Why Do Eyewitnesses Make So Many Mistakes?

Previous research on eyewitness identification has demonstrated high rates of error. Subjects have frequently identified innocent targets as the "criminal" they had seen earlier (false identifications) or had falsely claimed that the criminal was not in the line-up (misses). The present study examines whether identification error rates are inflated by pressures in the typical experimental situation to "make a guess" regardless of one's confidence in the accuracy of the response. It was found that providing an explicit option for subjects to respond "don't know" significantly decreased false identifications and misses with no cost to the proportion of correct identifications. The addition of written and verbal instructions emphasizing the acceptability of the "don't know" option produced a marginally significant further decline in identification errors, again without cost to correct identifications. The discussion considered implications of the present results for experimental and actual police line-up procedures.     

The process of learning from small-scale maps

Two experiments are reported that test the general hypothesis that learning from a small scale map proceeds in a global to local fashion, structured by the spatial subdivisions present in the map. In Experiment 1, a fairly simple map depicting a single fictitious country containing provinces and cities was used as the to-be-learned stimulus. Evidence for a provincial to capital to city learning process was found, with map recall best when subjects used an imagery learning strategy. In Experiment 2, a more complex map containing multiple countries, with provincial and city elements present was used. The global to local learning process was replicated, as well as the beneficial effects of an imagery study strategy. Results are discussed in terms of progressive image differentiation and total information set size.     

'We are the stuff that dreams are made on': the use of dreams in systemic therapy

This paper considers the place that dream material has occupied in therapy, and particularly family therapy. A rationale will be given for the inclusion of this source of information by systemic therapists. The use of dreams in systemic therapy with individuals, couples and families is described. Dreams are divided into five main categories: those that precipitate therapy, provide hypotheses, as memories, relationship dreams, and those that reflect the process of change. Each category is described and illustrated with relevant clinical material. The paper concludes with a method for working with dreams that is congruent with a systemic perspective applicable to individual, conjoint or family therapy sessions.     

Childhood depression and conduct disorder: II. An analysis of family interaction patterns in the home.

Few researchers have assessed family interaction patterns associated with childhood depression, especially using observations in natural settings. We directly sampled the interaction patterns of families with depressed, conduct-disordered, mixed depressed-conduct-disordered, and comparison children ages 7-14 years in their homes during the evening meal. Observational measures were taken of positive and aversive behaviors and affect expression for both parents, the referred children, and their siblings. Results replicated previous research showing that conduct-disordered children express high levels of aversive behavior and anger and are part of a family system marked by conflict and aggression. The depressed children were exposed to maternal aversiveness but did not show any evidence of elevated levels of anger or aversiveness in their own behavior. Surprisingly, this was also true for the mixed-disorder children. High levels of depression in both groups of depressed children were associated with low levels of conflict and anger in family members. Overall, siblings showed very similar patterns of behavior, and were exposed to similar patterns of parental behavior, as the referred children. Results are discussed in terms of family models that emphasize the function of aggression and depression in the maintenance of child psychopathology.     

Treatment outcome of a group cognitive therapy program for depression

A 12-session group program of cognitive therapy, designed by the first author, was evaluated with 35 persons suffering from major or minor depressive disorders. Effect-size scores were generated using the method of Nietzel, Russel, Hemmings, and Gretter (1987) and compared with cut-off points calculated using the method of Jacobson and Revenstorf (1988) and the norms established by Nietzel et al. (1987) in their meta-analysis. The effects of the Group Cognitive Therapy Program were found to be clinically significant according to the criteria of Jacobson and colleagues (Jacobson and Revenstorf, 1988; Jacobson, Follette and Revenstorf, 1984) for 73% of patients. It is concluded that the Group Cognitive Therapy Program is a clinically efficacious and cost-effective treatment for persons suffering from nonpsychotic, primary, unipolar depression.     

Exploring biases in self-reported exercising behavior heuristics based on recency, frequency, and preference

This study investigated biases in the recall of frequency and duration of physical exercise. Following an initial computer-administered self-report interview, 77 subjects maintained diaries for four weeks, in which they recorded the day, time, duration, and type of each exercising bout. Then the interview was administered again, and subjects recalled they exercised more often and for shorter durations than they recorded in their diaries. While social desirability may explain the overestimation of the number of days exercised, the underestimation of exercise duration poses a puzzle. The heuristic of frequency, recency, or prototype could not account for this underestimation. Alternative explanations are explored. Self-reported estimates of exercising duration and frequency should not be taken at face-value until the processes and heuristics used to record and recall exercising behaviors are better understood.     

A beautiful day in the neighborhood: What factors determine the generation effect for simple multiplication problems?

In four experiments, we examined the generation effect for the free recall of simple multiplication answers. Large-product-size problems showed a consistent generation-effect advantage over small-product-size problems, except when each answer was generated twice, via two different sets of operands (Experiment 2). Also, measures of problem-solution time and strategy use accounted for the large-product-size advantage. Across experiments, however, small-product-size problems (but not large-product-size problems) showed considerable variation in the size of their generation effect. We discovered that solving small-product-size problems via direct memory retrieval increased the episodic recall probability of other problems that were near neighbors to the generated answer, and we attribute this result to a spreading activation mechanism in semantic memory. A measure of neighbor activations, combined with RT to solve each problem, accounted for 51% of the observed generation-effect variance.     

The Behavioral Genetics of Alcoholism

Twin and adoption studies consistently implicate the importance of genetic influences on alcoholism risk, especially in men. Heritability estimates suggest that approximately 50% to 60% of the variability in alcoholism liability is associated with genetic factors. Although there has been progress in identifying specific genes that predispose toward alcoholism, we know relatively little about the nature of the genetic influence on alcoholism risk. We also know relatively little about how genetic factors combine with environmental factors to affect alcoholism risk. Genotype-environment interaction models posit that alcoholism occurs when individuals both inherit a vulnerability to develop alcoholism and are reared in a provocative environment. Such models hold great promise for understanding alcoholism's etiology.     

The Incarcerated Female Felon and Substance Abuse: Demographics,Needs Assessment,and Program Planning for a Neglected Population

Incarcerated women (203 of 237) completed a needs survey designed by an inmate steering committee. The typical inmate was a European American mother of 2 children. Relevant programming (substance abuse education classes, self-study programs, didactic groups and workshops) is discussed.