Hyperthermia,Thermal Injuries,and Death from a Forced Convection Heat Source: A Case Report and Experimental Model

Heat‐related deaths of children are most often encountered in the context of enclosed vehicles in summer months. Deviating from this, a 16‐month‐old boy was found unresponsive in a stroller that was placed adjacent to a space heater during mid‐winter. The cause of death was hyperthermia and thermal injuries. Manner of death determination was difficult due to alleged surrounding circumstances. To understand the time‐course of this child's injuries, a child death scene investigation was performed; the stroller and space heater were recovered. In a re‐enactment of the events, a slaughtered pig approximating the child's size was warmed using a water bath and placed in the stroller beside the space heater. Cutaneous temperature measurements showed rapid initial temperature rise with subsequent steady increases. Tanning of the skin was seen on periodic direct observations. Internal temperature monitoring illustrated steady increases. This experiment was essential in classifying the manner of death as homicide.     

‘Language of lies’: Urgent issues and prospects in verbal lie detection research

Since its introduction into the field of deception detection, the verbal channel has become a rapidly growing area of research. The basic assumption is that liars differ from truth tellers in their verbal behaviour, making it possible to classify them by inspecting their verbal accounts. However, as noted in conferences and in private communication between researchers, the field of verbal lie detection faces several challenges that merit focused attention. The first author therefore proposed a workshop with the mission of promoting solutions for urgent issues in the field. Nine researchers and three practitioners with experience in credibility assessments gathered for 3 days of discussion at Bar-Ilan University (Israel) in the first international verbal lie detection workshop. The primary session of the workshop took place the morning of the first day. In this session, each of the participants had up to 10 min to deliver a brief message, using just one slide. Researchers were asked to answer the question: ‘In your view, what is the most urgent, unsolved question/issue in verbal lie detection?’ Similarly, practitioners were asked: ‘As a practitioner, what question/issue do you wish verbal lie detection research would address?’ The issues raised served as the basis for the discussions that were held throughout the workshop. The current paper first presents the urgent, unsolved issues raised by the workshop group members in the main session, followed by a message to researchers in the field, designed to deliver the insights, decisions, and conclusions resulting from the discussions.     

Teacher victimization,turnover, and contextual factors promoting resilience

Teacher victimization is a relatively understudied phenomenon that may contribute to teacher turnover. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between teacher reports of victimization and teachers leaving their school and the profession. Using nationally representative data (n = 104,840) from the Schools and Staffing Survey, we examine the extent to which being threatened or attacked by students predicts higher rates of teacher turnover and whether this relationship differs due to factors that may promote teacher resilience. We utilize conditional multinomial logistic regression, implicitly controlling for school-by-year fixed effects. Findings suggest that perceived victimization predicts an increased probability of leaving the school and profession. School-level promoters of resilience are found to lessen this relationship. We discuss ways schools can mitigate the impact of victimization. This work contributes to a nascent body of literature on teacher victimization and informs a policy lever by which turnover may be reduced.     

A re‐analysis that supports our main results: A reply to Levine et al.

Levine et al. (2018) criticized our meta‐analysis, but their conclusion was the same as ours: The cognitive approach to lie detection results in a modest improvement. We address and dismiss Levine et al.'s (2018) three criticisms. Regarding the ‘confound’, in our meta‐analysis we averaged the results of two cells on statistical grounds, which does not constitute a confound in statistical terms. Regarding ‘aberrant controls’, that depends entirely on the benchmarks selected and type of statistical test and meta‐analysis used. Regarding ‘unreliable data’, the claim that there is a positive relationship between ‘unreliable’ data and total accuracy in the cognitive lie detection conditions is not even supported by their own data (p = .16). We conclude with a request to Levine et al. to focus on our shared aim: to develop interview protocols that enable lie detection.     

The cognitive interview: An innovative technique for questioning witnesses of crime

Conclusions Historically, little training has been available for investigators on interviewing witnesses and victims, but the critiques of both laboratory and field interviews indicate that current standard interview techniques can be improved considerably through training. The results of each of the studies reported here confirm that cognitive interviewing reliably enhances the completeness of a witness's recollection, and without increasing the number of incorrect or confabulated bits of information generated. Based on the examination of several interviews, a revision of the original Cognitive Interview was made, which was found further to enhance the quality of witness reports. The procedures are easy to learn and can be readily adopted in routine police interview procedures. In fact, the Cognitive Interview currently is in use as standard training at several police departments and at other law enforcement agencies. Further information regarding the Cognitive Interview technique and training programs for investigators can be obtained from either of the authors.     

Introduction: Reflections on Two Decades of Congressional Budgeting

Even casual observers of federal policy making cannot help but notice the increasing preeminence of the Congressional budget process. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which created this process, brought forth profound changes in budgeting practices, both within Congress and between Congress and the president. In addition, the last decade has seen numerous attempts to use the process for deficit control. The goal of this special symposium is how congressional procedures-adapted over time-have affected the federal budgeting process. Each article examines the original purpose of the 1974 statute and analyzes the statute's impact over more than two decades.     

Next Step: State Funding for the Parties?

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 marked the most comprehensive and radical overhaul of British party finance for over 100 years. It instituted reforms in many areas, with the notable exception of the comprehensive extension of state funding for political parties. However, despite the radicalism of the Act, questions have already arisen as to whether further state funding should occur. This article argues that in order to examine the case for more comprehensive state funding, policy–makers need to look beyond the current calls and make a decision by evaluating several criteria on the basis of empirical evidence rather than assumptions. First, however, it is worth outlining the stage we are at presently by summarising the new Act, looking at its impact to date and examining the claims made in recent episodes which have led to calls for more comprehensive state funding of political parties.