To know where the bodies are buried: The use of the cognitive interview in an environmental scale spatial memory retrieval task

Missing body homicide cases have gained public interest globally due to some high-profile cases. In many of these cases, the task of locating the victim's remains relies on the information investigators can gain through the interviewing of willing suspects. To date, investigative interviewing research has largely focused on the retrieval of episodic memory (events) without focusing on spatial memory, a prominent cognitive task required in locating a victim's remains. The current experiment tests the enhanced cognitive interview (ECI) against a free recall strategy in a mock homicide scenario where participants are required to hide and retrieve an object in a natural bushland setting. The results showed that those in the ECI condition produced more coarse- and fine-grained details of landmarks and their actions at and journeying to the deposition site. This demonstrates the value of using the ECI in generating more valuable information to assist in successive search attempts.     

Self-Discrepancies as Predictors of Vulnerability to Distinct Syndromes of Chronic Emotional Distress

Two types of self-discrepancy differing in both domain and standpoint of self-guide were examined as predictors of vulnerability to chronic emotional syndromes. Study 1 assessed discrepancy between the actual/own self-state and the ideal/own self-guide and between the actual/own self-state and the ought/other self-guide in predicting syndromes of dejection and agitation as well as different types of anger. Actual/own: ideal/own discrepancy (AI) was uniquely related to dejection, frustration, and anger at self as measured 2 months later; actual/own:ought/other discrepancy (AOO) was uniquely related to agitation and to anger at others and resentment. Study 2 used structural equation modeling of the relations between AI and AOO discrepancy and social anxiety versus depression as measured weeks later. A model in which AOO was more strongly associated with social anxiety and AI was more strongly associated with depressive symptoms provided the best fit. The results support the convergent and discriminant validity of a self-discrepancy model of vulnerability to chronic emotional syndromes.     

A "change-of-standard" perspective on the relations among context, judgment, and memory

We conducted three studies that tested a "change-of-standard" perspective on the relations among context, judgment, and recall. Each study consisted of two or three sessions held a few days apart. All subjects read about the sentencing decisions of one or two target trial judges and of six nontarget trial judges who consistently gave either higher or lower sentences than the target judge(s). Each study varied both the standard that was available when subjects initially judged the sentencing decisions of a target judge and the standard available when subjects subsequently recalled those decisions. To accomplish this, we varied the context of judgment, the timing of judgment, and the overall category norm for trial judges' sentencing decisions that was available at recall. We found that although subjects had been exposed to the same target information and had initially judged it in the same way, their recall of the information was different depending on whether and how a change-of-standard had occurred between judgment and recall. Unique predictions of the change-of-standard perspective were confirmed that could not be accounted for in terms of other types of context effects on judgment and memory.     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A CONSTANT TIME-DELAY PROCEDURE TO TEACH CHAINED RESPONSES TO ADOLESCENTS WITH MENTAL RETARDATION

The effectiveness of a 5-s constant time-delay procedure to teach three chained food preparation behaviors to four moderately retarded adolescent students was evaluated within a multiple probe design across behaviors. Results indicate that the procedure was effective in teaching all four students to make a sandwich, boil a boil-in-bag item, and bake canned biscuits. The skills maintained with at least 85% accuracy over a 3-month period. Training generalized from the school to the home setting for the 2 subjects that completed generalization probe sessions. The percentage of errors across all skills and students was less than 9%.     

A reformulation of the general Euclidean model for the external analysis of preference data

This paper discusses least squares methods for fitting a reformulation of the general Euclidean model for the external analysis of preference data. The reformulated subject weights refer to a common set of reference vectors for all subjects and hence are comparable across subjects. If the rotation of the stimulus space is fixed, the subject weight estimates in the model are uniquely determined. Weight estimates can be guaranteed nonnegative. While the reformulation is a metric model for single stimulus data, the paper briefly discusses extensions to nonmetric, pairwise, and logistic models. The reformulated model is less general than Carroll's earlier formulation.The author is grateful to Christopher J. Nachtsheim for his helpful suggestions.     

Declines in Major League Batting Performance as a Function of Game Pressure: A Drive Theory Analysis1

Zajonc's (1965) drive theory explanation argues that greater arousal tends to impair performance on difficult tasks. The hypothesis that arousal generated by “pressure situations” during major league baseball games would hinder batting performance—a difficult task—was tested by examining such performance during the 1989 season. Six “pressure situations” were identified, some occurring during the late innings of close games and others occurring throughout the game when there were two outs. Two measures of batting performance (batting average and slugging average) were employed. Results indicated broad support for the hypothesis. Reasons for this pattern are discussed, as are possible alternative explanations for these findings.     

TEACHING SAFETY SKILLS TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH MODERATE DISABILITIES

Teaching students with disabilities to respond appropriately to potentially dangerous situations is a useful skill that has received little research attention. This investigation taught 3 students with moderate mental retardation to remove and discard broken materials (plates, glasses) safely from (a) a sink containing dishwater, (b) a countertop, and (c) a floor. A 4th student was instructed on the sink task only. A multicomponent treatment package was used to teach the skills. Simulated materials were used initially and were replaced with broken plates and glasses. A multiple probe design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment package. The results indicated that the treatment package was effective in teaching the skills. Data were collected 1 week and 1 month following the completion of training, and indicated mixed results. No student was injured during any phase of training. Issues pertinent to teaching safety skills to students with moderate disabilities are discussed.     

PROMOTING STIMULUS CONTROL WITH TEXTUAL PROMPTS AND PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK FOR PERSONS WITH MILD DISABILITIES

We assessed whether written task analyses would serve as textual prompts for performing functional tasks by persons with mild disabilities. Several variables that could influence the effectiveness of textual prompts to promote stimulus control were examined across four groups. A consistent finding was that written specific task analyses combined with end-of-trial performance feedback were effective for promoting the acquisition and generalization of several tasks. Performance transferred immediately to natural discriminative stimuli when the written task analyses and feedback were withdrawn for most tasks and participants. For 2 participants, transfer of stimulus control was accomplished by prompt fading, using individualized written task analyses either with or without performance feedback (Group 1). When feedback was not provided, the effectiveness of written specific task analyses was inconsistent across groups. In contrast to the controlling effects of written specific task analyses, written generic task analyses, which specified only major task outcomes, when combined with performance feedback (Group 1) did not control responding. Overall, this research demonstrated the effectiveness of written specific task analyses and performance feedback to promote stimulus control for persons with mild disabilities.