The new sexual assault law: The victim's experience in court

The questions asked of victims of sexual and physical assault by the prosecutor and defense were recorded and coded by courtroom observers. The defense in comparison to the prosecution treated both types of victims in a negative way. Sexual assault victims were subjected to more negative questions and required to give a more personal form of testimony than physical assault victims due to the strategies used by both the prosecution and the defense. Sexual assault cases were convicted less often than physical assault cases. It was concluded that the new law in Canada which replaced the offense of rape with one of "sexual assault" has not had its intended effect of reducing the burden on a victim when she testifies in court.     

Responses to patterns of employee absences

Simulated supervisory responses to different patterns of absence were examined in a 2×2×2 factorial experiment. Annual employee absence records were varied in terms of frequency of absence, when in the year absences occurred (timing) and the mean time between absences. The responses of 73 raters to these records were evaluated in terms of perceived intentions of the employee, perceived impact on the company and raters' intentions to act. The results cast doubts on the role of attributions of intentionality as a mediator between absences and supervisory action. A three-way interaction on supervisor action suggests a three stage model in which frequency has the dominant effect, followed by timing and mean time between absences.     

Behavioral methods to reduce shoplifting

Shoplifting is a serious crime affecting most (if not all) retail businesses and responsible for increases in merchandise prices and customer services. Numerous methods exist to reduce shoplifting among consumers. The two most common types of shoplifting treatments either directly treat the shoplifter or attempt to prevent shoplifting through response prevention strategies in the retail environment. A critical review of the most common methods to reduce shoplifting reveal that case study research lacks appropriate experimental control to be convincing; and that the most promising strategies are those methods that attempt to prevent shoplifting in the retail environment. However, the more global response prevention methods could benefit if an account of the total volume of shoppers were controlled for thus providing a ratio of shoppers to opportunities to shoplift.     

Exemplary job analysis systems in selected organizations: A description of process and outcomes

Job analysis is an important aspect of human resource management. This study was conceived to further our understanding of how job analysis may best be used to enhance the variety of human resource management activities that rely on it. Nine geographically dispersed organizations, carefully selected on the basis of their exemplary job analysis functions, were each visited and their job analysis functions studied for a period ranging from one to three days. These organizations represented a wide range of industries. We found that job analysis functions are typically highly centralized and part or all of these functions are often housed in a unit dealing with compensation. The idea of a fully integrated personnel system based on a comprehensive job analysis data base is not quite ready for widespread adoption. However, a multipurpose approach, designed to serve several applications, is feasible to develop. Little progress has been made in estimating the costs of job analysis functions. Rudimentary cost estimates prepared by us on anad hoc basis revealed that the annual costs for job analysis functions ranged from $150,000 to $4,000,000 with a median of$280,000.     

Raster versus calligraphic display devices for assessing visual performance: The influence of stimulus area and uncertainty

Sixty-hertz raster scan monitors provide relatively inexpensive solutions to problems associated with presenting complex visual stimuli. However, they restrict the user to displays in which stimulus characteristics cannot be changed more often than once every 16.67 msec. Calligraphic monitors allow very high frame rates, but not the generation of complex or chromatic images (unless very expensive monitors are purchased). A method is reported for increasing the frame rate of some raster monitors at the expense of the number of lines that are painted. Also, data relating to the influence of such a modification on visual performance is presented.