This paper outlines a psychological model of acculturation intended to account for the occurrence of intergenerational/acculturational differences and its concomitant family disruption. Two acculturation scales were developed measuring self-reported behaviors and value dimensions. Four samples were used in the development and validation of the scales: (1) 265 Cuban Americans, (2) 201 white Americans, (3) 69 Cuban American high school students, and (4) 47 white American high school students. The behavioral scale provided a highly reliable and valid measure of acculturation and proved superior to the value scale in almost every respect. Behavioral and value acculturation were found to be linear functions of the amount of time a person was exposed to the host culture. The rate at which the behavioral acculturation process took place was found to be a function of the age and sex of the individual. The findings suggest that intergenerational/acculturational differences develop because younger members of the family acculturate more rapidly than older family members. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed. (Author/MK)