Psychological evidence in the courtroom: critical reflections on the general acceptance standard

The increasing ties between psychology and law have familiarized psychologists with the standards by which law admits scientific evidence into the courtroom. In the USA, these include the general acceptance standard and the Daubert guidelines and, in the UK, the Turner Rule. However, the psychological literature has largely failed to make clear the degree of legal debate that exists concerning the clarity and effectiveness of such standards. This paper will focus on the general acceptance standard, examining key problems of this standard and placing them in a specifically psychological context. Such consideration is important precisely because the standard has become so well known within the psychological literature and because insufficient attention has been given to the way in which it operates implicitly within jurisdictions outside the USA. The authors argue that it is the responsibility of psychologists to become more involved in the debate concerning admissibility standards, given the credibility and authority that law accords to psychology when admitting it into the courtroom. In particular, psychologists need to become more self-reflective about their role in creating and maintaining such standards. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Braine心理逻辑理论述评

该文对Braine提出的在推理心理学研究领域占居重要地位的“心理逻辑理论”做了综合述评。“心理逻辑理论”主要包括三方面内容:构成“心理逻辑理论”基础的一组推理规则图式、将推理规则图式应用于推理过程的推理方案、实际应用意义。Braine认为他和他的同事于1984年设计并实施的以“自然推理系统”所含各推理规则为实验材料的实验结果支持该理论的基本观点。     

The Effects of Stakes and Threat on Foreign Policy Decision-Making

Decision research demonstrates that individuals adapt decision processing strategies according to the characteristics of the decision task. Unfortunately, the literature has neglected task factors specific to foreign policy decisions. This paper presents experimental analyses of the effects of the decisional stakes (i.e., salience of the values at issue) and threat (risk of loss on those issues) on decision-makers' information acquisition patterns and choice rules with respect to one of four hypothetical foreign policy scenarios. Contrary to the notion that normative (rational) decision-making is more likely in less dramatic settings, the results indicate that elevated threat encourages rational decision processing, whereas heuristic processing was more prevalent in less threatening situations. Interestingly, the added presence of high stakes magnified both threat effects. These results, although preliminary, suggest that stakes-threat effects are not direct reflections of stress and/or complexity effects, but should be considered independently in foreign policy analyses.     

不同维度特征的共存对归类不确定性特征推理的影响

探讨在归类不确定的情境下,目标特征和预测特征的共存对特征推理的影响。共包括了三个实验,其中实验1、2考察了非靶类别中目标特征和预测特征的共存性对特征推理的影响,实验3考察了靶类别中目标特征和预测特征的共存性对特征推理的影响。三个实验五个分实验的结果一致支持了修正后的Bayesian规则,排除了“单类说”、“综合条件概率模型”的假设,并进一步修正了Bayesian规则为：     

项目反应理论等级反应模型项目信息量

信息函数作为项目反应理论中的一个重要概念,在进行项目和测验分析的工作中,以及在指导测验编制的工作中,有着非常重要的应用价值。信息函数的应用在计算机化自适应测验中更是重中之重,也受到最大关注。然而,关于多级记分项目信息函数特性的研究还比较少。本研究模拟了被试特质水平参数数据和项目参数数据,其中被试特质水平参数生成了121个被试特质水平参数点,项目参数生成了4批不同区分度参数数据,每批数据有126个不同难度等级参数组合模式的项目,每个项目有5个难度等级。通过数据分析后发现,等级反应模型项目提供最大信息量所对应的被试特质水平,是与该项目几个相互临近的难度等级组相适应,既不是只与其中一个难度等级对应,也不一定是与所有难度等级对应。本研究称这种规律为“临近难度等级占优”。这个发现无疑对测验质量分析和测验编制工作,包括计算机化自适应测验编制,具有重要的指导意义     

专业人员价值取向的现状研究

对8省市的428位专业人员所进行的价值取向研究表明,我国专业人员的价值取向总体倾向是积极向上,与社会期待相符合的,重视社会责任、工作、公众利益、法律规范、感情和家庭的价值;性别、文化程度和年龄等人口统计学因素显著影响专业人员的价值取向的个别侧面,但收入水平、婚姻状况和家庭结构的作用不显著。     

Assisted death and martyrdom.

Against the backdrop of ancient, mediaeval and modern Catholic teaching prohibiting killing (the rule against killing), the question of assisted suicide and euthanasia is examined. In the past the Church has modified its initial repugnance for killing by developing specific guidelines for permitting killing under strict conditions. This took place with respect to capital punishment and a just war, for example. One wonders why in the least objectionable instance, when a person is already dying, suffering, and repeatedly requesting assistance in dying, there is still such widespread condemnation of assisted suicide and euthanasia. In a Gedankexperiment, I suggest that certain stories of martyrdom in the history of the Christian Church shed some light on the role of taking one's life, or putting one's life in danger out of love. I further suggest that requesting assisted suicide and/or euthanasia from the motive of love of one's family or care givers might possibly qualify as one instance of justifiable euthanasia, although I acknowledge that the Church will not be making changes in its stance any time soon.     

Characterizations of Negative Definability in Modal Logic

Negative definability ([18]) is an alternative way of defining classes of Kripke frames via a modal language, one that enables us, for instance, to define the class of irreflexive frames. Besides a list of closure conditions for negatively definable classes, the paper contains two main theorems. First, a characterization is given of negatively definable classes of (rooted) finite transitive Kripke frames and of such classes defined using both traditional (positive) and negative definitions. Second, we characterize the negatively definable classes of rooted general frames.     

项目在不同间隔时间呈现过程中的系列位置效应

以中国汉字为材料,考察不同中数比率（０．６,０．８和１．０）时,系列位置曲线不同部分性质的分化,结果说明,系列位置曲线不同部分的性质,是项目间隔时间和其时间变化的中数比率共同作用的结果,发现项目间隔时间变化中数比率所起作用更大,在项目呈现时间相同时,项目隔间的时间长短,决定项目之间的辨别程度,也影响到对项目正确提取的百分数。     

Minimization of modal contours: an essential cross-species strategy in disambiguating relative depth

Two chromatically identical patterns, a diamond and a ladder, were shown on a computer touchscreen. Domestic hens were reinforced for pecking at the pattern that was the highest up on a grid that provided pictorial depth information, i.e. on the pattern that to a human appears as being the furthest away. Every tenth trial was a non-rewarded probe trial with the two patterns partially overlapping. In the absence of other cues depth stratification can occur on the basis of a minimization of interpolated occluding contours. In humans the diamond is usually perceived to be in front of the ladder because shorter interpolated contours are needed to account for the occlusive effect of the diamond on the ladder. The hens pecked more often at the ladder during the probe trials. The results suggest that the avian and mammalian visual systems operate along similar principles when dealing with the problem of solving occlusion indeterminacy in chromatically homogeneous patterns. Received: 26 March 1999 / Accepted after revision: 17 September 1999