The prevalence of declarative and indirect yes/no Questions when children testify in criminal cases of child sexual abuse in the United States

The present study assessed how attorneys questioned children in cases of child sexual abuse in the United States tried between 2005 and 2015. Trial testimonies (N = 134) of 5- to 17-year-olds (M = 12 years old) were coded for the linguistic form of attorneys' questions and children's subsequent responses. Three fourths of all questions were closed ended. Both declarative (statement question; e.g., “And he hit you?”; 21% of questions) and indirect yes/no questions (beginning with an indirect speech act; e.g., “Do you remember X?”; 11% of questions) were common, and produced potentially problematic responses, in comparison with forced-choice and yes/no questions. Declarative questions elicited the highest rates of unelaborative responses whereas indirect yes/no questions elicited the highest rate of nonsubstantive responses. The findings highlight the importance for researchers to better assess children's responses to declarative questions and for prosecuting attorneys to cautiously use declarative and indirect yes/no questions when questioning children.     

Acquisition of the classically conditioned eyeblink response in humans over the life span

Human subjects ranging in age from 18 to 85 years underwent classical conditioning of the eyeblink response to a tone conditioned stimulus (CS) and an air-puff unconditioned stimulus (UCS). There was a decline in percentage of conditioned responses with age. This decline was most noticeable in subjects over age 50. These conditioning deficits were not due to age-related changes in sensitivity to the tone CS or the air-puff UCS, nor could the conditioning deficits be attributed to an age-related decline in general cognitive abilities or to changes in spontaneous blink rates. The results are discussed in terms of using the classically conditioned eyeblink in humans in conjunction with the classically conditioned nictitating membrane response in rabbits as a model system for studying the neurobiology of age-related conditioning deficits.     

Why amnesia and the law is not a useful topic

This brief note suggests that amnesia and the law (or any other behavioral condition and the law) is not a jurisprudentially interesting topic because such behavioral conditions do not require distinct legal critera and procedures. Rather, the issues that each raises are examples of more general normative issues, such as the proper criteria for competence or responsibility, that should be addressed more generally and directly. Distinct behavioral conditions are simply factors that should be used as evidence when the law adjudicates or develops more general doctrines.     

The nature of equity-restoration: Some approval-seeking considerations

Subjects performed a proofreading task and evaluated its difficulty both beforehand and afterwards. They were overpaid or equitably paid by an experimenter who was or was not directly responsible for the level of pay they received, and who they believed would or would not see their post-test ratings. All subjects knew the experimenter would grade their task performance. Consistent with equity theory, overpaid subjects rated the task as having been more difficult than they had expected and did higher quality work than did equitably paid subjects. However, subjects who thought the experimenter would see their ratings (Aware condition) rated it as more difficult and performed more poorly on it than those who thought she would not see them (Unaware condition). Reported task difficulty increased among overpaid subjects under aware conditions, remained stable among overpaid subjects under unaware conditions, and decreased for equitably paid subjects. These findings suggested that what appears to be “equity-restoration” may be a self-presentation strategy designed to win the experimenter's approval, and that task ratings rather than performance will be used for this purpose when they can be communicated to the experimenter. The experimenter's responsibility for the subject's pay had no effect in the present study.     

Overpaid or Overworked? Cognitive and Behavioral Reactions to Inequitable Rewards1

Although early studies support the equity theory prediction that increasing rewards for task performance enhance the effort devoted to the task, these findings may be challenged on a number of counts. Social exchange theory suggests, for example, that when rewards exceed what is felt to be equitable, the recipient may increase his perception of task difficulty and his estimate of what is a fair return for his efforts. In this case, there should be little need to devote increased energy to task performance. The present study, conducted in both Italy and the United States, supports this reasoning. Compared with equitably rewarded subjects, those rewarded by either 40% or 80% over their estimate of what was fair, altered both their perceptions of task difficulty and of a fair return. No performance differences were found.     

Activity anorexia: An interplay between basic and applied behavior analysis

The relationship between basic research with nonhumans and applied behavior analysis is illustrated by our work on activity anorexia. When rats are fed one meal a day and allowed to run on an activity wheel, they run excessively, stop eating, and die of starvation. Convergent evidence, from several different research areas, indicates that the behavior of these animals and humans who self-starve is functionally similar. A biobehavioral theory of activity anorexia is presented that details the cultural contingencies, behavioral processes, and physiology of anorexia. Diagnostic criteria and a three-stage treatment program for activity-based anorexia are outlined. The animal model permits basic research on anorexia that for practical and ethical reasons cannot be conducted with humans. Thus, basic research can have applied importance.