Consolidating 40 years of Zigler's research with work of other researchers, this provides a single resource for researchers and professionals in the field of mental retardation. The overview of the theory, research, and practical considerations has relevance in identifying, educating and integrating mentally retarded individuals into society.

Part I: 1. The individual with mental retardation as a whole person Edward Zigler; 2. Intrinsic motivation and motivational self-system processes in persons with mental retardation: a theory of motivational orientation Harvey N. Switzky; 3. Cognitive performance and learned helplessness in mentally retarded persons John R. Weisz; 4. Developmental and experiential variables in the self-images of people with mild mental retardation Marion Glick; Part II: 5. Motivation for social reinforcement: positive and negative reaction tendency Dianne Bennett-Gates and Edward Zigler; 6. Expectancy of success in individuals with mental retardation Dianne Bennett-Gates and Shulamith Kreitler; 7. The effectance motivation and the performance of individuals with mental retardation Dianne Bennett-Gates; 8. Outerdirectedness Jane Bybee and Edward Zigler; 9. Assessing personality traits of individuals with mental retardation Edward Zigler, Dianne Bennett-Gates and Robert M. Hodapp; Part III: 10. Parenting, etiology, and personality-motivational functioning in children with mental retardation Robert M. Hodapp and Deborah J. Fidler; 11. Personality-motivation: new ties to Psychopathology, etiology, and intervention Elisabeth M. Dykens.