Forty women (10 young university students, 10 middle-aged university students, 10 middle-aged out-of-school subjects, and 10 elderly out-of-school subjects) were asked to study and recall a randomly presented categorized word list. The women were then asked to indicate which of a group of 20 mnemonic strategies they had used to remember the word list and to rank the 20 strategies according to usefulness in the memory task. On almost all measures (number of words recalled, number of words recalled per category, number of different strategies employed, frequency of use of the various strategies, and perceived usefulness of the strategies), the two in-school groups were more similar to each other, and the two outof-school groups were more similar to each other than were the two middle-aged groups. Analyses of covariance, using years of schooling as the covariate, reduced several of the differences between the two middle-aged groups of subjects. The combined results reveal that years of schooling, as well as actually being in school, may be better predictors than age of differences in metamemory and memory performance.

Fifteen autistic individuals were involved in an investigation using fenfluramine and placebo in a double-blind crossover design. Subjects were assessed using IQ tests, the Real Life Rating Scale (RLRS), the Adaptive Behavior Scale-School Edition (ABS-SE), and videotaped play data on 8 of 12 visits, including 2 follow-up visits. Serotonin level in platelet-poor plasma was assessed on all 12 visits. Serotonin levels decreased with the administration of fenfluramine, and increased with the reinstatement of placebo. Statistical tests revealed no significant differences on the IQ scores, the RLRS, or the ABS-SE for the drug versus the placebo conditions. Videotaped data favored the subjects while on placebo. Group and individual data were analyzed over time and indicated no significant improvements due to the drug. The implications of this research make it difficult to recommend fenfluramine as a treatment for autism.

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