Mental Retardation: Causes and Effects Alan A. Baumeister
Louisiana State University Alfred A. Baumeister
Vanderbilt University The most general description of mental retardation typically is presented in terms of
an individual's failure to demonstrate skills that are age-, cultural-, and situa
tional-appropriate. Mental retardation is a problem of human development, an ex
pression of behavioral differences among people as reflected in speed and quality of
adaptation and adjustment to changing demands of environments. Although adapta
tion can take many forms in different situations, the essence of this fundamental qual
ity or attribute, for layman and professional alike, is inherent in the term commonly
known as intelligence. Despite obvious individual differences in many characteristics among people with
mental retardation, they do, both by intuition and formal definition, share one com
mon feature: diminished intelligence. Concepts of mental retardation and intelli
gence, by tradition and practice, are inextricably interwoven. An understanding of
mental retardation demands a consideration of intelligence, notwithstanding the
ageless and acrimonious debate as to the essential nature or meaning of "intelli
gence." Broadly conceived, intelligence refers to ability to solve problems regarded
as important within a cultural milieu. Because of commonly accepted defining fea
tures that incorporate cultural standards, mental retardation is as much a sociological
as a biological concept. Linkage of mental retardation to the construct of intelligence, along with myriad
other social implications concerning causes and consequences, has resulted in a his
tory throughout which the concept of mental retardation has been buffeted about in
divisive and frequently contradictory ways. Practical effects of value judgments are
enormous because they determine who is included and excluded from health and
education services and even which services are available. In fact, the concept of
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