You All Made Dank Memes: Using Internet Memes to Promote Critical Thinking

In the time following the 2016 presidential election, much has been written about the spread of false information on social media websites. Given the potential influence false information has had on American politics, it is more important than ever for people to critically evaluate the content they view and share on social media. This article describes an activity that encourages students to develop evidence based arguments and think critically about content shared on social media. In the activity, students are asked to generate an internet meme related to U.S. politics and write a short essay defending the position they have taken in the meme. This article explains how the activity can promote critical thinking and includes suggestions for future implementation.     

Urgent issues and prospects at the intersection of culture,memory, and witness interviews: Exploring the challenges for research and practice

The pursuit of justice increasingly relies on productive interactions between witnesses and investigators from diverse cultural backgrounds during investigative interviews. To date, the role of cultural context has largely been ignored by researchers in the field of investigative interviewing, despite repeated requests from practitioners and policymakers for evidence-based guidance for the conduct of interviews with people from different cultures. Through examining cultural differences in human memory and communication and considering specific contextual challenges for investigative interviewing through the lens of culture, this review and associated commentaries highlight the scope for considering culture and human diversity in research on, and the practice of, investigative interviewing with victims, witnesses, and other sources. Across 11 commentaries, contributors highlight the importance of considering the role of culture in different investigative interviewing practices (e.g., rapport building, questioning techniques) and contexts (e.g., gender-based violence, asylum seeking, child abuse), address common areas of cultural mismatch between interviewer–interviewee expectations, and identify critical future routes for research. We call for an increased focus in the investigative interviewing literature on the nature and needs of our global community and encourage constructive and collaborative discussion between researchers and practitioners from around the world to better identify specific challenges and work together towards evidence-based solutions.     

Individual-level risk factors for gun victimization in a sample of probationers

Interventions aimed at preventing the important problem of gun injuries could be improved with an understanding of whether there are unique factors that place individuals at an increased risk of gun victimization. Much remains to be known about the victims of gun violence. The purpose of this article is to assess whether there are individual-level variables uniquely related to the likelihood of experiencing a gun victimization in a sample of probationers, individuals already at a heightened risk for criminal victimization. Self-report data were collected from 235 felony probationers about, for instance, gun and nongun victimization, gang involvement, and drug sales. Results show different variables are related to nongun victimization and gun victimization. In the current sample, involvement in gun crimes are linked to an increased risk of gun victimization. Violent offending and residential stability are associated with an increased chance of crime victimization.     

Distinguishing accurate from inaccurate eyewitness identifications with an optional deadline procedure

Abstract

Two experiments examined the efficacy of an optional deadline lineup procedure for distinguishing correct from incorrect eyewitness identification decisions. The procedure involved briefly presenting the lineup, removing the lineup from view, then giving participants the option of either making an identification decision or viewing the lineup again. When compared with participants operating under a forced deadline (i.e. forced to respond after the brief presentation) or standard lineup instructions, the optional deadline procedure identified participants with an impressive probability of having made a correct identification when used with target-present lineups and biased instructions. With unbiased instructions, the optional deadline produced clear discrimination between correct and incorrect identification decisions for choosers and, importantly, also for non-choosers. Possible strategies for improving the efficacy of the procedure are suggested.     

DNA-based identification and molecular systematics of forensically important Sarcophagidae (Diptera)

Sarcophagid flies have many characteristics that make them ideal forensic indicators. However, their utility is severely limited because it is difficult or impossible to determine the species of a sarcophagid larva, and in many instances an adult specimen, based on anatomy. We developed a database of mitochondrial DNA sequence data that makes it possible to identify all sarcophagid species likely to be found feeding on a human corpse at an urban location in Canada or the USA. Analyses were based on a 783 base pair region of the gene for cytochrome oxidase subunit one (COI). The species analyzed, including some of no forensic importance that were included for purposes of phylogenetic comparisons, were members of the genera Sarcophaga, Peckia, Blaesoxipha, Rovinia, Wohlfahrtia, Brachicoma (all Sarcophagidae), and Musca (Muscidae).