Testing a modified cognitive interview with category clustering recall in Iran

The cognitive interview (CI) has been an effective method for interviewing eyewitnesses often leading to changes in legislation and practice in many countries. This study was the first to employ the CI in Iran and test whether category clustering recall (CCR) was superior to a free recall when incorporated within an investigative interview. A between‐subjects design assigned 66 participants to one of three interview conditions after they watched a mock robbery. The participants were interviewed 48 hr later using either a structured interview (SI), the CI, or a modified cognitive interview (MCI) that replaced free recall with CCR at the first retrieval attempt. Analysis of variance suggests CCR was more effective than free recall and the CI group recalled more information than the SI group, replicating the CI superiority effect. This has implications for law enforcement in Iran and worldwide by suggesting these techniques can be used to enhance recall.     

心理弹性视域下老子的守柔思想及其家庭教育意涵

心理弹性是积极心理学的研究热点,其研究趋势正向老子守柔的观点靠近。“韧”是“柔”最基本的语义,守柔是一种温和的韧性,带有弹性特征,是以积极的态度对外界刺激予以动态调控和适应,体现了在坚韧中渗透、在温和中顺从、在容纳中消融、在去欲中致静、在处下中利他、在统合中促和的心理弹性内涵。基于此,守柔式家庭教育的弹性策略可以是:认知上的弹性预设,即以家长的理性引导而促进孩子的适应性; 情绪上的弹性传递,即以家长的积极心态而诱发孩子的积极性; 沟通上的弹性拓展,即以家长的易接触性而增强孩子的可塑性; 动力上的弹性支持,即以家长的柔性操作而提升孩子的抗压性。     

Los procesos de atribución causal

RESUMEN

El interés por los procesos de atribución, por las explicaciones -razones- que las personas dan para su conducta y la de los demás, es una de las características más sobresalientes de los modelos recientes en la Psicología Social. Heider, hace veinticinco años, ya se había fijado en la gran significación de los procesos de atribución causal en las relaciones interpersonales, pero hasta hace bastantes años después no se recogieron los frutos de aquel interés señalado por Heider. En este trabajo se realiza una revisión de diversos modelos de atribución y se señala, desde una posición crítica, algunas de sus inconsistencias.     

Energetic effects of dopants on the eutectoid decomposition of Nb–Si in situ composites

The influences of doping elements (Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Ta, Cr, Mo, W and Al) on the heats of formation of Nb, Nb₅Si₃ and Nb₃Si have been studied using first-principles pseudopotential plane-wave method based on density functional theory. Site preferences of dopants in Nb₅Si₃ and Nb₃Si intermetallics are first determined by comparing the heats of formation of the systems with different site occupations of the doping atoms. The partitionings of dopants between the equilibrium phases Nb and Nb₅Si₃ of Nb–Si in situ composites are then discussed and compared with experimental results. Phase partitioning behaviours of the alloying elements are found to depend strongly on the number of their valence electrons. By calculating the enthalpy of reaction regarding the eutectoid decomposition of Nb₃Si phase, we conclude that Ta is a Nb₃Si stabiliser while other dopants destabilise Nb₃Si at the investigated concentration.     

Pictorial superiority effects in oldest-old people

We examined memory for pictures and words in middle-age (45–59 years), young-old (60–74 years), old-old (75–89 years), and the oldest-old adults (90–97 years) in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study. Stimulus items were presented and retention was tested in a blocked order where half of the participants studied 16 simple line drawings and the other half studied matching words during acquisition. Free recall and recognition followed. In the next acquisition/test block a new set of items was used where the stimulus format was changed relative to the first block. Results yielded pictorial superiority effects in both retention measures for all age groups. Follow-up analyses of clustering in free recall revealed that a greater number of categories were accessed (which reflects participants’ retrieval plan) and more items were recalled per category (which reflects participants’ encoding strategy) when pictures served as stimuli compared to words. Cognitive status and working memory span were correlated with picture and word recall. Regression analyses confirmed that these individual difference variables accounted for significant age-related variance in recall. These data strongly suggest that the oldest-old can utilise nonverbal memory codes to support long-term retention as effectively as do younger adults.     

Barriers to Treatment in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Families Enrolled in a Community-Based Domestic Violence Intervention

Using quantitative and qualitative data, we examined the association between barriers to treatment, motivating factors, treatment attendance, and outcome in a sample of 63 mothers (most of Asian or Pacific Islander descent) enrolled in a family-based domestic violence treatment program. A high number of perceived barriers was associated with lower attendance and lower scores on assessment of parenting practices at posttreatment. Mothers reported relying on their own motivation, observations of children's improvement, and the quality of their relationships with staff and group members to overcome barriers. A larger number of motivating factors was associated with positive parenting practices at posttreatment. Discussion includes the benefits of a mixed-method approach to measuring barriers and its clinical application to increase treatment participation.     

Laypeople do use sample variance: The effect of embedding data in a variance-implying story

When using sample data to decide whether two populations differ, laypeople attend to the difference between group means, but largely overlook within-group variability (Obrecht, Chapman, & Gelman, 2007 Obrecht, N. A., Chapman, G. B. and Gelman, R. 2007. Intuitive t-tests: Lay use of statistical information. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14: 1147–1152.  [Google Scholar]). We show, first, that laypeople know about and use story-implied variability when making pairwise comparisons. Then we demonstrate that participants’ sensitivity to variance in a dataset is boosted when presented in a context that implies consistent variance information. Statistical data were couched in stories about electrical conductivity measurements obtained from element samples (low-variability category) or body weight measurements from samples of peoples (high-variability category). We manipulated, between participants, whether the data variance matched or mismatched the story-implied variability. Participants who received data in a matching context showed high sensitivity to variance, while those in the mismatching condition did not. Laypeople use statistical data to make reasonable inferences when those data are provided in a context that makes sense.