Can a Lineup Procedure Designed for Child Witnesses Work for Adults? Comparing Simultaneous,Sequential, and Elimination Lineup Procedures

A study (N = 165) was conducted to examine whether the elimination lineup, an identification procedure developed for children to reduce their false‐positive responding, was effective for adult witnesses. Although the sequential lineup is available to help reduce adults’ false‐positive identifications, having different procedures for child and adult witnesses poses difficulty for the police and justice system. One procedure for all witnesses would be ideal. Simultaneous, sequential, and elimination procedures were compared. The elimination procedure produced a comparable correct rejection rate to the sequential procedure. Both the elimination and sequential procedure produced a higher correct rejection rate than did the simultaneous procedure. Correct identification rates were comparable across the 3 lineup procedures.     

The many faces of stereotype threat: Group- and self-threat

Contending with negative intellectual stereotypes has been shown to depress the academic performance of targets of the stereotypes [Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52, 613-629]. The present paper examines whether women’s mathematics performance is differentially affected by the concern of confirming that a negative stereotype is true of the self (self-threat), than by the concern of confirming that the stereotype is true of their gender (group-threat). In two studies we independently manipulated these different threats for women taking a mathematics test. Gender identification moderated the effect of group-threats on test performance; only women highly identified with their gender underperformed. The performance of less gender-identified women was unaffected by group-threats. In contrast, gender identification did not moderate the effect of self-threats—both high- and low-identified women underperformed. The results of these studies suggest that women’s math performance is differentially affected by the source of the threat.     

Emotion regulation in schizophrenia: affective, social, and clinical correlates of suppression and reappraisal

Individuals can exert considerable control over their experience and expression of emotion by applying different regulatory strategies such as reappraisal and suppression. However, although it has been suggested that blunted affect in schizophrenia, characterized by markedly reduced emotion expressivity alongside apparently normal emotion experience, may reflect overuse of suppression, no study to date has assessed self-reported use of these different emotion regulatory strategies in relation to this disorder. In the present study, 41 individuals with schizophrenia and 38 control participants completed a self-report measure that differentiated between use of suppression and reappraisal. Symptom severity and various aspects of cognitive and psychosocial functioning were also assessed. Relative to controls, individuals with schizophrenia did not differ with regard to their reported use of suppression and reappraisal, and reported use of both strategies was unrelated to clinical ratings of blunted affect. However, whereas (lower) use of reappraisal was associated with greater social function impairment for both groups, only for controls was (greater) use of suppression associated with reduced social functioning. Implications for understanding blunted affect and social dysfunction in schizophrenia are discussed.     

The Long Good-Bye: Why B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior is Alive and Well on the 50Th Anniversary of Its Publication

The Psychological Record - The year 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior, a book that by Skinner’s own account was his most important....     

Vicious circles of punishment: a reading of Melanie Klein's Envy and gratitude

Staged as a moral drama, Melanie Klein's Envy and Gratitude (1957) straddles two eras: one reflecting a simpler more concrete, historical method, and the other an approach of greater complexity, focused on the transferential moment. Embedded within the transference are the vicious circles of envy and punishment that are the hallmark of Klein's text. Punishment itself which is always punishment of both self and other, creates its own vicious circle, set in motion by a single act. In the sadomasochistic enactments that result, the moral force of Klein's categories fuels the countertransference. A detailed clinical hour is presented.     

Defining autism: professional best practices and published case law

There are clear indications that both the reported incidence of autism in children and litigation involving this developmental disorder are increasing. However, to date there has been a dearth of research analyzing court cases and legal decisions concerning students with autism. The purpose of this review was to examine published hearing/review and court decisions concerning autism eligibility in educational settings in relation to empirically supported best practices in the assessment of autism. A total of 13 cases were identified for inclusion in the review. In general, the results indicated that hearing/review officers and judges neither relied upon nor explicitly acknowledged empirically supported assessment methods in their published eligibility decisions. It appeared that many hearing/review officers and judges relied on expert witnesses, who may or may not have had particular expertise and knowledge regarding current best practices in autism eligibility assessment. Implications of the findings and areas for future research are discussed.