Verbal giftedness and sociopolitical intelligence: Terman revisited

This paper reports on a three-year study of sociopolitical intelligence-defined as the ability to formulate viable solutions to moral, social, and political problems—in adolescence. From an initial sample of 659 intellectually gifted 12- and 13-year-olds, 58 students with the highest SAT-V scores were selected for study. From a later sample of 506 equally gifted 13- and 14-year-olds, 120 students were selected using measures of verbal intelligence (DAT), social insight, and creative potential, as well as academic and nonacademic achievement. On the basis of a variety of personality and cognitive measures the students in both samples were found to be unusually mature and well adjusted but to vary considerably in sociopolitical intelligence. These results suggest in partial agreement with Terman's earlier findings concerning the gifted, that above a certain level of tested intelligence the critical determinants of effective, practical performance may be personality and biographical variables.This research was supported by a grant from the Spencer Foundation to the first author.Received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Berkely. Major interests are personality theory and moral developmentReceived her Ph.D. in psychology from The Johns Hopkins University. Major interests are personality theory and medical psychology.Received his Ph.D. in psychology from The Johns Hopkins University. Major interests are education and developmental psychology.Graduate student in psychology, The Johns Hopkins University. B. A. University of Oregon, 1973. Major research interest is personality correlates of high-level achievement.Main research interest is the development of sociopolitical achievement.     

Irish Potatoes and British Politics: Interests, Ideology, Heresthetic and the Repeal of the Corn Laws

The Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 remains one of the most fascinating events in the history of political economy. A parliament securely controlled by the party of agriculture, which was the main beneficiary of protection, abolished protection. Explanations have included the hegemony of Manchester School economics; class conflict; the effectiveness of the Anti-Corn Law League; the personality of Sir Robert Peel; and evangelical religion. We aim to see why the standard ideas from political economy (Chicago and/or Virginia) seem to fit our case so poorly. We use the Aydelotte dataset on rollcalls in the Parliament of 1841–7, augmented from primary sources, and the letters and memoranda of the principal actors.     

Evaluation of shooting distance by AFM and FTIR/ATR analysis of GSR

The techniques of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance (FTIR/ATR) spectroscopy are applied to the analysis of gun-shot residue (GSR) to test their ability to determine shooting distance and discrimination of the powder manufacturers. AFM is a nondestructive technique that is capable of characterizing the shapes and size distributions of GSR particles with resolution down to less than a nanometer. This may be useful for estimation of the shooting distance. Our AFM images of GSR show that the size distribution of the particles is inversely proportional to the shooting distance. Discrimination of powder manufacturers is tested by FTIR/ATR investigation of GSR. Identifying the specific compounds in the GSR by FTIR/ATR was not possible because it is a mixture of the debris of several compounds that compose the residue. However, it is shown that the GSR from different cartridges has characteristic FTIR/ATR bands that may be useful in differentiating the powder manufacturers. It appears promising that the development of AFM and FTIR/ATR databases for various powder manufacturers may be useful in analysis and identification of GSR.     

The Need for a Holistic Approach to Specialized Domestic Violence Court Programming: Evaluating Offender Rehabilitation Needs and Recidivism

This quasi‐experimental historical outcome study is based on the Domestic Violence Repeat Offender Program (DVROP) housed within the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The treatment group includes data for 100 male domestic violence offenders collected between July 1, 2004 and November 30, 2006. A strictly matched group of 100 males who were technically eligible but who were not served by the DVROP made up the comparison. Using NCIC data as an outcome measure, the results of the study show that DVROP participants are significantly less likely to receive subsequent charges for domestic violence, other violent offenses, or any other criminal offense. The study draws conclusions about the extensive collateral needs of the offender population and draws attention to the need for a holistic approach to special offender populations.     

The Stigma Enigma: Doublespeak,Double Standards,Double Dipping and the Double-Sided Nature of Stigma in Toxic Tort Property Damage Claims

“Ignorance is strength” “2+2=5” Mottos of “Big Brother” excerpted from the novel 1984 by George Orwell     

Driving under the influence of chlormethiazole

This article describes a case of driving under the influence of the sedative-hypnotic-anticonvulsant drug chlormethiazole. The suspect, who was a physician, was driving dangerously on a busy highway and caused a traffic collision. When apprehended by the police, the man had bloodshot and glazed eyes and pupil size was enlarged. He could not answer the questions properly and his gait was unsteady. A roadside breath-alcohol screening test was positive but an evidential breath-alcohol test conducted about one hour later was below the legal limit for driving of 0.10 mg/L (10 microg/100 mL or 0.021 g/210 L). Because of the special circumstances of the traffic crash and the man's appearance and behaviour, the police suspected that drugs other than alcohol were involved and obtained a venous blood sample for toxicological analysis. The blood contained 0.23 mg/g alcohol, which is above the legal limit for driving in Sweden 0.20 mg/g (20 mg/100 mL or 0.020 g/100 mL), and codeine was also present at a therapeutic concentration of 0.02 mg/L. The conflict between the clinical signs of impairment and the toxicology report prompted a reanalysis of the blood sample with major focus on sedative-hypnotic drugs. Analysis by capillary GC-NPD identified chlormethiazole at a concentration of 5mg/L, the highest so far encountered in traffic cases in Sweden. In 13 other impaired driving cases over 10 years the mean (median) and range of concentrations of chlormethiazole were 1.6 mg/L (1.6 mg/L) and 0.3-3.3 mg/L. This case report underscores the need to consider clinical observations and the person's behaviour in relation to the toxicology report when interpreting and testifying in drug-impaired driving cases.