The effects of prior expectations and outcome knowledge on polygraph examiners' decisions

The present study deals with the question of whether judgments made by experts working in familiar contexts are affected by prior expectations and beliefs. Two experiments in which prior expectations were manipulated were designed to determine whether and to what extent polygraph examiners are affected by their prior expectations when analyzing and interpreting polygraph charts. Prior expectations affected the examiners' judgments when the polygraph charts did not include clear indications of guilt or innocence, but when the objective physiological evidence included strong indications which clearly contradicted the examiner's expectations, judgments were not affected by these expectations. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Anticipation of ball location in low and high-skill performers: a developmental perspective

Objectives: To study how visual anticipatory capabilities develop in high and low-skill tennis players and the role of years of practice (i.e. experience). It was expected that with accumulated experience differences will increase with skill-level, in particular under conditions of fast visual exposure which results in minimal environmental information exposure.Method: Eighty tennis players divided into 4 age categories and 2 skill levels (high and low) were selected according to 4 criterion which ensured appropriate representation of skill-level and experience in tennis. Age categories were 8–11, 11–14, 14–18, and >18. Years of experience in the game were 2.12, 4.17, 6.5, and 12.4 years respectively. Players observed filmed segments of tennis strokes on a monitor, which varied in temporal occlusion conditions from −480 ms prior to ball-racquet contact to 320 ms after contact. After each exposure they were asked to indicate the final ball location. The radial, lateral, and depth distances were averaged for age and skill level.Design: A temporal occlusion paradigm was used in this study. The film was prepared with a camera positioned in the receiver's court. Eight strokes which best represent the game of tennis were chosen. Forty-eight segments were viewed and errors were calculated for each exposure.Result: High-skill tennis players gained more from practice and experience in developing visual anticipatory skills, but their perceptual advantage was not consistent across all stroke conditions, being at its greatest number in conditions of maximal temporal constraints.Conclusions: Differences in visual anticipatory capabilities exist between different skill levels at the outset of their development. These differences increase with experience, mainly after 6–7 years. Greater knowledge base does not always guarantee a superior anticipation of upcoming events and choosing the best decision.     

Progress toward discovery of susceptibility genes for bipolar manic-depressive illness and schizophrenia

The inconsistency in linkage results that has bedeviled psychiatric genetics has been observed to occur regularly in common diseases with complex inheritance. Nonetheless, in two such instances--noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)--susceptibility genes have been discovered based on the follow-ups of linkage findings. In bipolar illness disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia (SZ), there are some linkage reports with replication of other studies similar to the situation in NIDDM and IBD before the successful positional cloning efforts. Two of the regions with linkage reports, BPD and SZ, on the long arms of chromosomes 13 and 22, show linkage to the same markers in both diseases. This lends some plausibility to the hypothesis of some shared genetic predispositions for both disorders. Cytogenetic evidence offers another positional approach to susceptibility genes. The velocardiofacial syndrome is associated with deletions very close to the linkage region on chromosome 22, and with psychiatric manifestations of both BPD and SZ. Endophenotypes of SZ, previously demonstrated to the be heritable, have been found to have chromosomal linkage in at least one study. These include eye-tracking abnormalities linked to 6p, and an abnormality of the P50 cortical evoked potential linked to chromosome 15. Variants in specific genes have been associated with susceptibility to the psychiatric illnesses. These genetic findings may contribute to etiologic subcategorization of BPD and SZ, and the development of new treatment approaches. A table of genetic terms is included for review     

An Outcome- and Process-Oriented Examination of a Golf-Specific Secondary Task Strategy to Prevent Choking Under Pressure

The present study examined a new golf-specific secondary task to prevent choking under pressure during golf putting. The study examined skilled (n = 20) and novice (n = 24) golfers on a putting task under high- and low-pressure, while carrying out either a golf-specific or an irrelevant letter generation secondary task to prevent skill-focused attention. Results revealed that both secondary tasks prevented choking under pressure in skilled golfers, but not in novices. Additionally, skilled participants displayed increased movement variability associated with improved performance during secondary task performance. These findings provide support for the viability of the new secondary task technique.     

The Effect of Attention Allocation Instructions on Self-paced Task Performance under Quiet and Distracted Conditions

This study examined the effectiveness of external and internal focusing attention instructions on the performance of three throwing tasks under both quiet and distracted conditions. The main finding was that during acquisition, the external focus of attention led to improved performance when compared to internal focus of attention and control, but only under quiet conditions. It was also found that during auditory and visual distraction conditions, both types of focus attention produced similar levels of performance, and both groups were superior to the control condition. It is suggested that sport psychology consultants provide their athletes with external focusing attention instructions.     

Event-sequence Analysis of Appraisals and Coping during Trapshooting Performance

This study describes appraisal and coping patterns of Portuguese trapshooters during competition, via post-performance retrospective verbal reports. Probabilities that an event (e.g., missed target) is followed by another event (e.g., negative appraisal) were calculated and state transitional diagrams were drawn. Event-sequences during critical and non-critical performance periods were compared. Negative appraisals were most likely before and after missed targets and hits with the second shot. Positive appraisals were most likely before problem-focused coping and after emotion-focused coping. These findings support the process view of coping by illustrating that athletes cope with a variety of situations via a complex set of appraisals.     

Trial by polygraph: Scientific and juridical issues in lie detection

The present article examines two methods of polygraph-assisted lie detection: the Control Question Technique (CQT) and the Guilty Knowledge Technique (GKT). It presents the rationale for both, arguing that only the latter is well grounded in psychological theory. It then surveys the empirical support for claims of the polygraph's ability to detect deception, arguing that such support often comes from studies that are methodologically flawed by contamination of various sorts—especially studies of the CQT. The article then explores the legal implications of introducing polygraph test results, as presently gathered, into the criminal courtroom.     

Behavioral and physiological measures in the detection of concealed information

The authors examined the incremental validity of the reaction time (RT) measure beyond that of skin conductance response (SCR) in the detection of concealed information. Participants performed a Stroop-like task in which they named the color of critical and neutral words. Results show that the SCR highly differentiated between the relevant and neutral words. However, the RT demonstrated a significant differentiation only when the critical words denoted personally significant items (e.g., one's own name) and not when they denoted crime-relevant items related to a simulated crime. In both cases, combining the 2 measures yielded no advantage over the use of SCR alone. Thus, although behavioral measures may differentiate between relevant and neutral information in some cases, their practical use is questionable.