Mental retardation's two cultures of behavioral research.

People with mental retardation are generally classified by either level of retardation (usually by psychologists and special educators) or etiology (usually by geneticists and psychiatric researchers). We have surveyed nine journals from 1985-1990 to identify use of these two distinct research approaches, or cultures. After providing brief vignettes to delineate the separateness of the two cultures, we documented the varied effects that genetic etiology may have on behavior. The problems and issues inherent in reconciling these two research cultures were also emphasized, including variability within etiological groups, etiologic specificity versus nonspecificity, and service delivery implications. Several points of reconciliation between the two research cultures were offered, with the goal being better integrated approaches to the study of behavior in mental retardation.