Research has documented the reciprocal effects of exceptionality and secondary psychosocial and behavioral characteristics. This in-depth handbook examines the categories of exceptionality most often described in educational, behavioral, and health practices. Leading authorities from psychology, education, and medicine evaluate the key characteristics of particular exceptionalities from the vantage point of theory, research, assessment, and intervention.

Dynamic/interactive assessment has been a long time coming It has been almost a century since Alfred Binet suggested that assessment of the processes of learn- ing should constitute a priority in the mental testing movement, and over 60 years since Andre Rey made the same suggestion. An important model that supports many contemporary approaches to "flexible" or "process" assessment was offered by Vygotsky in the 1920s. The ground breaking work by Reuven Feuerstein and his Swiss colleagues on process assessment of North African Jewish children was done in the early 1950s. In the intervening...

Clinical sociology is an action-oriented field that seeks to prevent, reduce, or resolve the seemingly overwhelming number of social problems confronting modern society. In an extensive revision of the first edition of this classic text and reference, published by Plenum in 1990, the editors have assembled a distinguished roster of contributors to address such topics as theory and practice; intervention at various levels of social organization; specific kinds of sociological practice; social problems; and the process of becoming a clinical sociologist.

Ever since the advent of the intelligence test we have thought of exceptional achievement in terms of cognitive attributes. We have words and phrases like "genius," "above average intelligence," "average" and "mentally deficient" to describe different levels of cognitive ability. In the United States widespread use of intelligence tests followed the success of the in World War I, and for the next half-century Army Alpha and Beta Tests intelligence tests were the major measures used to predict school and vocational achievement. Learning was primarily studied in laboratories, and the...

Initially, this work was designed to document and study the diversification of modern mammalian groups and was quite successful and satisfying. However, as field and laboratory work continued, there began to develop a suspicion that not all of the Eocene story was being told. It became apparent that most fossil samples, especially those from the American West, were derived from similar preservational circumstances and similar depositional settings. A program was initiated to look for other potential sources of fossil samples, either from non-traditional lithologies or from geographic areas...

In this new millenium it may be fair to ask, "Why look at Wundt?" Over the years, many authors have taken fairly detailed looks at the work and accomplishments of Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920). This was especially true of the years around 1979, the centennial of the Leipzig Institute for Experimental Psychology, the birthplace of the "graduate program" in psychology. More than twenty years have passed since then, and in the intervening time those centennial studies have attracted the attention and have motivated the efforts of a variety of historians, philosophers, psychologists, and other social...

Nurture or nature? Biology or environment? Why are some people intelligent, or personable, or creative and others obtuse, or shy, or unimaginative? Although each human being is a unique mixture of positive and negative traits and behaviors, the question remains: What is the neurobiological basis for each individual s makeup? For example, why does one person suffer from a disorder (e.g., ADHD, autism, mental retardation) and another lives free of maladies?

These are just some of the issues addressed in detail in Neurobiology of Exceptionality. The introductory...