What is the impact of the family environment on us, particularly with regard to our intellectual functioning? Does the role of early family environment wear off, as some researchers have suggested, or does it maintain or possibly even become more important as we grow older? This book examines the interrelationship between family environment and intellectual functioning in a lifespan perspective. Covering a wide range of topics, it provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date examination of life-span family influences on various aspects of intellectual function.

For cognitive, development/lifespan, and educational psychologists, and scholars studying the family and its influences, this volume will help:

*students learn about family effects;

*researchers update themselves in this active area of investigation;

*therapists understand problems in intellectual functioning in their clients and in treating these clients successfully; and

*educators gain a better grasp on how the students they teach are products not only of their genes and environments, in general, but of their family environments, in particular.