Criminal profiling from crime scene analysis

Since the 1970s, investigative profilers at the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit (now part of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime) have been assisting local, state, and federal agencies in narrowing investigations by providing criminal personality profiles. An attempt is now being made to describe this criminal-profile-generating process. A series of five overlapping stages lead to the sixth stage, or the goal of apprehension of the offender: (1) profiling inputs, (2) decision-process models, (3) crime assessment, (4) the criminal profile, (5) investigation, and (6) apprehension. Two key feedback filters in the process are: (a) achieving congruence with the evidence, with decision models, and with investigation recommendations, and (b) the addition of new evidence.     

Survey on present and potential instructional use of computers in psychology

A survey of academic psychologists was taken to determine present use of computers in instruction, willingness to use good education software, and kinds of potential uses of computers in psychology courses. A majority of the respondents reported using computers in instruction. Respondents indicated substantial willingness to adopt computer-based courseware. Respondents believed that a variety of uses, including classroom demonstrations and student experiments, would facilitate student learning. The results of the survey are compared with the instructional modules the task force is developing.     

Cognitive dissonance as a mechanism in vocational decision processes

This study examined changes in cognitive-dissonance-related variables during the professional training period. Differences in levels and change in satisfaction with career choice, importance of career, certainty of career decision, self-occupational perceptions, general attitude toward career, time since career decision, and past experience were observed when students who left a collegiate professional training program before program completion were compared with those who remained in the program. Data supports the validity of D. Hershenson and R. Roth's (1966, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 13, 368–370) and V. Harren's (1979, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14, 119–133) theoretical models of vocational decision and the Assessment of Career Decision Making scale.     

Non-Modality Specific Speech Coding: The Processing Of Lip-Read Information

Two experiments investigated the nature of the code in which lip-read speech is processed. In Experiment 1 subjects repeated words, presented with lip-read and masked auditory components out of synchrony by 600 ms. In one condition the lip-read input preceded the auditory input, and in the second condition the auditory input preceded the lip-read input. Direction of the modality lead did not affect the accuracy of report. Unlike auditory/graphic letter matching (Wood, 1974), the processing code used to match lip-read and auditory stimuli is insensitive to the temporal ordering of the input modalities. In Experiment 2, subjects were presented with two types of lists of colour names: in one list some words were heard, and some read; the other list consisted of heard and lip-read words. When asked to recall words from only one type of input presentation, subjects confused lip-read and heard words more frequently than they confused heard and read words. The results indicate that lip-read and heard speech share a common, non-modality specific, processing stage that excludes graphically presented phonological information.     

The processing of the sounds and meanings of ongoing speech by aphasic subjects

The ability of aphasic subjects to process the sounds and meanings of ongoing speech was tested. Subjects, 10 aphasic and 20 control, heard test sentences which contained one member of phonemically similar word pairs in one of three semantic contexts: congruent, neutral, and noncongruent. Immediately after hearing a sentence, subjects were to indicate which member of the word pair had been in the sentence. All subject groups had similar overall patterns of response to the different semantic contexts. The division of aphasic subjects into groups of high and low comprehenders revealed response differences. High comprehending aphasic subjects, like control subjects, demonstrated interactive processing of the sounds and meaning of speech while low comprehending aphasic subjects did not.     

REDUCING SELF-INJURY AND CORRESPONDING SELF-RESTRAINT THROUGH THE STRATEGIC USE OF PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

We examined the use of protective clothing to reduce a retarded male's face-punching and leg-kicking and two corresponding forms of self-restraint—arm and leg self-restraint. The resident was observed each day in three sessions of randomly ordered conditions (one condition per session): without any protective clothing, with a padded helmet, and with a padded helmet and padded slippers. Use of the padded helmet substantially reduced face-punching and arm self-restraint. The addition of padded slippers reduced leg-kicking and leg self-restraint. These results suggest a practical and effective means of controlling self-injury and self-restraint. They are also consistent with the possibility that the resident's arm restraint was maintained in part by escape or avoidance of face-punching and that his leg restraint was maintained in part by escape or avoidance of leg-kicking.     

Youth Testimony at the Opening Prayer of the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches

This is the text of the youth testimony at the opening prayer of the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches on 31 August 2022.     

Intra- and interpersonal factors and adolescent wellbeing during COVID-19 in three countries

COVID-19 has altered adolescents' opportunities for developing and strengthening interpersonal skills and proficiencies. Using data from adolescents in Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom, we examined the relation between internalizing symptoms assessed pre-pandemic or when pandemic-related restrictions were lifted (Time 1) and associated internalizing symptoms during a subsequent restrictive pandemic period (Time 2). Across all 3 countries, we found significant and consistent effect sizes in the relation between Time 1 and Time 2 internalizing symptoms. We further examined the direct and moderating impact of self-efficacy and contextual supports for adolescents' internalizing symptoms. Higher self-efficacy was associated with lower levels of internalizing symptoms at Time 2 in all 3 countries. Additionally, the relation between Time 1 and 2 internalizing symptoms was buffered by regulatory self-efficacy and peer support in Italy, but in the U.S., higher levels of general self-efficacy instead had an exacerbating effect on the relation between Times 1 and 2 internalizing symptoms. Results are discussed in the context of utilizing cross-national datasets to examine similarities in adolescent well-being over time and in the face of varying government responses to the pandemic.     

Rehearsal strategies and the serial-position curve in immediate free recall of ordered items

Immediate free recall of random strings of 10 numbers was studied under four experimental conditions: as each number was presented, subjects either had to recall the previous number (Recall n-1), recall the number just presented (Recall n), read the number (Read aloud), or were silent (Free Recall). Overall recall was the same in all conditions. Recall and order of recall by serial-position changed systematically, with an increasing recency and decreasing primacy effect from Free Recall through Read Aloud and Recall n to Recall n-1. These changes in recall order and serial-position curves suggest that differential rehearsal of items is decreased by requiring retrieval during presentation.