Empathy in Forensic Evaluations: a Systematic Reconsideration

This paper reexamines the Shuman seminal paper arguing against empathic behaviors in forensic evaluations. Shuman concluded that empathy by examiners seduces evaluees into believing a therapeutic relationship exists. We reconsider empathy as an element of rapport and a helpful supplement in a successful assessment. Actively avoiding empathy could lead to cold and callous examiner self‐presentation, which may in turn produce biased and negative results. In this paper we assert that ethical forensic professionals may use moderate empathy during an assessment. Examiners should consider it not as a component of subjectivity and pseudotherapy, but rather as a potentially useful tool for effective assessments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using Cognitive Behavior Therapy in Clinical Work With African American Children and Adolescents: A Review of the Literature

A comprehensive review of the literature on clinical work with African American youth with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is presented. The strengths and limitations of CBT in relation to this population are outlined. Although CBT shows promise in helping, research on the efficacy and effectiveness of CBT in this group is lacking. Se presenta una reseña exhaustiva de la literatura sobre trabajo clínico con jóvenes Afroamericanos usando terapia cognitiva conductual (TCC). Se perfilan los puntos fuertes y las limitaciones de la TCC en relación a esta población. A pesar de que la TCC muestra signos prometedores para servir de ayuda, no hay suficiente investigación sobre la eficacia y efectividad de la TCC en este grupo.     

Testing for Deterministic Salesperson Attributes in Mature Markets

Abstract

Individual, buying center members seek to acquire a bundle of attributes that satisfy the needs of their organization in a manner similar to that of consumers. For companies in mature industries, it is proposed that sales representative- related attributes may be more important than product- or company-related attributes when customers evaluate alternative suppliers. In fact, these attributes may determine ultimate supplier selection and purchase. Data from an industrial positioning study conducted by a major industrial firm supplying consumable operating supplies supports this contention. Managerial implications are also discussed.     

Leaders in Selling and Sales Management: Lee A. Iacocca

Solid product knowledge and an absolute love for selling have propelled Lee A. Iacocca into the business-world spotlight. Although detractors may criticize some of his corporate management skills, and he personally admits to his share of mistakes (Ingrassia & Stertz 1990), few can doubt the selling and sales management skills of Iacocca. Although much has been written about Iacocca, this article will focus on his specific contributions to the sales discipline.     

The Clinical Neuropsychology of Attention in School-Aged Children

100 children from the north-east of England, aged between 7 and 13 years of age, completed an assessment of intellectual ability and an attention battery based on the work of Mirsky, Anthony, Duncan, Ahearn, & Kellam (1991). Factor analysis was generally supportive of the Mirsky et al. (1991) model. Replication of the adult model produced the same four factors: sustain, encode, focus-execute and shift. Replication of the child model produced a three-factor model in which the encode and focus-execute factors combined. An extended model resulted in the introduction of a new factor labelled errors of processing. The scores on attention factors were found to have a reasonable level of independence from intellectual ability.     

Relationship between reaction time variability and motor skill development in ADHD

Slower and more variable reaction times to computerized tasks have been documented in children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent research supports a role for attentional lapses in generating abnormally variable and slow responses. However, given the association between ADHD and impairments in motor control, we hypothesized that slower or more variable reaction times might also correlate with motor development. The aim of this case-control study was to explore the relationship between motor function, reaction speed and variability, and ADHD. After comprehensive educational and clinical assessments, motor skill development was evaluated in 35 children ages 9 to 14 (19 with ADHD) using the Physical and Neurological Examination for Subtle Signs (PANESS) test battery. Finger-sequencing speed and variability were quantified with goniometers. Reaction times were measured with 20 trials each of computerized simple and choice (binary) tasks. Compared to healthy controls, children with ADHD had slower and more variable reaction times, and these findings correlated with impaired motor development (PANESS) and slow and variable finger sequencing (goniometers). Further studies of motor development in ADHD may identify factors influencing speed and variability of reaction times.     

The Maternal–Foetal Interface and Gestational Chimerism: The Emerging Importance of Chimeric Bodies

The science of gestational cell transfer—research into the transfer of cells between a pregnant woman and foetus during gestation—and subsequent mingling of transferred cells, or microchimerism, is bringing new attention to the maternal/foetal interface. These findings challenge previous biological understandings of a barrier between the body of a pregnant woman and developing foetus, a barrier maintaining the identity integrity as it were, of two beings, two separate subjects. In this sense, the maternal–foetal interface is an interesting bio-political object, predicated upon understandings of individuals as discrete and bounded organisms, an understanding that has been strongly implicated in immunology, as Donna Haraway, Emily Martin and others have argued. Findings of cellular transfer across this interface raise questions about intermingling and permeability of human organism boundaries. However, these findings are important not only for insight into gestational biology, but because they are emerging in a broader biomedical context of the development of cellular therapies and regenerative medicine. These therapeutic strategies call attention to chimerism as a naturally occurring and iatrogenic biological state, highlighting the permeability and permissiveness of bodies to the intermingling of cells, an idea that runs counter to biological, political and social understandings of selves as individuated, discrete and purely self. A theoretical framework of immuno-politics raises implications of trouble at the maternal/foetal interface, and suggests that chimeric, permeable bodies are of increasing value as cellular therapeutic strategies gain in importance for human health.     

Predicting counterproductive work behaviors with sub-clinical psychopathy: Beyond the Five Factor Model of personality

Organizational psychologists examining personality’s relation to work behavior have focused largely on the “normal” traits comprising the Five Factor Model (FFM). However, given the aversive nature of sub-clinical psychopathy (e.g., callous affect, impulsivity), we posit that this toxic personality profile will enhance the prediction of negative work outcomes, namely forms of counterproductive workplace behavior (CWB). Study 1 (N = 193) examined the value of sub-clinical psychopathy and the FFM in predicting intentions to engage in CWB; results support prior research indicating that both agreeableness and conscientiousness significantly correlated with CWB. In addition, sub-clinical psychopathy predicted CWB above and beyond the FFM. Study 2 (N = 360) extended the findings of Study 1 by examining interpersonally deviant behavior in a team context. While agreeableness was significantly related to interpersonal deviance in Study 2, conscientiousness was not. Results from Study 2 replicate Study 1, suggesting that sub-clinical psychopathy accounted for the majority of the explained variance in interpersonal deviance. Overall, the results support the value of using sub-clinical psychopathy to predict CWB.