Retarded subjects (N=79, mean age 19.9 years, mean IQ 61.9) were given a series of Piagetian tasks and interviewed to determine their degree of understanding of death. Age was not significantly related to an understanding of death of any of the measures. However, Piagetian cognitive levels were significantly related to a more realistic comprehension of death on three measures, indicating that cognitive development is related to an increasingly complex understanding of death by the mentally retarded person.

Marian Breland Bailey, a pioneer of applied animal psychology, died on September 25, 2001, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, after complications following cardiac surgery. Affectionately called "Mouse" by close friends and family, Marian's contributions to psychology and applied behavior analysis were anything but diminutive. In addition to cofounding, along with her first husband, Keller Breland, the first commercial application of operant conditioning in 1947, her research and training efforts dramatically expanded the scope of operant conditioning, demonstrating its effectiveness throughout the phylogenetic tree. Her work challenged contemporary accounts of behaviorism to recognize the importance of ethological factors in the modification of behavior. Finally, the conditioning techniques developed by Marian, first with Keller Breland and then with her second husband, Bob Bailey, helped expand the use of positive reinforcement in the care and training of animals in a variety of settings. Hers was truly an extraordinary and unconventional career.Marian Kruse was born on December 2, 1920, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At an early age, Marian learned the value of hard work, innovation, and education. After her father, Christian, died and the family lost its savings in the stock market crash of 1929, Marian's mother, Harriet, a registered nurse, developed several small businesses to support her family. Marian was an excellent student and graduated from high school as valedictorian (Paul Meehl was the salutatorian). Marian entered the University of Minnesota to major in classical languages and become a Latin teacher. In the spring of 1938, however, she was recommended for a special introductory psychology seminar offered by the young B. F. Skinner. This course led Marian to add psychology as a major and to begin a long collaboration and friendship with Skinner. While working as Skinner's laboratory assistant, she proofed the galley sheets of Skinner's The Behavior of Organisms (1938); transcribed his Psychology of Literature lectures, which later became Verbal Behavior (1957); and even was a babysitter for the Skinners' daughter Julie. During one of her undergraduate psychology courses, Marian met Keller Breland, a graduate student in psychology. After Marian graduated summa cum laude in the spring of 1941, she and Keller married on August 1, 1941.Marian began graduate school the following fall as Skinner's second graduate student. Encouraged by discussions during graduate seminars held at Skinner's home of the potential uses of operant conditioning, Marian and Keller began thinking of ways to use behavioral technology in applied settings. Their first exposure to the practical applications of behavior analysis came when Marian and Keller worked with Skinner on Project Pigeon, the wartime effort to train pigeons to guide missiles for the U.S. Navy. Although not implemented by the navy, the successful training of animals during Project Pigeon convinced the

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We assessed depression, anxiety, and relevant cognitions in persons with mental retardation by administering modified versions of the Reynolds Child Depression Scale, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, and the Cognitions Checklist to 46 persons with borderline to moderate mental retardation. Consistent with research with other groups, self-reports of depression and anxiety were highly correlated (r = .74) in these individuals, and cognitions were strong predictors of negative affect. Subscales measuring cognitions related to depression and anxiety were also highly related, limiting the "cognitive-specificity" hypothesis. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses offered mixed support for cognitive-specificity. We discuss the implications of these findings for the cognitive and affective assessment of persons with intellectual limitations.