Ayodhya and the Hindu resurgence

It is usually accepted that although cosmological references in the early Pali Buddhist texts refer metaphorically to meditative states of mind, they should at the same time be understood as referring in literal terms to an externally existent cosmos. Because the ontological status of the cosmos appears to be tangential to what the Buddha taught, however, it is not clear that this literal interpretation is appropriate. From a study of the early textual material, this paper suggests that an alternative understanding of the cosmos is more compatible with the Buddha's teachings.     

Personal Construct System of a Runaway Adolescent: An Illustrative Case Study

Personal constructs of an 18-year-old adolescent were explored by the use of a repertory grid focusing on the domains of family, self, and world. Results indicated that the runaway adolescent construed his family in a negative and rejecting way, whereas important people outside the family were perceived in a more accepting and friendly manner. It was also found that although the young man construed himself in a positive manner, at the same time he perceived himself as aloof and distant from both family and nonfamily members. The findings indicate that a young adolescent's decision to run away from home and jump into the world of the unknown is the consequence of certain push factors in the home environment and pull factors in the external world. Results of the grid are discussed in light of key elements in construct space.     

Young people's topography of musical functions: Personal, social and cultural experiences with music across genders and six societies

How can we understand the uses of music in daily life? Music is a universal phenomenon but with significant interindividual and cultural variability. Listeners’ gender and cultural background may influence how and why music is used in daily life. This paper reports the first investigation of a holistic framework and a new measure of music functions (RESPECT‐music) across genders and six diverse cultural samples (students from Germany, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, and Turkey). Two dimensions underlie the mental representation of music functions. First, music can be used for contemplation or affective functions. Second, music can serve intrapersonal, social, and sociocultural functions. Results reveal that gender differences occur for affective functions, indicating that female listeners use music more for affective functions, i.e., emotional expression, dancing, and cultural identity. Country differences are moderate for social functions (values, social bonding, dancing) and strongest for sociocultural function (cultural identity, family bonding, political attitudes). Cultural values, such as individualism–collectivism and secularism–traditionalism, can help explain cross‐cultural differences in the uses of music. Listeners from more collectivistic cultures use music more frequently for expressing values and cultural identity. Listeners from more secular and individualistic cultures like to dance more. Listeners from more traditional cultures use music more for expressing values and cultural identity, and they bond more frequently with their families over music. The two dimensions of musical functions seem systematically underpinned by listeners’ gender and cultural background. We discuss the uses of music as behavioral expressions of affective and contemplative as well as personal, social, and sociocultural aspects in terms of affect proneness and cultural values.     

Credibility of Asylum Claims: Consistency and Accuracy of Autobiographical Memory Reports Following Trauma

Herlihy and colleagues (current issue) review the literature on the characteristics of autobiographical memory in asylum seekers who are presenting evidence of their traumatic experiences in the immigration courts with a view to finding a safe haven. In this commentary, I briefly discuss how the quality of the memory report may influence reliability and credibility judgements in individuals whose memories may be subject to post‐traumatic stress disorder. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Delay and Age Effects on Identification Accuracy and Confidence: An Investigation Using a Video Identification Parade

A total of 236 children (7–8‐year‐olds and 13–14‐year‐olds) attempted identification from either target‐present (TP) or target‐absent (TA) video parades, after either two days or two weeks, following exposure to a live target. It was found that with TP line‐ups, the most frequent response was a correct identification, but in the TA condition, the most frequent response was a false identification. Under both TP and TA conditions, the 3‐way interaction of delay, age and response was significant. Further analysis revealed that delay was the major contributor of variance, causing an increase in errors for both age groups in TP delayed line‐ups but only for the younger age group in TA delayed line‐ups. Confidence varied as a function of type of identification response made, with the highest confidence being given to a correct identification in a TP line‐up. However, response confidence entered into a number of interactions involving both delay and age. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Headscarf Effect: Direct Evidence from the Eyewitness Identification Paradigm

Internal and external features dominate familiar and unfamiliar face recognition, respectively. However, this finding is not universal; Egyptians showed a robust internal‐feature advantage for processing unfamiliar faces (Megreya & Bindemann, 2009). This bias was speculatively attributed to their long‐term experiences for individuating female faces with headscarves, which completely cover the external features. Here, we provided an empirical test for this suggestion. Participants from Egypt and UK were presented with a staged crime, which was committed by an own‐race woman with or without a headscarf. All participants were then asked to identify the culprit from a line‐up involving 10 faces with or without headscarves. British participants showed an advantage when the culprit left her hair uncovered. In contrast, Egyptian observers showed an advantage when the culprit wore a headscarf. This Egyptian headscarf effect was also replicated using British faces, suggesting that it reflects a specific characteristic of participant nationality rather than face nationality. These results therefore provide evidence for how culture influences cognition. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards understanding the effects of interviewer training in evaluating the cognitive interview

The effectiveness of the cognitive interview (CI) technique has been demonstrated in experimental studies of eyewitness memory conducted in the USA, Germany, and the UK. Much of the research, however, has used college students as interviewers rather than professionals who regularly interview witnesses (e.g. police officers). The aim of this research was to examine the effects of such CI training using experienced police officers with established interviewing styles. An armed robbery was staged and information was elicited in witness interviews. The CI did not significantly increase correct recall but tended to produce more suppositions and errors. A qualitative analysis of interviewer behaviour showed that many officers had difficulty in applying the new cognitive techniques and in avoiding the use of closed and leading questions. The paper addresses two issues: first, that of training experienced police officers who have received relatively little prior training in investigative interviewing, and second, the extent to which we can generalize from the laboratory data elicited in previous studies of CI.     

Student mental health: how can psychiatrists better support the work of university medical centres and university counselling services?

Student psychiatric morbidity is rising. Whilst the influence of university counselling services is widely reported, NHS involvement by psychiatrists and general practitioners is not so well described. Counselling and mental health service providers for students at the University of Leeds were approached for numerical data and a university Group on Student Mental Health discussed the findings. The Student Counselling Centre, the University Medical Practice and a dedicated student psychiatric clinic have all seen a rise in referral rates. The University Medical Practice has also seen a rise in the prescribing of psychoactive medication. Collaborative links at the University of Leeds are explored and options for the future discussed. These include self-help over the internet, a research project to assess student mental health needs and the provision of a dedicated NHS psychiatric team for the university.