Abstract: Two aspects in the research of mental retardation are discussed in thispaper. In one aspect, a rating scale has been developed for diagnosing theintelligent behavior of 150 mentally retarded persons who pay visits to twoclinics monthly to see if any progress has been made after taking a certainkind of medicine. In another aspect,a survey has been made in four districtsin Peking with the aim of finding out the incidence rate of mental retardationand to analyze the factors which might be its causes. The rating scale assesses the benavior in five different areas, namely,the gross motor behavior, fine movement, skills in self care, language deve-lopment and number concepts, each of which is rated in six grades, and theprogress made by the mentally retarded is designated in three levels. Such arating scale has been proved to be effective, neverthless there are many shor-tcomings which should be overcome through further practice. The mean incidence rate of mental retardation in these four districtsin Peking is 3.4‰ of the population. This poses a problem Just as seriousas that in other countries. Suggestions on remedy work of such a problemhas been outlined briefly.

Key words: NULL