Effects of racial stereotypes on eyewitness performance: Implications of the real and the rumoured Allport and Postman studies

The Allport and Postman (1945, 1947) study of rumour has been widely cited in support of the claim that expectations based upon racial stereotypes can cause eyewitnesses to make dramatic errors in perceiving or remembering an event. However, this claim is founded on inaccurate accounts of the study that have appeared throughout the eyewitness testimony literature. In this article we explore the implications of the actual Allport and Postman study, and the study as erroneously described, for questions about eyewitness performance.     

Induced motion and oculomotor capture

Three experiments investigating the basis of induced motion are reported. The proposition that induced motion is based on the visual capture of eye-position information and is therefore a subject-relative, rather than object-relative, motion was explored in the first experiment. Observers made saccades to an invisible auditory stimulus following fixation on a stationary stimulus in which motion was induced. In the remaining two experiments, the question of whether perceived induced motion produces a straight ahead shift was explored. The critical eye movement was directed to apparent straight ahead. Because these saccades partially compensated for the apparent displacement of the induction stimulus, and saccades to the auditory stimulus did not, we conclude that induced motion is not based on oculomotor visual capture. Rather, it is accompanied by a shift in the judged direction of straight ahead, an instance of the straight ahead shift. The results support an object-relative theory of induced motion.     

PLATE A–PLATE B: USE OF SEQUENTIAL PRESENTATION IN THE TREATMENT OF FOOD SELECTIVITY

This study examined the effects of sequential presentation of foods on increasing acceptance of novel foods in a 16‐year‐old boy with autism spectrum disorder residing in a short‐term behavioral stabilization unit. The participant ate only 10 foods and one beverage prior to treatment. The intervention involved presenting a plate containing pea‐sized bites of novel foods (Plate A) and a plate containing spoonful‐sized bites of highly preferred foods (Plate B). After the participant consumed a bite from Plate A, he chose a bite from Plate B and was given a preferred beverage. The intervention, involving sequential presentation and establishing operations without the use of escape extinction, was successful in increasing the number of foods eaten from 10 to 24 while not increasing his maladaptive behaviors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Perceived Health in People Living with Osteoporosis

Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) represents an important factor contributing to the development and management of osteoporosis yet research linking LTPA with perceived health markers has been limited in this cohort. The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between LTPA and perceived health controlling for select demographic factors and chronic conditions in people living with osteoporosis. Population-health survey data from cycle 2.2 of the Canadian Community Health Survey were used in conjunction with linear multiple regression models. Participants were 1538 (n _female = 1371) adults who reported living with osteoporosis. Demographic factors, chronic conditions, and more frequent participation in LTPA accounted for variance in diverse indices representing perceived health. LTPA was the only predictor to account for unique variance in each marker of perceived health. Overall, it would appear that increased use of LTPA as an adjunct to therapeutic interventions may be a viable aid to enhancing self-perceived health amongst Canadians living with osteoporosis.     

Evolution of the empirical and theoretical foundations of eyewitness identification reform

Scientists in many disciplines have begun to raise questions about the evolution of research findings over time (Ioannidis in Epidemiology, 19, 640–648, 2008; Jennions & Møller in Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences, 269, 43–48, 2002; Mullen, Muellerleile, & Bryan in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1450–1462, 2001; Schooler in Nature, 470, 437, 2011), since many phenomena exhibit decline effects—reductions in the magnitudes of effect sizes as empirical evidence accumulates. The present article examines empirical and theoretical evolution in eyewitness identification research. For decades, the field has held that there are identification procedures that, if implemented by law enforcement, would increase eyewitness accuracy, either by reducing false identifications, with little or no change in correct identifications, or by increasing correct identifications, with little or no change in false identifications. Despite the durability of this no-cost view, it is unambiguously contradicted by data (Clark in Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 238–259, 2012a; Clark & Godfrey in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16, 22–42, 2009; Clark, Moreland, & Rush, 2013; Palmer & Brewer in Law and Human Behavior, 36, 247–255, 2012), raising questions as to how the no-cost view became well-accepted and endured for so long. Our analyses suggest that (1) seminal studies produced, or were interpreted as having produced, the no-cost pattern of results; (2) a compelling theory was developed that appeared to account for the no-cost pattern; (3) empirical results changed over the years, and subsequent studies did not reliably replicate the no-cost pattern; and (4) the no-cost view survived despite the accumulation of contradictory empirical evidence. Theories of memory that were ruled out by early data now appear to be supported by data, and the theory developed to account for early data now appears to be incorrect.     

Modality effects in rhythm processing: Auditory encoding of visual rhythms is neither obligatory nor automatic

Modality effects in rhythm processing were examined using a tempo judgment paradigm, in which participants made speeding-up or slowing-down judgments for auditory and visual sequences. A key element of stimulus construction was that the expected pattern of tempo judgments for critical test stimuli depended on a beat-based encoding of the sequence. A model-based measure of degree of beat-based encoding computed from the pattern of tempo judgments revealed greater beat sensitivity for auditory rhythms than for visual rhythms. Visual rhythms with prior auditory exposure were more likely to show a pattern of tempo judgments similar to that for auditory rhythms than were visual rhythms without prior auditory exposure, but only for a beat period of 600 msec. Slowing down the rhythms eliminated the effect of prior auditory exposure on visual rhythm processing. Taken together, the findings in this study support the view that auditory rhythms demonstrate an advantage over visual rhythms in beat-based encoding and that the auditory encoding of visual rhythms can be facilitated with prior auditory exposure, but only within a limited temporal range. The broad conclusion from this research is that “hearing visual rhythms” is neither obligatory nor automatic, as was previously claimed by Guttman, Gilroy, and Blake (2005).     

Purpose as personal

Ethics and Education R. S. Peters London: George Allen &; Unwin, Ltd., 1966 Pp. 333, $4.50     

Clinical Strategies for Integrating Medication Interventions Into Behavioral Treatment for Adolescent ADHD: The Medication Integration Protocol

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is prevalent among adolescents enrolled in behavioral health services but remains undertreated, and the first-line treatment option, stimulant medication, is underutilized. To address this gap, this article introduces the Medication Integration Protocol (MIP): ADHD Assessment and Medication Consult; ADHD Psychoeducation and Client Acceptance; ADHD Symptoms and Family Relations; ADHD Medication and Family Decision-Making; and Medication Management and Integration Planning. The article concludes by highlighting what behavior therapists should know about integrating medication interventions into primary care; managing medication priorities for adolescents with multiple diagnoses, including substance use problems; and the compatibility of MIP with everyday practice conditions.     

Pride and physical activity: Behavioural regulations as a motivational mechanism?

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between fitness-related pride and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). A secondary aim was to examine behavioural regulations consistent with organismic integration theory (OIT) as potential mechanisms of the pride-MVPA relationship.

Design: This study used a cross-sectional design.

Methods: Young adults (N = 465; M_age = 20.55; SD_age = 1.75 years) completed self-report instruments of fitness-related pride, motivation and MVPA.

Results: Both authentic and hubristic fitness-related pride demonstrated a moderate positive relationship with MVPA, as well as positive associations to more autonomous regulations. Behavioural regulations mediated the relationship between both facets of pride and MVPA with specific indirect effects noted for identified regulation and intrinsic motivation.

Conclusion: Overall, these findings demonstrate the association between experiencing fitness-related pride and increased engagement in MVPA. The tenability of OIT was also demonstrated for offering insight into explaining the association between pride and physical activity engagement.