The treatment of youthful sexual offenders

Approximately 20% of all rapes and between 30% and 50% of child molestations are perpetrated by adolescent males. These statistics underscore the need for improved understanding of youthful sexual offending so that effective prevention measures may be utilized for those adolescents at risk of offending and effective treatments may be utilized with those adolescents who have already committed sexual offenses. In this article we review the current knowledge of the characteristics of youthful offenders, proposed etiologies of youthful offending, proposed typologies of, assessment protocols, and treatments for youthful offenders. Finally we discuss the need for further research in the area of youthful sex offending.     

A comparison of pecking generated by serial, delay, and trace autoshaping procedures

Pigeons were exposed to serial, delay, and trace autoshaping procedures. In Experiment I, all conditioned stimuli (CSs) were changes in illumination of the response key. The number of trials to acquisition of the keypeck increased from serial, to 4-sec delay, 8-sec delay, and 8-sec trace procedures, in that order. In Experiment II, which used a longer intertrial interval, trials to criterion increased from 8-sec delay, to 28-sec delay, 8-sec trace, and 28-sec trace procedures, in that order. In Experiment III, two groups received serial procedures in which the first CS was either a tone or a houselight, and the second was a keylight. The tone group acquired the key peck more rapidly than the houselight group. Early in conditioning in these experiments, and when the conditioned stimulus was a change in the keylight, there was a short latency to the onset of pecking and pecking was directed at the CS. After extensive conditioning, or when the CS was relatively diffuse, pecking still occurred, but had a longer latency and was not reliably directed toward the conditioned stimulus.     

A cautionary note on the use of probability values to evaluate interobserver agreement

Proposed methods of assessing the statistical significance of interobserver agreements provide erroneous probability values when conducted on serially correlated data. Investigators who wish to evaluate interobserver agreements by means of statistical significance can do so by limiting the analysis to every k(th) interval of data, or by using Markovian techniques which accommodate serial correlations.     

Procedural learning across the lifespan: A systematic review with implications for atypical development

This systematic review aimed to investigate procedural learning across the lifespan in typical and atypical development. Procedural learning is essential for the development of everyday skills, including language and communication skills. Although procedural learning efficiency has been extensively studied, there is no consensus yet on potential procedural learning changes during development and ageing. Currently, three conflicting models regarding this trajectory exist: (1) a model of age invariance; (2a) a model with a peak in young adulthood; and (2b) a model with a plateau in childhood followed by a decline. The aims of this study were (1) to investigate this debate on procedural learning across the lifespan by systematically reviewing evidence for each model from studies using the serial reaction time task; and (2) to review procedural learning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI), two developmental disorders characterized by deficits in communication skills, in the light of these models. Our findings on typical development strongly support a model of age-related changes (Model 2a or 2b) and show that mixed findings regarding the developmental trajectory during childhood can be explained by methodological differences across studies. Applying these conclusions to systematic reviews of studies of ASD and SLI makes it clear that there is a strong need for the inclusion of multiple age groups in these clinical studies to model procedural learning in atypical development. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed. Future research should focus on the role of declarative learning in both typical and atypical development.     

中文阅读的副中央凹-中央凹效应：词n的语义透明度对词n-1的影响

研究探讨中文阅读中的副中央凹-中央凹效应。副中央凹-中央凹效应是指副中央凹处词的特性对中央凹处词汇加工的影响。实验以27名大学生为被试,采用句子阅读材料,考察词n的语义透明度特性对词n-1（高频、低频）加工的影响。结果表明,词n的语义透明度的高低对词n-1（高频、低频）的加工没有影响,没有出现副中央凹-中央凹效应。实验结果支持E-Z读者模型的假设。     

中文阅读中副中央凹与中央凹相互影响的眼动实验

采用眼动轨迹记录法结合边界呈现的实验范式, 当注视点越过特定位置时, 预视字则变为另一目标字, 从而保证预视字只呈现在副中央凹区域。实验1自变量为预视字频率, 预视字与目标字均与当前句子具有语义连贯性。实验发现, 当预视字是低频时, 中央凹的首次注视时间和凝视时间更短。实验2在预视字与当前句子语义不连贯的情况下进一步探讨预视字的字频对中央凹加工的效应。实验发现, 预视字是高频时, 中央凹的首次注视时间和凝视时间更短。然而在以区域作为数据分析的单位时, 副中央凹-中央凹效应仅在首次注视时间上呈现显著。上述结果表明, 副中央凹的词汇属性会对中央凹的加工产生一定的影响, 但这种影响比较微弱, 该结果为阅读加工理论中的并行加工理论提供了一定的支持。     

Capital sentencing and neuropsychiatry

The neuropsychiatric contribution to capital sentencing proceedings has grown substantially in recent decades as the consideration of neurological and psychiatric factors in criminal behavior has been increasingly accepted as relevant to the quest for justice. This review article will focus on the legal theories underlying neuropsychiatric input into capital sentencing decisions, as well as some of the investigative techniques and resulting data which may be offered by forensic neuropsychiatrists in this context. The death penalty is unique in its severity and irreversibility, as the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have noted repeatedly. “Death is different,” and the recognition of this has generated a set of court decisions and statutes pertinent specifically to capital proceedings, both procedural and substantive.     

Substitutability between conditioned and primary reinforcers in discrimination acquisition.

Rats and pigeons were trained on a series of reversals of a conditional simultaneous discrimination. The percentage of reinforcement for correct trials was varied across reversals. When nonreinforced correct trials produced the same feedback as incorrect trials, the number of errors to reach an acquisition criterion was greater for smaller percentages of reinforcement, but the number of reinforcers required was either approximately constant or smaller for the smaller percentages. When a stimulus paired with food (the conditioned reinforcer) was added on nonreinforced correct trials, both measures were substantially decreased. When the same stimulus was presented, but without a history of food pairing, learning rate was similar to when no stimulus was presented on nonreinforced trials. The results provide direct evidence that conditioned reinforcers may substitute, although imperfectly, for a primary reinforcer, and that pairing with the primary reinforcer is a necessary condition for such substitutability to occur.     

压力事件对初中生抑郁的影响:网络使用动机与网络使用强度的作用

为探讨压力事件对初中生抑郁的影响以及网络使用动机和网络使用强度在其中的作用,采用生活事件量表,网络使用动机量表,网络使用强度量表和流调中心用抑郁量表对武汉市内两所中学的913名初中生进行调查。结果发现：（1）压力事件与网络使用动机、网络使用强度和抑郁均呈显著正相关; （2）压力事件正向预测网络使用动机与网络使用强度,网络使用动机正向预测网络使用强度,网络使用强度正向预测抑郁; （3）网络使用动机中,社会补偿动机正向预测抑郁,而好友联系动机与休闲娱乐动机负向预测抑郁; （4）压力事件通过网络使用动机和网络使用强度的链式中介作用影响抑郁。研究结果强调压力事件不仅可以直接影响初中生抑郁,还可以通过网络使用动机和网络使用强度间接影响初中生抑郁。     

Geographical offender profiling: Dragnet's applicability on a Brazilian sample

Even though geographical offender profiling is already widely used and researched in countries such as England, Canada, and United States, it is still severely overlooked in Brazil, as there are no researches on the subject using a Brazilian sample. Therefore, the present paper aims to start filling this gap by analysing the applicability of the geographical offender profiling and Dragnet on a sample of Brazilian serial killers. In order to achieve this objective, the authors collected data through police records on 15 serial killers that were active between June 2009 and June 2015, in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil. As a result, the circle hypothesis was confirmed, considering that 66.7% of the sample fell into the marauder category. Interestingly, the Dragnet's result accurately informed the area that contained the offender's base in the same cases in which the offender acted according to the marauder model. Also, other important correlations were found such as the influence of age, intelligence, resourcefulness, and method of approach on the distance travelled to commit a murder. Those results show that the geographical offender profiling can be effectively applied in Brazil and thus is a valid investigative tool to aid police officers in serial crimes investigations.