The ultimate goal of the proposed project is an adequate theory of adaptive behavior in retarded persons. Such a theory must deal with the origins, the dimensional structure, and the growth and life-span development of adaptive behaviors. In addition to long- needed conceptual contributions to a theory of adaptive behavior, we will undertake several types of empirical investigations, the results from which will place constraints on the form that an acceptable theory of adaptive behavior may take. In one study, we will analyze longitudinal data on adaptive behavior from the population of retarded persons receiving services from the State of California (total N = 70,000, of whom over 45,000 will have been measured for up to seven consecutive years). The longitudinal sample will be randomly divided into two samples. Moment structure models of several types--longitudinal factor, first-order autoregressive, and newly developed growth curve models--will then be fit to the data. All results will be subjected to double cross-validation, consistent with contemporary suggestions regarding covariance and moment structure modeling. Analyses will be performed to determine the interactive influences between placement and adaptive and maladaptive behavior. Furthermore, comparison of longitudinal with nonlongitudinal samples will allow a determination of the representativeness of the longitudinal samples. In a second, in- depth study, a sample of 130 young retarded persons (aged 6-16 years during the first year of the study) attending TMR schools and developmental centers will be studied over a 3-year period. Home observation and parent and teacher surveys regarding caregiving practices will be related to change in adaptive and maladaptive behavior. The former study will allow rather definitive conclusions regarding the form of life-span curves for dimensions of adaptive behavior; the latter study will allow for an investigation of hypothesized influences on the development of adaptive behavior as well as meaningful interpretation of adaptive behavior scores at the individual level.
