I am not a Crook: Effects of Denials on Perceptions of a Defendant's Guilt, Personality, and Motives

Two studies were conducted to explore the effects of a defendant's overinformative denials (i.e., denials not prompted by an accusation or specific request) in a courtroom trial. Subjects read the testimony of a defendant who either did or did not deny several negative propositions (Study I) or whose denials either were or were not in response to the prosecutor's questions (Study 2). The denials had little effect on subjects' beliefs regarding the denied propositions. However, the defendant who provided the overinformative denials was perceived as being less trustworthy, more nervous, more concerned with presenting a positive image, and more likely to believe that others believed the negative propositions. Subjects who read the testimony of this defendant also generated more negative and fewer positive thoughts, and they perceived the defendant as being more guilty. The results illustrate the importance of the conversational context for determining the pragmatic meaning of a speaker's remarks.     

The effects of temporal-precision and time-minimization constraints on the spatial and temporal accuracy of aimed hand movements

Discrete aimed hand movements, made by subjects given temporal-accuracy and time-minimization task instructions, were compared. Movements in the temporal-accuracy task were made to a point target with a goal movement time of 400 ms. A circular target then was manufactured that incorporated the measured spatial errors from the temporal-accuracy task, and subjects attempted to contact the target with a minimum movement time and without missing the circular target (time-minimization task instructions). This procedure resulted in equal movement amplitude and approximately equal spatial accuracy for the two task instructions. Movements under the time-minimization instructions were completed rapidly (M = 307 ms) without target misses, and tended to be made up of two submovements. In contrast, movements under temporal-accuracy instructions were made more slowly (M = 397 ms), matching the goal movement time, and were typically characterized by a single submovement. These data support the hypothesis that movement times, at a fixed movement amplitude versus target width ratio, decrease as the number of submovements increases, and that movements produced under temporal-accuracy and time-minimization have different control characteristics. These control differences are related to the linear and logarithmic speed-accuracy relations observed for temporal-accuracy and time-minimization tasks, respectively.     

Motor skill acquisition and retention as a function of average feedback, summary feedback, and performance variability

Summary feedback involves withholding feedback from subjects until the last trial in a block is completed, and then presenting feedback about each trial. A variation of this method, called average feedback (Young & Schmidt, 1992), presents subjects with only the mean of the trial block. We investigated whether these methods have similar effects on acquisition and retention of a simple motor skill. Five groups of subjects (n = 16 per group) performed 60 acquisition trials of an aiming task involving both spatial and temporal accuracy. We presented average and summary feedback based on either 5-trial blocks or 15-trial blocks and compared these schedules with every-trial feedback. During acquisition, all groups improved with practice, with a slight tendency for the every-trial condition to have less absolute error than the longer summary and average conditions. Analysis of delayed no-feedback retention tests, however, revealed a strong advantage for the 5-trial summary and average conditions compared with the every-trial condition. In addition, we found that for long blocks of acquisition trials without augmented feedback, the performance variability of those trials was associated with retention performance. Results are discussed in terms of how these different manipulations may make feedback less useful during acquisition, but foster the use of certain information processing activities that enhance overall learning.     

The role of neuroimaging in the discovery of processing stages a review

In this contribution we show how neuroimaging methods can augment behavioural methods to discover processing stages. Event Related Brain Potentials (ERPs), Brain Electrical Source Analysis (BESA) and regional changes in cerebral blood flow (rCBF) do not necessarily require behavioural responses. With the aid of rCBF we are able to discover several cortical and subcortical brain systems (processors) active in selective attention and memory search tasks. BESA describes cortical activity with high temporal resolution in terms of a limited number of neural generators within these brain systems. The combination of behavioural methods and neuroimaging provides a picture of the functional architecture of the brain. The review is organized around three processors: the Visual, Cognitive and Manual Motor Processors.     

AN EXPLOSION OF DAZZLING FLASHES: TEILHARD'S UNITY OF FAITH AND SCIENCE

Abstract. Science and revelation have been presented as two books with the same “author,” their reconciliation being called “concordism.” Teilhard opposed concordism, insisting that supposed “revelations” be treated as scientific hypotheses to be verified or not in experience. Applying his criterion for truth (Does it bring “coherence and fecundity” to the phenomena?) to Christian revelation, he told of finding “an explosion of dazzling flashes.” So Teilhard spoke of the hypothesis as the supreme spiritual act wherein the dust of experience takes on form and is kindled at the fire of knowledge.     

SOMETHING TO OFFEND EVERYONE: TIPLER'S VISION OF IMMORTALITY

Abstract. Frank Tipler's The Physics of Immortality provides abundant cause for intellectual offense—including challenges to physics, to theology, and, seemingly, to common sense. Few philosophical conundrums remain unaddressed. Still, the book is stimulating and well presented.     

Preventing antisocial behavior in the schools

Multiple correlates and determinants of antisocial behavior within the home, community, and school are reviewed. Due to the school's pivotal role in our society, an emphasis is placed on how our schools contribute to antisocial behavior, and what educators can do to prevent anti-social behavior and related attendance problems. A variety of contextual factors and setting events within our schools appear to be major contributors to antisocial behavior, and some of the same factors identified within the schools also have been identified within the home. These setting events, rather than quick restrictive fixes, must be given more attention if we are to provide safe school environments-environments that durably prevent antisocial behavior and related attendance problems.     

An evaluation of differential prediction of WIAT achievement scores from WISC-III FSIQ across ethnic and gender groups

This study examines differential prediction of WIAT achievement scores based on WISC-III FSIQ in white as compared with African American and Hispanic children, and in females as compared with males. A procedure which allows simultaneous comparisons of slopes and intercepts across groups is employed. The results are consistent with previous research findings in supporting the general absence of bias in predicting achievement from IQ.     

Origin and history of the Thematic Apperception Test images

The origin and history of each of the images appearing on the 1943/1971 edition of the Thematic Apperception Test is presented. This information corrects and supplements that provided by Murray (1943/1971) in the test manual. Authorship of the test, including the contributions of Christiana Morgan, is discussed. The material presented expands the historical record and may serve as an aid in test interpretation.     

Biasing the pacemaker in the behavioral theory of timing

In the behavioral theory of timing, pacemaker rate is determined by overall rate of reinforcement. A two-alternative free-operant psychophysical procedure was employed to investigate whether pacemaker period was also sensitive to the differential rate of reinforcement. Responding on a left key during the first 25 s and on a right key during the second 25 s of a 50-s trial was reinforced at variable intervals, and variable-interval schedule values during the two halves of the trials were varied systematically. Responding on the right key during the first 25 s and on the left key during the second 25 s was not reinforced. Estimates of pacemaker period were derived from fits of a function predicted by the behavioral theory of timing to right-key response proportions in consecutive 5-s bins of the 50-s trial. Estimates of pacemaker period were shortest when the differential reinforcer rate most strongly favored right-key responses, and were longest when the differential reinforcer rate most strongly favored left-key responses. The results were consistent with the conclusion that pacemaker rate is influenced by relative reinforcer rate.