Obtaining guilty knowledge in human intelligence interrogations: Comparing accusatorial and information-gathering approaches with a novel experimental paradigm

Substantial research has assessed interrogations seeking to obtain a criminal confession, and consequently much has been learned regarding the potential problems with confession evidence. However, an increasing focus on counter-terrorism, and therefore intelligence interrogations, reveals an obvious gap in the literature. Intelligence interrogations are primarily focused on collecting information from individuals as opposed to a confession linked to an alleged event, and little of the extant psychological literature can speak directly to such a scenario. The current research developed an experimental paradigm to test interrogation approaches in an intelligence-gathering context, providing a method for gathering empirical data on human intelligence collection. In the first implementation of this paradigm, accusatorial and information-gathering interrogation strategies were tested using a procedure high in psychological realism. Results indicate that an information-gathering approach yields more relevant information than an accusatorial approach and leads to more diagnostic impressions by third party observers.     

The effect of failure and frustration on reflective and impulsive children

Failure was hypothesized to be an antecedent of a reflective style of responding and frustration an antecedent of an impulsive style. Failure and frustration were manipulated with an anagrams task and their effect on latency and errors on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) was assessed. The Failure group increased its latency on the MFF, replicating Messer's (1970) research, while the Frustration group showed a nonsignificant decrease in latency. There was a relation between an increase in latency and a decrease in errors on the MFF. The findings were related to research on the “frustration effect” in children and were interpreted as suggesting the need for research on the effects of the amount and patterning of failure on reflection-impulsivity.     

Social Class,Merit and Equality of Opportunity in Education

The paper offers to substantiate a claim about the so-called Meritocratic Conception of how educational opportunities ought to be distributed. Such a conception holds an individual’s prospects for educational achievement may be a function of that individual’s talent or effort levels but should not be influenced by their social class background. The paper highlights the internal tension in the Meritocratic Conception between on the one hand a prohibition on the influence of social class on educational opportunities and on the other a permission to allow unequal educational opportunities on the basis of talent and effort. This tension obtains because individuals’ talent and effort are themselves subject to influence by social class. The paper makes a positive case for an interpretation of the Meritocratic Conception that resolves this tension in favour of an egalitarian version, such that social class represents an objectionable determinant of unequal educational prospects even when its influence is mediated through the cultivation of talent and effort. This argument is further supported through an explanation that the character of social class as a systemic social source of the structure of individuals’ opportunities makes it an objectionable influence on educational opportunities.     

The progressive heritage of guidance: a view from the left

As one part of a larger progressive movement, the guidance and counseling movement has typically supported progressive programs in the schools and in society as a whole. While most counselors point with pride to such a progressive heritage, a case can be made that the effect of progressivism is to prop up existing structures and resist fundamental change in societal institutions. In this article the author discusses four ideals that are commonly held by the progressive and the counseling movements, pointing out some of the destructive effects these ideals have on societal change efforts. The four ideals discussed are: (a) an emphasis on access to opportunity (pluralism), (b) an emphasis on pragmatism, (c) an emphasis on adjustment, and (d) an emphasis on individualism.     

Vigilance and the reinforcing properties of shock

There have been some observations to indicate that waiting for a shock is stressful, that the coining of an anticipated shock can serve as a tension reliever, and that failure to obtain an anticipated shock is more stressful than being shocked. Based on these observations, the following hypotheses were tested. If it is true that failure to receive shock is more stressful than the shock itself, it should be possible to train an animal to bring on a shock that had failed to come when anticipated. If a period of anticipating shock is stressful, and shock serves as a reliever of the stress, it should be possible to train an animal to perform a response instrumental to bringing on the shock sooner. Results indicated that shock does seem to serve as a reliever, that waiting for shock is stressful, but that failure to receive an anticipated shock under these circumstances is not more stressful than the shock itself. In addition, it was found that subjects learned to produce shock instrumentally if the shock was inevitable and could thus be brought about sooner. Results were inconclusive, though generally negative, on the issue of whether S’s would produce an avoidable shock that had failed to come when anticipated.     

The Ethical Perspective: An Identity Theory of the Psychological Influences on Moral Choice

The 2008 Presidential Address presents the theory of ethical perspective, an identity theory of moral psychology designed to detect the psychological influences on moral choice. Part 1 treats findings on altruism and genocide as an analytical lens through which we can gain insight into political and moral behavior. Part 2 describes moral psychology as a field, presenting a new and broader conceptualization for the discipline. Part 3 outlines an identity theory of moral choice that focuses on the critical role of the ethical perspective, to suggest how an empirically based theory of moral choice looks in practice. Part 4 concentrates on the basic assumptions underlying the theory of ethical perspective. It presents empirical evidence that supports this theoretical framework, from fields as diverse as neuroscience and primatology to child development and linguistics, thus demonstrating political psychology's important links to other disciplines. In addition to presenting a new theory of moral psychology, designed to fill an important gap in the literature on ethics and moral choice, the Address treats studies of altruism and genocide as an illustration of research that reveals broader insight into the nature of political psychology as a discipline.     

An Aiibi Witness' Influence on Mock Jurors' Verdicts1

The impact of alibi testimony on juror decision making is not yet clear because it has been examined empirically infrequently. This study was designed to determine the impact of alibi witness' testimony, the impact of an alibi witness with a relationship in comparison to one without a relationship to the defendant, and the impact of an eyewitness' confidence on juror decision making. Results indicated that mock jurors acquit a defendant more often when an alibi witness with no relationship to the defendant testified on his behalf. Participants did not believe an alibi witness who had a relationship with the defendant even though the witness was not a family member. Implications for these results are discussed.     

Utilization of a cognitive task analysis for integrated project delivery application: Case study of constructing a campus underground parking facility

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) has the potential to overcome inefficiencies of traditional delivery methods by enhancing collaboration among project participants, and is therefore gaining popularity in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. For owners considering an IPD approach and are incapable or unprepared to pursue a “pure” IPD project, an IPD-ish approach could be an alternative option. IPD mode is featured by implementing a range of fundamental principles. However, investigations on application of IPD-ish principles to actual construction projects are highly limited. This research mainly focused on a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) of the application of IPD principles to the design and construction of an IPD-ish project, and presenting a case study on an underground campus-parking facility. A case study for CTA was designed in this study: a project progress map was developed, wherein seven project phases were defined; by analyzing the project goals and technical measures in each project phase, six key IPD elements was summarized, and a few specific work measures for addressing these elements were discussed. For owners or participants intending to plan an IPD-ish project, the results of the study provide a few references on the selection and application of IPD principles in each project phase.     

Imprisoned by the past: unhappy moods lead to a retrospective bias to mind wandering

Evidence suggests that mind wandering is a frequent accompaniment to an unhappy mood. Building on such work, two laboratory experiments used mood induction to assess whether the greater frequency of mind wandering in a low mood is also accompanied by a shift towards a focus on events from the past. Experiment 1 induced moods via video and induction of an unhappy mood was associated with a greater tendency for past-related mind wandering as measured by a post-task questionnaire. In Experiment 2, negative and positive moods were induced in a group of participants using the Velten mood-induction procedure and the temporal focus of mind wandering was measured using experience sampling probes. Analyses indicated that induction of an unhappy mood led to an increase in past-related mind wandering and the magnitude of this change increased with scores on a measure of depressive symptoms. Together these experiments suggest that when the mind wanders in an unhappy mood it is drawn to events from its past.     

An event in medical life,or the advent of a belief?

Freud's ambivalent relations with medicine are well known. Based on his relatively unknown text, A religious experience, published in 1928, the authors present an analysis of the internal reasons for this conflict. Responding to a letter from an American doctor, who tells him about his reactions to an autopsy and the influence it had on his religious faith, Freud suggests an analysis that leads him to make a surprising slip. This slip reveals the conflicts inherent in the practice of autopsy, considered as a peculiar event in medical training that puts a strain on the future medical practitioner's subjectivity. Based on the analysis of unconscious impulses and fantasmatic activity, the authors demonstrate that Freud's theory is still surprisingly relevant today in the light of testimonies from contemporary doctors confronted with autopsy during their training or daily practice.     

Relation of useful field of view and other screening tests to on-road driving performance

The purpose of this study was to examine the value of a clinical driving assessment battery in predicting performance on an on-road driving test. 43 participants referred to the Bryn Mawr Rehab Adapted Driving Program for evaluation of driving ability underwent an evaluation consisting of a predriver screening and an on road driving test. The predriver screening included a vision screening, a reaction rime task, a split-attention task, the Hooper Visual Organization Test, verbal and symbolic sign recognition, and assessment of Useful Field of View. Logistic regression analyses were applied to identify which predriver screening variables could be used to predict outcome on the on road driving test (pass/fail); UFOV was that best single predictor. The addition of screening tests beyond UFOV alone did not increase predictive validity. These findings suggest that UFOV may serve as an indicator of the need for further driving assessment.     

The development of stimulus control with and without a lighted key

In two experiments, the effect of an illuminated response key on the acquisition of stimulus control by an airflow stimulus was assessed. In the first experiment, pigeons were given nondifferential training with airflow emerging from behind the response key in one of three conditions of illumination: trained to peck a lighted key, trained to peck an unlighted key with a houselight present, trained to peck a key in total darkness. After 10 days of training on a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement, all subjects were given a generalization test on airflow velocity. The gradients for subjects trained in the dark were sharp, while those for subjects trained in lighted conditions were shallow. In the second experiment, the effect of an irrelevant keylight on the acquisition of an airflow velocity discrimination was assessed. Two groups of pigeons were trained to discriminate two airflow velocities. One group was trained with a lighted response key and the other was trained to peck the response key in total darkness. The dark-trained subjects acquired the discrimination more rapidly. The results demonstrate that the acquisition of stimulus control by airflow with either a differential or nondifferential training procedure can be overshadowed by keylight.     

THE QUR'AN,SCIENCE, AND THE (RELATED) CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM DISCOURSE

We discuss the special place of the Qur'an in the Muslim discourse in general and on science in particular. The Qur'an has an unparalleled influence on the Muslim mind, and understanding the Islamic treatise on science and religion must start from this realization. We explore the concept of science in the Islamic culture and to what extent it can be related to the Qur'an. Reviewing various Islamic discourses on science, we show how a simplistic understanding of the plan to adopt modern science within an Islamic revival program has been corrupted in the form of the theory of “scientific miraculousness of the Qur'an.” We assess and dismiss this theory but use it to show how a serious misunderstanding of the nature of modern science and a narrow view of the Qur'an has led to that embarrassingly popular yet misguided theory. We conclude by promoting a multiplicity of readings of the Qur'an and show that this allows for an enlightenment of one's interpretation of Qur'anic verses, using various tools at one's disposal, including scientific knowledge. We uphold Averroes's principle of “no possible conflict,” which can be used to persuade the Muslim public of a given idea not by proving that it can be found in the Qur'an but rather by showing that at least some readings of it are fully consistent with the given scientific theory.     

Imprisoned by the past: Unhappy moods lead to a retrospective bias to mind wandering

Evidence suggests that mind wandering is a frequent accompaniment to an unhappy mood. Building on such work, two laboratory experiments used mood induction to assess whether the greater frequency of mind wandering in a low mood is also accompanied by a shift towards a focus on events from the past. Experiment 1 induced moods via video and induction of an unhappy mood was associated with a greater tendency for past-related mind wandering as measured by a post-task questionnaire. In Experiment 2, negative and positive moods were induced in a group of participants using the Velten mood-induction procedure and the temporal focus of mind wandering was measured using experience sampling probes. Analyses indicated that induction of an unhappy mood led to an increase in past-related mind wandering and the magnitude of this change increased with scores on a measure of depressive symptoms. Together these experiments suggest that when the mind wanders in an unhappy mood it is drawn to events from its past.     

Can implementation intentions help to overcome ego-depletion?

Research on ego-depletion suggests that the ability to self-regulate one’s behavior is limited: Exerting self-control on an initial task reduces performance on a subsequent task that also requires self-control. Two experiments tested whether forming implementation intentions could prevent ego-depletion and/or offset the effects of ego-depletion. Experiment 1 found that participants who formed implementation intentions during an initial ego-depleting task subsequently showed greater persistence on an unsolvable puzzles task compared to participants who did not form implementation intentions. Experiment 2 found that among participants who had been ego-depleted during an initial task, forming implementation intentions improved subsequent performance on a Stroop task to the level exhibited by non-depleted controls. Thus, implementation intentions help to enhance people’s ability to self-regulate their behavior.     

Competitive equilibrium with intuitionistic agents

This paper studies an economy whose agents perceive their consumption possibilities subjectively, and whose preferences are defined on what they subjectively experience, rather than on those alternatives that are objectively present. The model of agents’ perceptions is based on intuitionistic logic. Roughly, this means that agents reason constructively: a solution to a problem exists only if there is a construction by which the problem can be solved. The theorems that can be proved determine how an agent perceives a set of alternatives. A dual model relates perceived alternatives to a shared language, which the agents use in trading. So perceptions relate objective alternatives to an agent’s subjective view of them, and reporting dually relates an agent’s subjective world to a shared language. It turns out that an appropriately modified notion of competitive equilibrium always exists. However, in contrast with standard results in economic theory, competitive equilibrium need not be efficient.     

Reflections on a developing body of group-as-a-whole theory for children's therapy groups: an introduction.

This essay serves as an introduction to a collection of articles on group psychotherapy for children that appears in the following pages. These articles are an outgrowth of a symposium on children's group treatments presented at the 1990 Annual Conference of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. The present author provides a general overview of relevant literature and offers an orientation to the subsequent theoretical and practical integrations.     

Preventing Smoking Behavior in School Children: An Initial Test of a Cognitive-Development Program1

A three-session smoking prevention program based on a cognitive-developmental stage model was developed and pilot-tested with 315 sixth through eighth grade students in an urban public school. A media component focusing on experiences associated with different stages of smoking was followed by a structural discussion that linked cognition about symptoms with skills to resist influences to smoke. The control group viewed three commonly used smoking prevention films, made written comments on the films, and participated in an unstructured discussion. Students exposed to the experimental program showed superior gains in accurate interpretations of symptoms, adaptation to symptoms, and addiction. Significantly fewer students exposed to the experimental program made the transition from a first try to occasional or regular smoking at an 18 month follow-up. Change in understanding of symptoms mediated treatment effects. Obtaining these results with only a three-session program, using an active treatment control, a within school design, and an urban, racially balanced population, supports the inclusion of a cognitive-developmental component in smoking prevention.     

Dissidence from within: Examining the effects of intergroup context on group members’ reactions to attitudinal opposition

The successful achievement of a group’s goals often requires a broad base of support among members. Because group and individual interests can diverge, however, dissension is likely. We argued that reactions to such dissension on an issue that is relevant to the group’s status can vary as a function of contextual goals. Whereas dissension from an ingroup member would be rejected in an intergroup context, it might be tolerated in an intragroup context. Regression analyses of women’s (N=96) responses to dissension on an attitudinal issue (abortion on demand) indicated that in an intergroup context, women derogated a dissenting woman more if they had a strong gender identity and viewed the issue as gender relevant. Dissent in an intragroup context was evaluated more positively. The results provided insight into the factors involved in defining a collective identity.