Detecting true and false opinions: The Devil's Advocate approach as a lie detection aid

We examined the efficacy of a new approach to detect truths and lies in expressing opinions: the Devil's Advocate approach. Interviewees are first asked an opinion eliciting question that asks participants to argue in favour of their personal view. This is followed by a Devil's Advocate question that asks participants to argue against their personal view. People normally think more about reasons that support rather than oppose their opinion. Therefore we expected truth tellers to provide more information and shorter latency times in their responses to the opinion eliciting question than to the Devil's Advocate question. Liars are expected to reveal the opposite pattern as the Devil's Advocate question is more compatible with their beliefs than is the opinion eliciting question. In Experiment 1, we interviewed seventeen truth tellers and liars via the Devil's Advocate approach and measured the difference in number of words and latency times to the two questions. Our hypotheses were supported. In Experiment 2, 25 observers were shown these interviews, and made qualitative judgements about the statements. Truth tellers' opinion eliciting answers were seen as more immediate and plausible and revealed more emotional involvement than their Devil's Advocate answers. No clear differences emerged in liars' answers to the two types of question. We conclude that the Devil's Advocate approach is a promising lie detection approach that deserves attention in future research.     

The quality of teacher-student interactions: associations with first graders' academic and behavioral outcomes

The associations between the quality of teacher-student interactions and first grade academic and adaptive behavior outcomes were examined in a study of 106 Portuguese students in 64 first grade classrooms. Students' vocabulary, print concepts, math, and adaptive skills were assessed both at the end of preschool and in first grade. Classrooms were observed in the spring of first grade. After taking into account family risk factors and preschool skills, the quality of teacher-student interactions, particularly in terms of classroom organization, was positively associated with students' first grade vocabulary and print concepts. In addition, classroom quality predicted number identification outcomes differently depending on student skills prior to school entry. Students with lower preschool math skills seemed to benefit from higher quality teacher-student interactions. These findings provide further support for the unique contribution of the quality of teacher-student interactions in first grade and suggest that it may be an important mechanism to improve academic skills.     

“To work,or not to work,that is the question” – Recent trends and avenues for research on presenteeism

ABSTRACT

This position paper brings together recent and emerging developments in the field of presenteeism. A critical synthesis of the evidence is needed due to persisting conceptual and methodological challenges as well as the increased volume of research in the field. This paper integrates emerging evidence and critical thinking into three areas: (1) concept, (2) measurement and methodological issues, and (3) the context of presenteeism. First, due to the variety of existing definitions, competing understandings, as well as the notion of positive presenteeism, it is important to reconsider the notion of presenteeism. Second, it is important to reflect on the measurement of the act of presenteeism and the productivity loss associated with that. Third, following the call to investigate presenteeism in specific contexts, it is important to explain the social, occupational, cross-cultural aspects, as well as the contemporary workplace changes. Based on this critical synthesis, we conclude by identifying recommendations for future research on presenteeism.     

Identifying objects from a haptic glance

Subjects identified common objects under conditions of a “haptic glance,” a brief haptic exposure that placed severe spatial and temporal constraints on stimulus processing. They received no advance cue, a superordinate-level name as cue, or a superordinate and basic-level name as cue. The objects varied in size relative to the fingertip and in the most diagnostic attribute, either texture or shape. The data suggest that object recognition can occur when global volumetric primitives cannot directly be extracted. Even with no cue, confusion errors resembled the target object and indicated extraction of material and local shape information, which was sufficient to provide accuracy above 20%. Performance improved with cuing, and the effect of exposure duration was observed primarily with minimal cuing, indicating compensatory effects of top-down processing.