Plea bargaining recommendations by criminal defense attorneys: evidence strength, potential sentence, and defendant preference

Although most criminal cases are disposed of through the process of plea bargaining, little research has focused on this process, and that research has focused on two variables: probability of conviction and potential sentence. This study examined the plea bargaining process from the perspective of the criminal defense attorney and expands prior research by including a third variable: defendant preference regarding plea. Attorney participants (N = 186) responded to a survey containing a vignette presented in a 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects design, in which there was systematic manipulation of the following three variables in the context of criminal litigation: likelihood of conviction based on the strength of evidence, defendant preference regarding plea, and potential sentence if convicted. All of these variables were considered important to criminal defense attorneys, and how these variables significantly interacted with each other is explained. We discuss these findings in light of past research and theory that suggested attorneys make plea recommendations according only to probability of conviction and potential sentence, and we discuss implications and directions for future research.     

Postgraduate Clinical Psychology Placements in Victoria: The Experience of Students and Supervisors

In a recent study conducted at Swinburne University of Technology, researchers examined the challenges involved in coordinating, undertaking, and supervising clinical psychology placements within Victoria. The aim of the investigation was to develop and improve strategies ensuring the sustainable provision of university‐based postgraduate psychology programmes. Results provide detailed information about the components involved in this multifaceted problem. Findings indicate that those involved in clinical placements within university training programmes in Victoria are experiencing major difficulties and that these difficulties raise serious concerns regarding the future provision of clinical placements within the postgraduate system. This article focuses on student and supervisor experiences and perspectives. Implications are discussed.     

Evaluating information processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder: The case for Fuzzy Trace Theory

Literature on the developmental trajectory of cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) presents several inconsistent findings. In this review, we focus on information processing, and specifically, the use of gist and verbatim representations to guide memory, reasoning, and concept formation. The added perspective of Fuzzy Trace Theory may help to resolve mixed results regarding the frequency, nature, and effectiveness of gist processing in ASD by providing established process models and tasks suitable for use in individuals at all levels of functioning. In order to demonstrate the utility of FTT to the field of ASD research, we present evidence from three complementary theories–Weak Central Coherence (WCC), Executive Function (EF), and Theory of Mind (ToM)–which have dominated the landscape to date. We discuss the potential utility of FTT tasks and process models, proposing testable hypotheses that address ambiguous or conflicting results in the current literature. Applying a theory of typical development to the study of ASD may add value to past and future research.     

Unexpected downshifts in reward magnitude induce variation in human behavior

We investigated how changes in outcome magnitude affect behavioral variation in human volunteers. Our participants entered strings of characters using a computer keyboard, receiving feedback (gaining a number of points) for any string at least ten characters long. During a “surprise” phase in which the number of points awarded was changed, participants only increased their behavioral variability when the reward value was downshifted to a lower amount, and only when such a shift was novel. Upshifts in reward did not have a systematic effect on variability.     

Hand position alters vision by biasing processing through different visual pathways

The present study investigated the mechanisms responsible for the difference between visual processing of stimuli near and far from the observer's hands. The idea that objects near the hands are immediate candidates for action led us to hypothesize that vision near the hands would be biased toward the action-oriented magnocellular visual pathway that supports processing with high temporal resolution but low spatial resolution. Conversely, objects away from the hands are not immediate candidates for action and, therefore, would benefit from a bias toward the perception-oriented parvocellular visual pathway that supports processing with high spatial resolution but low temporal resolution. We tested this hypothesis based on the psychophysical characteristics of the two pathways. Namely, we presented subjects with two tasks: a temporal-gap detection task which required the high temporal acuity of the magnocellular pathway and a spatial-gap detection task that required the spatial acuity of the parvocellular pathway. Consistent with our prediction, we found better performance on the temporal-gap detection task and worse performance on the spatial-gap detection task when stimuli were presented near the hands compared to when they were far from the hands. These findings suggest that altered visual processing near the hands may be due to changes in the contribution of the two visual pathways.     

Intergroup anxiety from the self and other: Evidence from self‐report,physiological effects,and real interactions

Intergroup anxiety has become important in understanding the success or failure of intergroup contact. In this paper, we suggest that intergroup anxiety is made up from two constructs: self‐anxiety (anxiety over thinking or doing something that is prejudiced) and other‐anxiety (anxiety that the other might do something to you). Over four studies, we show how these two dimensions have different correlates and independently predict psychophysiological reactivity to an intergroup interaction. Other‐anxiety was associated with negative intergroup attitudes and negative affect. In contrast, self‐anxiety had no simple relationship with conventional measures of intergroup attitudes but was associated with a flattening of responses that were indicative of freezing (Study 3) and simultaneous approach and avoidance (Study 4). We suggest that whereas other‐anxiety is associated with negative affect and avoidance, self‐anxiety is associated with ‘freezing’ responses to intergroup interaction. Thus, the distinction between these two constructs has important repercussions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early predictors of high school mathematics achievement

Identifying the types of mathematics content knowledge that are most predictive of students' long-term learning is essential for improving both theories of mathematical development and mathematics education. To identify these types of knowledge, we examined long-term predictors of high school students' knowledge of algebra and overall mathematics achievement. Analyses of large, nationally representative, longitudinal data sets from the United States and the United Kingdom revealed that elementary school students' knowledge of fractions and of division uniquely predicts those students' knowledge of algebra and overall mathematics achievement in high school, 5 or 6 years later, even after statistically controlling for other types of mathematical knowledge, general intellectual ability, working memory, and family income and education. Implications of these findings for understanding and improving mathematics learning are discussed.