A grouping interpretation of the modality effect in immediate probed recognition

In a series of experiments on immediate probed recognition for eight 3-digit numbers, it was shown that if the target modality involved auditory components and the effect of the similarity of the modality of the probe to that of the targets was controlled, unequivocal evidence was obtained for an auditory superiority effect (modality effect) for hit rates for the final items of the list. Moreover, false-alarm rates were significantly lower following targets with an auditory component than they were following silently seen targets. It is argued that this pattern of hits and false alarms is consistent with the idea that targets that have an auditory component yield memory representations that are better grouped as units than are those for targets that are only silently seen; in particular, if a new probe has a first digit that accidentally matches the first digit of a target item, it is more likely that the subject will mistakenly identify this new probe as old (give a false alarm) if the target has only been partially encoded because it was only silently seen.     

A Lay Perspective on the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony1

To understand more about what laypeople think they “know” about eyewitness testimony, 276 jury-eligible university students were asked to indicate what factors they believe affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. In contrast to the large proportion of eyewitness-memory research that concerns system variables, the lay respondents overwhelmingly generated factors related to estimator variables, while system-variable factors such as police questioning and identification procedures were rarely mentioned. Respondents also reported that their own common sense and everyday life experiences were their most important sources of information about the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. Not only do these results clarify the need for further research on the lay perspective of eyewitness testimony, but they also provide some insight into the way in which many jurors might approach cases involving eyewitness evidence.     

The relationship between self-reported animal fear and ERP modulation: Evidence for enhanced processing and fear of harmless invertebrates in snake- and spider-fearful individuals

The present study used ERPs to compare processing of fear-relevant (FR) animals (snakes and spiders) and non-fear-relevant (NFR) animals similar in appearance (worms and beetles). EEG was recorded from 18 undergraduate participants (10 females) as they completed two animal-viewing tasks that required simple categorization decisions. Participants were divided on a post hoc basis into low snake/spider fear and high snake/spider fear groups. Overall, FR animals were rated higher on fear and elicited a larger LPC. However, individual differences qualified these effects. Participants in the low fear group showed clear differentiation between FR and NFR animals on subjective ratings of fear and LPC modulation. In contrast, participants in the high fear group did not show such differentiation between FR and NFR animals. These findings suggest that the salience of feared-FR animals may generalize on both a behavioural and electro-cortical level to other animals of similar appearance but of a non-harmful nature.     

The dark side of emotional intelligence: the role of gender and the Dark Triad in emotional manipulation at work

Objective : This study investigated people's willingness to emotionally manipulate others maliciously and disingenuously in the workplace. It also examined the role of gender, emotional intelligence, and the Dark Triad traits in this destructive behaviour. Method : A sample of employees (N = 765; 581 females, 184 males) from varying occupations completed measurements of emotional manipulation willingness in the workplace, emotional intelligence, and the Dark Triad. Results : T-tests revealed that females were significantly less likely than males to engage in both malicious and disingenuous emotional manipulation. In bivariate correlations, higher levels of emotional intelligence were associated with disingenuous emotional manipulation in females only. Emotional intelligence was also a significant contributor to disingenuous emotional manipulation in multiple regression analysis, indicating the existence of a “dark side to emotional intelligence” at work. In females, the magnitude of correlations (small to moderate) between the Dark Triad traits and both forms of emotional manipulation were similar. In males, both forms of emotional manipulation most strongly correlated with Machiavellianism, followed by narcissism, then psychopathy. Conclusion : This study is the first to demonstrate that good emotional intelligence skills can facilitate undesirable workplace behaviours. Emotional manipulation is elevated in males with a relentless drive to achieve goals, and in females with broader deceptive tendencies.     

Creating false memories for events that occurred before versus after the offset of childhood amnesia

We examined whether false images and memories for childhood events are more likely when the event supposedly took place during the period of childhood amnesia. Over three interviews, participants recalled six events: five true and one false. Some participants were told that the false event happened when they were 2 years old (Age 2 group), while others were told that it happened when they were 10 years old (Age 10 group). We compared participants’ reports of the false event to their reports of a true event from the same age. Consistent with prior research on childhood amnesia, participants in the Age 10 group were more likely than participants in the Age 2 group to remember their true event and they reported more information about it. Participants in the Age 2 group, on the other hand, were more likely to develop false images and memories than participants in the Age 10 group. Furthermore, once a false image or memory developed, there were no age-related differences in the amount of information participants reported about the false event. We conclude that childhood amnesia increases our susceptibility to false suggestion, thus our results have implications for court cases where early memories are at issue.     

Participants' free‐hand drawings of a target face can influence recognition accuracy and the confidence–accuracy correlation

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of participants' free‐hand drawings on recognition accuracy and confidence for targets presented in a standard recognition paradigm and a lineup identification task. For both experiments, drawing a target influenced recognition accuracy and the confidence–accuracy correlation. In Experiment 1, the confidence–accuracy correlation was higher for participants completing a drawing than controls. Experiment 2 examined the drawings in relation to participants' decision to choose from the lineups. Once choosing was statistically controlled, the confidence–accuracy correlation for drawers was not higher than controls. These results suggest that the drawing influences the confidence–accuracy correlation by decreasing the likelighood of erroneously rejecting a target‐present lineup. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is how it is said important? The association between quality of therapist interventions and client processing

This study examined the association between the quality of therapist interventions and client in‐session processing using the York Therapist Process Measure (YTPM; Toukmanian and Armstrong, 1998). The instrument's three dimensions — attunement, tentativeness and meaning exploration — were tested separately for their impact on clients' manner of processing and depth of experiencing. For each of the 20 mild‐moderately depressed clients, treated in short‐term experiential therapy, a high and a low client‐process segment was isolated from a session that was judged by an experienced therapist to manifest the greatest amount of “good therapy moments”. Therapist interventions within these segments were then rated on the YTPM. Results revealed significant differences in the quality of therapist interventions between high and low segments. Attunement and tentativeness were associated significantly with greater complexity in manner of processing, and meaning exploration with greater depth in experiencing. The implications of these findings for psychotherapy research and practice are discussed.     

The Competent Judge Problem

We face an epistemic problem in competently judging some types of experience. The problem arises when an experience either defies our efforts to assess its quality, such as a traumatic event, or compromises our abilities to assess quality in general, such as starvation. In the latter type of case, the competent judge problem is actually a paradox since the experience undermines our competence to judge at the same time that it gives us competence to judge it against other experiences. The problem is pressing because it arises for experiences at the more extreme ends of the spectrum, which are precisely the experiences we most want to judge competently. It also has implications for how we approach some practical ethical problems, such as solitary confinement. The paper explores a range of cases and explains why efforts to escape the competent judge problem may prove fruitless. 1