The term 'alcoholism' has been dropped from the International Classification of Diseases and replaced by the concept of the 'alcohol dependence syndrome'. Four justifications for the syndrome idea are examined. It has been claimed that (I) the syndrome's existence was supported by scientific evidence but only psychobiological alterations were truly supported by evidence; (2) dependence was not considered as all or none, but other statements contradicted this; (3) the syndrome idea had clinical usejulness but it can be argued that the concept would be superfluous within a thorough assessment and would likely confuse rather than enlighten a patient; (4) the syndrome concept synthesised research findings which contradicted the alcoholism concept, but this might inhibit further research by concentrating on impaired control' and neglecting the process ofthe development of drinking problems Since both the validity and the utility ofthe concept ofthe alcohol dependence syndrome are questionable. It IS suggested that the WHO's formal support for it was partly a political decision, and that the assertion that dependence is an illness might be an attempt to rejustify the role of medical expertise in this area. jy J y

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The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that are predictive of achievement in fast-paced mathematics classes for high abitity male and female adolescents. The predictive value of three categories of factors were explored: ability, previous experience and exposure to the content area, and individual student characteristics. These were used to predict three out comes: entry-level knowledge, learning during the program, and learning rate. Results showed. that outcomes for females were more predictable than for males. For both males and females, previous experience variables were the most important in predicting learning outcomes. For females, parental teaching and tutoring of others related to learning, whereas for males, participation in math clubs was the important previous experience variable.

One hundred and eighty adults with mental retardation who were actively using community services were assessed with the Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior (Reiss, 1988). The proportion of persons exceeding the cutoff on the 26‐item total was 49%. The proportions of persons exceeding cut‐off on the eight scales ranged from 8.4% (Avoidant Personality Disorder) to 19.4% (Aggressive Behavior). Multiple diagnoses were found in 27% of subjects. There were no associations with age but a small number of gender differences were observed.

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