Changes in Interviewers' Use of Supportive Techniques during the Revised Protocol Training

Summary: Although many children are reluctant to disclose abuse due to embarrassment, fear, and the anticipation of negative consequences, researchers have only recently begun to examine whether forensic interviewers can be trained to manage children's reluctance. In this study, the supportiveness of 53 experienced interviewers was assessed in their interviews with 321 3‐ to 14‐year‐old alleged victims, each conducted during the course of training to use the Revised Protocol (RP). The use of support increased, especially between levels evident at baseline and in the last two interviews assessed. Over time, instances of inadequate support and insensitivity to children's reluctance became less common. Younger children received proportionally more support, including inadequate support, than older children. The RP training did not affect the extensive use of free recall‐based questions. Findings highlight the benefits of continued supervision and training.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Philosophy as a Way of Life: Albert Camus and Pierre Hadot

This paper compares Pierre Hadot’s work on the history of philosophy as a way of life to the work of Albert Camus. I will argue that in the early work of Camus, up to and including the publication of The Myth of Sisyphus, there is evidence to support the notions that, firstly, Camus also identified these historical moments as obstacles to the practice of ascesis, and secondly, that he proceeded by orienting his own work toward overcoming these obstacles, and thus toward a modern rehabilitation of ascesis. Moreover, in contrast to Hadot’s Platonism, Camus located the source of this practice in the pre-philosophical stage of Athenian tragedy. This points to a further contrast between these two figures, which has historical and cultural precedents, in the distinction between this pre-Platonic form of ascesis - favoured by Camus - and the latter Christian form of asceticism - favoured by Hadot, with the status of Platonic ascesis rendered in terms of prefiguring this Christian form of asceticism.     

Examining children in English High Courts with and without implementation of reforms authorized in Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act

This study examined whether the implementation of Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999) improved lawyers' questioning strategies when examining child witnesses in England. The government's Section 28 pilot study involved judges holding Ground Rules Hearings, during which restrictions and limitations were placed on the duration, content, and manner of questions to be asked. Afterwards, children's cross‐examinations were pre‐recorded and later played as part of their evidence at trial. The current study compared cases involving 6‐ to 15‐year‐old alleged victims of sexual abuse in which Section 28 was (n = 43) and was not (n = 44) implemented. Defence lawyers in Section 28 cases asked significantly fewer suggestive questions and more option‐posing questions than defence lawyers in Nonsection 28 cases. Younger children complied more with defence lawyers' suggestive questions. Ground Rules Hearings improved lawyers' questioning strategies, regardless of the case's involvement in the Section 28 pilot study.     

The role of spatial frequency in cued shifts of attention between global and local forms

It has been suggested that shifts of attention between global and local forms might be based on selection between, or differential activation of, low- and high-spatial-frequency channels. In the present study, pretrial cues indicated which level (global or local) was likely to contain the target on each trial. There was a response time (RT) advantage for validly cued trials and an RT cost for invalidly cued trials relative to a neutral cue baseline. This cuing effect was the same for broadband stimuli and for contrast-balanced stimuli in which low spatial frequencies were eliminated. Thus, cued attentional shifts between global and local forms occur even when selection cannot be based on spatial frequency.     

Contributions of automatic and controlled processes to the analysis of hierarchical structure

Three experiments provide evidence that 2 mechanisms, 1 automatic and 1 controlled, produce variations in the efficiency with which local and global forms are processed. Targets are identified faster if they appear at the same level (global or local) as the target on the previous trial. M. R. Lamb, B. London, H. M. Pond, and K. A. Whitt (1998) provided evidence that the beneficial effect of level repetition is due to an automatic process that is outside voluntary control. In the present experiments, pretrial cues informed participants as to the level of the upcoming target. Valid cues benefited performance, whereas invalid cues harmed performance relative to noninformative neutral cues. This was so even when the relation between the cue and the level it signaled was arbitrary, indicating that the cues initiated voluntary shifts of attention. The benefit associated with level repetition, however, was unaffected by the cues. These data suggest that the benefit of level repetition results from a process that is not subject to voluntary control.     

Effects of the timing of postevent information on preschoolers' memories of an event

Few researchers have investigated whether the timing of postevent information affects the accuracy of children's reports of events they have experienced. In this study, four‐year‐olds dressed up in costumes and had their photographs taken. An unfamiliar adult spoke to the children about the event either a day (immediate condition) or a month (delayed condition) later, providing both accurate and misleading information about the staged event. When questioned five weeks after the event, children in a control group who had not received the review were more inaccurate answering focused questions than children who had been reminded of the event. A review a while after the event but shortly before the interview increased the amount of details recalled and this was not at the expense of accuracy. Misinformation was seldom reported spontaneously, although children in all groups acquiesced to leading questions in line with the misleading suggestions. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Précis of Evolution in Four Dimensions

In his theory of evolution, Darwin recognized that the conditions of life play a role in the generation of hereditary variations, as well as in their selection. However, as evolutionary theory was developed further, heredity became identified with genetics, and variation was seen in terms of combinations of randomly generated gene mutations. We argue that this view is now changing, because it is clear that a notion of hereditary variation that is based solely on randomly varying genes that are unaffected by developmental conditions is an inadequate basis for evolutionary theories. Such a view not only fails to provide satisfying explanations of many evolutionary phenomena, it also makes assumptions that are not consistent with the data that are emerging from disciplines ranging from molecular biology to cultural studies. These data show that the genome is far more responsive to the environment than previously thought, and that not all transmissible variation is underlain by genetic differences. In Evolution in Four Dimensions (2005) we identify four types of inheritance (genetic, epigenetic, behavioral, and symbol-based), each of which can provide variations on which natural selection will act. Some of these variations arise in response to developmental conditions, so there are Lamarckian aspects to evolution. We argue that a better insight into evolutionary processes will result from recognizing that transmitted variations that are not based on DNA differences have played a role. This is particularly true for understanding the evolution of human behavior, where all four dimensions of heredity have been important.     

Does the type of prompt affect the accuracy of information provided by alleged victims of abuse in forensic interviews?

Forty‐three victims of sexual abuse averaging 9.78 years of age and 52 youths who admitted abusing them were interviewed about the abusive incidents. Forensically relevant details provided by the victims were categorised as confirmed, contradicted or ignored by the perpetrators. Most (66.6%) of the details were ignored, but details were more likely to be confirmed when they were elicited using invitations (open‐ended free‐recall prompts) rather than focused prompts. However, similar effects were not evident with respect to contradictions. The results support predictions that information elicited using free‐recall prompts is more likely to be accurate than information elicited using focused prompts. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How Does Migration Affect Mothers’ and Fathers’ Roles Within their Families? Reflections on some Recent Research

Collectively, the articles in this special issue reveal that immigration has diverse effects on individual family members that vary depending on their gender and age. Such findings underscore the need for intensive analysis and comparison on a number of levels—fathers versus mothers, sons versus daughters, parents versus children. This commentary highlights some of the findings that emphasise the centrality of gender in colouring the experience of immigration for different family members. Limitations of the findings are noted and suggestions are made for future research examining the effects of migration on families and family members.