Whether the construct of adaptive behavior, which has been developed and operationalized in western countries, could be successfully operationalized in a non-western country, Indonesia, was studied. Focus was on delineating procedures for cross-cultural adaptation and operationalization of the construct; creating an operationalization of the construct in an Indonesian setting; and investigating the construct validity of the operationalization by comparing it to its United States counterpart. A translated and culturally adapted version of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS)--the Indonesian Adapted VABS (IVABS)--was prepared. The research project was concerned with the IVABS's capability to distinguish within and between Indonesian children with normal intelligence or mental retardation; the IVABS's capability to show age-based incremental changes in the adaptive behavior of Indonesian children that are comparable to incremental changes shown by the VABS with American students; the consistency of parents' and teachers' scores on the IVABS; patterns of relationships among IVABS scores, scores from other cognitive measures, and socioeconomic status; and the internal consistency of IVABS scores. Subjects were 43 children aged 6 to 18 years with mental retardation and a matched sample of 43 children of normal intelligence. Most behaviors judged appropriate in the western context were also appropriate in Indonesia; implications for transferring the construct to another culture are discussed. A 43-item list of references, seven tables, and four graphs are included. (SLD)