When Children are the Least Vulnerable to False Memories: A True Report or a Case of Autosuggestion?

In this case report, a legal case revolving around the reliability of statements given by a 6‐year‐old girl is described. She claimed to have witnessed her mother being murdered by her father. Two psychological experts provided diametrically opposed opinions about the reliability of her statements. One expert, a clinician, opined that the girl's statements were based on autosuggestion whereas the other expert, a memory researcher, stated that autosuggestion was unlikely to have played a role. This case and the analysis of the experts' opinions illustrate what may happen when experts in court are unaware of the recent literature on (false) memory. That is, recent studies show that autosuggestion is less likely to occur in young children than in older children and adults. The current case stresses the importance and implications of relying on memory experts in cases concerning the reliability of eyewitness statements.     

Further data on interrogative suggestibility and compliance scores following instructed malingering

Purpose. This study examined whether people can successfully feign high levels of interrogative suggestibility and compliance as measured by the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales (GSS) and the Gudjonsson Compliance Scale (GCS) when given instructions to malinger. Methods. Participants (N = 90) were randomly allocated to one of three groups that received: (1) instructions to give into leading questions in order to look vulnerable to suggestions, (2) instructions to be compliant with the examiner, or (3) the standard GSS/GCS instructions. Results. One of the two malingering instructions led to modestly elevated scores of total suggestibility, while subscales remained unaffected. In contrast, both malingering groups obtained highly elevated compliance scores. Conclusions. These findings suggest that heightened suggestibility is rather difficult to malinger, thereby confirming the reliability of the GSS. On the other hand, it might be easier to malingering compliance as measured with the self‐report GCS.     

Mixed fragmented migrations of Iraqis and challenges to Iraqi refugee integration: the Jordanian experience

This article focuses on Iraqis in Jordan who intend to migrate further. It is maintained that the distinction between forced and voluntary migrations and the formal labels used to categorize migrants do not express the complexity of movements within and from the region. It is argued that movements out of Iraq and into Jordan, and further migrations to the West, are underpinned by more than one reason though triggered by force or violence. Indeed, the reasons urging movements of Iraqis in our study took different turns as people got to particular places and faced the context of reception there. We have identified challenges to Iraqi refugee integration and related them to the variety of intended and unintended fragmented movements that go together with multiple changes in formal migrant statuses. The article thus contributes to discussions on mixed migrations and fragmented migrations in the region and portrays the agency of Iraqis in migrating amidst the structural factor of force. The article also provides valuable contributions to discussions on fragmented journeys of would-be asylum seekers in the West.     

Leviathans, federal transfers, and the cartelization hypothesis

Federal fiscal arrangements are argued to give rise to tacit collusion among competing Leviathans (Brennan and Buchanan, The Power to Tax, CUP, 1980). Though frequently encountered in academic and policy discussions, the cartelization hypothesis has rarely been scrutinized formally. This paper explores the effect of federal equalizing transfers on Leviathans engaged in tax competition. Contrary to the hypothesis, equalization is found to potentially complement tax competition in taming the Leviathan by implicitly taxing tax revenues extracted by the Leviathan. Thus, transfers might be an appropriate constitutional provision against fiscal expropriation.     

The Legal Effects of Resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly in the Jurisprudence of the ICJ

This article aims to extract from the jurisprudence of the InternationalCourt of Justice a basic theory of legal effects of unilateralinstruments of international organizations in public internationallaw. These effects can be divided into three categories. Thefirst is substantive effects. These include binding, authorizingand (dis)empowering effects. The second category is causativeeffects, whereby determinations of fact or of law bring substantiveeffects into existence. The third category is modal effects– how and when the substantive effects come into existence(e.g. immediate or deferred, retroactive or non-retroactive,reversible or irreversible effect). Each of these categoriesof legal effects behaves differently according to whether theeffects are intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic effects are basedon the special treaty powers of the United Nations SecurityCouncil and General Assembly. In this hypothesis, all threecategories of effects exist to the full extent that the explicitand implicit powers of the adopting body allow for them. Extrinsiceffects are directly based on general international law, inparticular on the rules of formation of customary internationallaw. Here, there are no causative effects. Substantive effectsdo not strictly speaking exist; only pre-substantive ones do.And modal effects are always immediate, non-retroactive andreversible.     

I Shield Myself From Thee: Selective Avoidance on Social Media During Political Protests

This study examines the phenomenon of politically motivated selective avoidance on Facebook in the context of the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement protests in 2014. We conceptualize selective avoidance as individual choices that users make to shield themselves from undesirable dissonant views by removing unwanted information and breaking social ties that transmit such information. Given the political turmoil and high level of polarization during the protests, we argue that selective avoidance was related to the socio-psychological factor of perceived out-group threat. We present an analysis of a survey of 769 students from Hong Kong conducted at the height of the street protests. We find that 15.6% of the respondents removed content and/or unfriended a Facebook friend during the protests. The use of Facebook for protest-related information and expression was associated with higher likelihood of selective avoidance, which in turn predicted actual participation in the street protests. The level of perceived out-group threat strengthened the positive relationship between Facebook use and selective avoidance. We thus argue that group conflict in a time of political turmoil may catalyze selective avoidance, transforming a heterogeneous socio-informational environment into a more insulated gated community. Such acts may promote protest participation but also lead to a more fragmented and polarized citizenry.     

Moral Reminders Do Not Reduce Symptom Over-Reporting Tendencies

Is presenting patients with moral reminders prior to psychological testing a fruitful deterrence strategy for symptom over-reporting? We addressed this question in three ways. In study 1, we presented individuals seeking treatment for ADHD complaints (n = 24) with moral primes using the Mother Teresa Questionnaire and compared their scores on an index of symptom over-reporting (i.e., the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology, SIMS) with those of unprimed patient controls (n = 27). Moral primes slightly decreased SIMS scores, but the effect was not significant. In study 2, we took a different approach to activate moral categories: we recruited individuals seeking treatment for ADHD complaints and asked some of them to sign a moral contract (i.e., prime; n = 19) declaring that they would complete the tests in an honest way and compared their scores on the SIMS and standard clinical scales measuring self-reported psychopathology with those of unprimed patient controls (n = 17). Again, we found no convincing evidence that moral cues suppress symptom over-reporting. In study 3, we gave individuals from the general population (N = 132) positive, negative, or neutral moral primes and implicitly induced them to feign symptoms, after which they completed a brief validated version of the SIMS and an adapted version of the b Test (i.e., an underperformance measure). Again, primes did not affect over-reporting tendencies. Taken together, our findings illustrate that moral reminders are not going to be useful in clinical practice. Rather, they point towards the importance of studying contextual and individual difference factors that guide moral decision-making in patients and may be modified to discourage symptom over-reporting.     

Construct Validity of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire and Its Relationship with Self-Esteem,Depression, and Ego Development

Construct validity of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) was studied in a sample of 194 normal Finnish adolescents from 14 to 16 years of age. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the hierarchical structure of adolescents’ self-image with 5 lower-order factors loading on a single higher-order factor. Lower-order factors were Personally Anxious Self, Social Relationships, Sexual Attitudes, Family Relationships, and Social Conscience. The relationships between the self-image areas of the OSIQ, global self-esteem, depression, and ego development were also examined. The results support the construct, convergent, and discriminant validity of the presented structure of the OSIQ.He received M.A. from University of Helsinki. Major research interest concern adolescent psychological developmentHe received Ph.D. from University of Helsinki. Major research interests include psychosocial health risks and organizational behavior.He received M.D. from Lausanne University and Ph.D. from Helsinki University. Major research interests include attachment issues, fatherhood, and foster parenting.He received his Ph.D. in psychiatry from the University of Helsinki. Major research interests are developmental theory of adolescence and personality development of adolescents in chronic illness.He received Ph.D. from University of Cambridge. Major research interests concern personality and developmental psychology.