The role of gross locomotor restriction in the acquisition of motor and cardiac conditional discrimination in the dog

The effects of gross locomotor restriction and lack of restriction, respectively, on the acquisition of a motor and cardiac discrimination task was investigated. Litter-mate dogs were used in a counterbalanced design involving two treatment conditions (free and restrained) and two discrimination learning problems. Each learning problem included eight daily training sessions with 10 CS+ tones and ten CS—tones presented randomly. The US was a shock to the left foreleg. Degree of foot flexion and percentage change in heart rate in response to CS tones were recorded. Dogs subjected initially to the free condition manifested a superior and more rapid motor and cardiac discrimination than Ss initially restrained. The free condition was not as facilitatory when presented to Ss which first had been exposed to the restraint condition. The results are discussed in terms of activation and negative transfer.     

Repeated interrogations: verbal and non‐verbal cues to deception

The major aim of this study was to investigate to what extent verbal and non‐verbal features of liars' and truth‐tellers' behaviour change during the course of repeated interrogations. After seeing a staged event, 24 suspects (12 liars and 12 truth‐tellers) were interrogated three times over a period of 11 days. In terms of the non‐verbal features, and in line with our prediction, we found that the liars displayed significantly fewer smiles, self‐manipulations, pauses, and less gaze aversion than truth‐tellers. Furthermore, over time the initial differences between liars' and truth‐tellers' non‐verbal behaviour increased for smiles, gaze aversion and pauses. In addition, we found that the cue ‘richness of detail’—the most indicative verbal marker for truth as given in previous research—had no discriminative power at any of the interrogation sessions. Finally, and in contrast to beliefs held by supposed expert lie‐catchers (e.g. judges and police officers), truthful and deceptive statements were found to be equally consistent over time. The psycho‐legal implications of the above findings are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ‘elasticity’ of criminal evidence: a moderator of investigator bias

This study examined investigators' perceptions of the reliability of incriminating and exonerating evidence of different types. Police trainees in the role of investigators read the background of a homicide case and then received a piece of evidence that either confirmed or disconfirmed their prior suspicion against the suspect. Despite identical objective characteristics of the evidence, participants rated the disconfirming (vs. confirming) evidence as less reliable and generated more arguments to question its reliability. This asymmetrical scepticism was stronger for participants judging witness evidence, compared to DNA and photo evidence, supporting the hypothesis that different types of evidence vary in ‘elasticity’—the extent to which subjective interpretations can be justified. Interestingly, the observed effects were not limited to the specific evidence in the case, but also affected the ratings of the type of evidence in general, suggesting that reliability criteria for witness information are highly malleable and sensitive to contextual influences. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Internet‐initiated sexual abuse: adolescent victims' reports about On‐ and Off‐line sexual activities

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how adolescent girls, who had been sexually (on‐ and off‐line) deceived and abused by an Internet hebephile, reported about these acts. As we had access to documentation of 68 girls' conversations (i.e. chat logs) and involvement with the perpetrator, we were able to gauge what the victims reported during the police interview against this detailed documentation. In contrast with findings from previous research, the majority of victims reported about the off‐line activities (real‐life meetings) with the perpetrator. However, the victims omitted and/or denied more of the on‐line activities, specifically the more severe sexual on‐line acts (sending nude photos and participating in sexual web shows). There is probably a gap between what the victims reported and what they presumably remembered about the on‐line activities. Factors that might have affected the victims' pattern of reports are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Capturing the Naturally Occurring Superior Performance of Experts in the Laboratory: Toward a Science of Expert and Exceptional Performance

ABSTRACT— Expertise researchers have traditionally shied away from studying the highest levels of achievement in favor of studying basic cognitive processes, such as memory and categorization. In this article, we present a different approach that is focused on capturing superior (expert) performance on representative tasks that reveal the essential characteristics of expertise in a given domain. In domains where expert performance is measurable, acquisition is gradual and the highest levels are only attained after 10 years of intense preparation—even for the most "talented." Analyses of reproducibly superior performance show that it is mediated by physiological adaptations and cognitive skills acquired as a result of the cumulative effects of special practice activities (deliberate practice). It appears that the genes necessary to attain such adaptations and expert skills can be activated in healthy children—the only clear exceptions to date being genes that control body size and height. Our knowledge of how experts acquire their superior skills provides insights into the potential for human adaptation and skill acquisition and has important implications for theories of the structure of general and expert cognition, as well as for training interventions in applied psychology and education.     

Erratic Appliances and Energy Awareness

We are exploring how to increase energy awareness through critical interaction design, creating objects that expose issues related to energy consumption in various ways. To draw attention to energy beyond ordinary conceptions as a technical solution in everyday life, we inquire into other ways of relating to energy in design and to uncover the properties of energy as a design material. To learn more about how energy can be made more present in product design, we have been redesigning a series of everyday objects around the theme of ‘erratic appliances’. As household energy consumption increases, these appliances start to behave strangely. The aim was to use designerly and experience-based means to make people aware of their energy consumption instead of measuring energy consumption solely with meters and numeric displays.     

Motivational Bias in Criminal Investigators' Judgments of Witness Reliability1

An experiment was conducted where experienced criminal investigators (N = 49) evaluated the testimony of a witness who either confirmed or disconfirmed the focal hypothesis in a homicide case. Participants' motivation to perpetuate the hypothesis was manipulated by varying the need for cognitive closure via time pressure. The hypothesis‐inconsistent witness was perceived as less reliable and credible, although its background and witnessing conditions were identical to those of the hypothesis‐consistent witness. While this asymmetrical skepticism was not moderated by time pressure, participants under high (vs. low) time pressure were less inclined to adjust their confidence in the hypothesis in line with the witness testimony. Discussion focuses on implications for criminal investigations and theoretical contributions to investigative psychology.     

Judges', lay judges', and police officers' beliefs about factors affecting children's testimony about sexual abuse

The authors examined Swedish judges', lay judges', and police officers' beliefs about factors that may complicate or facilitate children's reports of sexual abuse. Participants (N = 562) rated potential complicating and facilitating factors and freely reported which criteria they considered important when assessing the reliability of child witnesses. The groups had similar opinions regarding which factors are complicating and facilitating. Furthermore, the groups tended to regard emotional factors as more complicating than cognitive factors. When freely reporting criteria that are important when assessing reliability, judges and police officers reported criteria pertaining mainly to the child, whereas lay judges reported mainly criteria pertaining mainly to the police interview. Results indicate that participants believe that children have the capacity to remember and report about abuse but are hindered in doing so by emotional factors. Results also suggest that police officers may underestimate their own influence on the reliability of children's reports.     

The naïve intuitive statistician: a naïve sampling model of intuitive confidence intervals

The perspective of the na?ve intuitive statistician is outlined and applied to explain overconfidence when people produce intuitive confidence intervals and why this format leads to more overconfidence than other formally equivalent formats. The na?ve sampling model implies that people accurately describe the sample information they have but are na?ve in the sense that they uncritically take sample properties as estimates of population properties. A review demonstrates that the na?ve sampling model accounts for the robust and important findings in previous research as well as provides novel predictions that are confirmed, including a way to minimize the overconfidence with interval production. The authors discuss the na?ve sampling model as a representative of models inspired by the na?ve intuitive statistician.