be considered adaptive, a person must understand what is necessary and valuable
for life in his or her
A. environment
B. ethnic group
C. culture
D. none of the above
30. When Maria, an individual classified as having intellectual disabilities was released
from institutional care, she told people in her community she was in the hospital
because of a diagnosis of epilepsy. Maria is most similar to the individuals who
participated in
A. The Milwaukee Project
B. Who Are the Retarded?
C. Itard’s study
D. Edgerton’s Cloak of Competence
True or False
Directions: If the statement is true, simply mark True. If the statement is false, mark
False and rewrite the statement so that it is true.
1. Proper nutrition, caring interaction, a responsive language environment, and stimulating
surroundings are all required for optimal intellectual development.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. The Milwaukee Project was criticized for abandoning the study participants.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. The majority of six-hour retarded children are Hispanic and poor.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. In Skeels’ longitudinal study, it was found that children who moved to the more
stimulating environment experienced gains in IQ that ranged from 7 to 58 points.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. In the 1980s, institutions were being accused of furthering their residents’ disabilities.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron learned to communicate with spoken words.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. Edgerton and Sabagh found that for many people with mild intellectual disabilities, being
placed in a social structure with others with intellectual disabilities elicited feelings of
inferiority.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
8. According to Edgerton, majority group members are often victims of ethnocentrism.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
9. Compensatory education eliminates all intellectual disabilities and associated problems.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
10. Some children of low income, minority households may exhibit symptoms of intellectual
disabilities in school without noticeable difficulties in their home environment.
a. True
b. False
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Discussion
1. Discuss the role environment plays in intellectual disabilities.
2. Discuss the Milwaukee Project
3. Discuss the issues surrounding the six-hour retarded child.
4. Discuss the impact Itard had on research in the area of intellectual disabilities.
5. Discuss the documented strengths of early intervention programs.
6. Discuss the cultural considerations of intellectual disabilities.
7. Discuss Edgerton’s Cloak of Competence study.
Answer Sheet
Multiple Choice True or False