Children as witnesses: A comparison of lineup versus showup identification methods

The goal of this study was to compare children's and adults eyewitness identification accuracy when presented with an array of possible suspects (‘lineup’) versus one suspect (‘showup’). Kindergarten children and adults were shown a slide show of a staged theft and subsequently asked whether, of the photo or photos shown them, the perpetrator was present or not. Children were more likely than adults to identify the perpetrator correctly when that suspect was present in the lineup or showup. Children were also more likely than adults to make an incorrect identification of another person when the perpetrator's photo was not present in the lineup or showup. Because false positive identification errors are more difficult to detect with the showup than the lineup, use of the showup may be less appropriate with child witnesses than with adults due to children's greater tendency to make positive identifications.     

Religion,Guilt, and Mental Health

This article reviews the constructs of religion, guilt, and mental health and explores relationships between these constructs as they pertain to the counseling profession. General therapeutic approaches are identified and summarized for counseling practice.     

Integration of intermittent visual samples over time and between the eyes

The authors investigated the integration of alternate disparate monocular inputs for binocular perception in 1-handed catching experiments (N = 14, 32, 22, and 15 participants, respectively in Experiments 1-4). They varied the no-vision interval between alternate monocular samples to measure catching performance, and they compared the alternating monocular conditions with binocular and monocular conditions with equal no-vision intervals. They found no evidence of a binocular advantage for one-handed catching in the alternating monocular conditions. Performance in monocular and alternating monocular conditions did not differ across no-vision intervals ranging from 0-80 ms and was particularly worse than performance in binocular viewing conditions when the no-vision interval was 40 ms or more. The authors argue that the dissimilarity between disparate monocular inputs created by the approaching object limited the integration of those inputs and subsequent binocular perception.     

A group-administered lag task as a measure of working memory

The purpose of the present studies was to evaluate the utility of a group-administered version of the n-back, or lag task. Experiments 1 and 2 describe the construction of the task and reveal that the modified lag task (MLT) produces the same performance trends as have been observed in individually administered versions of the lag task; performance decreased significantly as lag conditions increased in difficulty. Experiments 3 and 4 established convergent validity by comparing the MLT to another common working memory task, the operation-word span task, as well as the updated version of this task, the automatic operation span task. The results showed that MLT performance was significantly correlated to scores on both measures. These experiments provide important details about the MLT as a measure of working memory, in a group- or individual-administration setting.     

A Social Problem-Solving Model of Adherence to HIV Medications.

HIV medication adherence remains a challenge and limits the degree to which treatment benefit can be maximized. This study tested an explanatory model of HIV medication adherence using a social problem-solving (SPS) framework. Associations of SPS with adherence are hypothesized to be direct and/or indirect via psychological health. HIV+ adults were interviewed using validated measures of SPS, psychological health, and antiretroviral therapy (ART) medication adherence. Structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to test hypothesized relationships and to evaluate overall fit of the model to the data. SEM supported an indirect association (but not direct) of SPS on adherence via psychological health among the 545 HIV+ adults included in the analyses. Overall, the findings resulted in a model of adherence that offered very good fit to the data and correctly classified 97% of the cases as adherent versus nonadherent. Results support the use of SPS as a conceptual framework for understanding adherence to ART. Findings offer rationale and direction for SPS interventions to enhance adherence by improving psychological health. Such approaches, if effective, have the potential to positively impact psychological well being and adherence, thereby maximizing clinical benefit from treatment, which is linked to lower mortality from AIDS.     

Cross-National Analysis of the Influence of Cultural Norms and Government Restrictions on the Relationship Between Religion and Well-Being

This study examines the interaction between cultural religious norms and governmental restrictiveness as country-level moderators of the relationship between individual religiousness and well-being, including both happiness and physical health. Data come from five waves of World Values survey data from 221 separate surveys conducted in 88 countries, with data from 317,109 individuals. Three dimensions of individual religiousness were assessed, along with corresponding country-level norms aggregated from these measures. Three-way cross-level interactions were tested to examine whether the extent of government restriction modified the relationship between national religious norms and the individual-level association between religious factors and well-being outcomes. Results supported the hypothesis that self-reported religion is most strongly related to greater happiness and better self-reported health in societies where it is freely and widely practiced. In contrast, religiousness may be harmful when it is relatively deviant, and restrictions of freedom may serve to further exacerbate this effect. These results suggest that the positive association between religion and well-being is not universal, but depends upon the right to express religion freely and the opportunity to practice with like-minded others.     

Foreign brands in local cultures: A socio‐cultural perspective of postmodern brandscapes

The aim of this paper is to explore how the consumption of foreign brands may operate in a local culture (specifically, the consumption of Western luxury fashion brands among Muslim women in Kuwait). Field observations were conducted in Kuwait, and a qualitative questionnaire was administered to 50 Muslim female consumers. Although not a common method for qualitative research, the benefits of using a qualitative questionnaire are highlighted. The findings show that the socio‐cultural dynamics in Kuwait (mainly religion and tradition) may restrict the expression of certain behaviour (such as female sexuality and dating). However, Muslim women make use of Western luxury fashion brands as postmodern brandscapes (fragmented and constantly negotiated use of a symbolic brand to actively construct lifestyle orientations and personal meanings among one's neo‐tribe) to manifest their expressions of sexuality in alternative ways. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.