Eyewitness Identification Accuracy and Response Latency

Eyewitness identification research has reliably shown that accurate identifications are faster than inaccurate identifications. Recently, D. Dunning and S. Perretta (2002) claimed that an identification latency of 10-12 s not only best discriminates between accurate and inaccurate identifications but also produces extremely high accuracy rates, approaching 90%. Consistent with predictions from recognition memory theory, however, we show that the optimum time boundary varies with overall response latency under manipulations of retention interval and nominal lineup size, and that the accuracy rate inside the optimum time boundary is much less impressive than previously reported. We outline directions for clarifying the accuracy and latency relationship to assist the reliable diagnosis of identification accuracy.     

Civilian self-defense militias in civil war

To mitigate the costs associated with suppressing rebellion, states may rely on civilian self-defense militias to protect their territory from rebel groups. However, this decision is also costly, given that these self-defense groups may undermine control of its territory. This raises the question: why do governments cultivate self-defense militias when doing so risks that these militias will undermine their territorial control? Using a game theoretic model, we argue that states take this risk in order to prevent rebels from co-opting local populations, which in turn may shift power away from the government and toward the rebels. Governments strategically use civilian militias to raise the price rebels must pay for civilian cooperation, prevent rebels from harnessing a territory’s resources, and/or to deter rebels from challenging government control in key areas. Empirically, the model suggests states are likely to support the formation of self-defense militias in territory that may moderately improve the power of rebel groups, but not in areas that are either less valuable or areas that are critical to the government’s survival. These hypotheses are tested using data from the Colombian civil war from 1996 to 2008.     

Imprisonment v. the death penalty as a deterrent to murder

In this investigation we examine the simultaneous deterrent effect of imprisonment and executions on homicide. Examination of the census years 1920 to 1960 shows the certainty of execution and homicide rates to be generally unrelated. Also contrary to the deterrence hypothesis, the significant negative bivariate relationship between the severity of prison sentence and homicide rates found here and in earlier investigations is shown to be a statistical artifact resulting from a failure to control for the effects of alternative legal sanctions and sociodemographic factors. While neither imprisonment nor executions are found to have a significant deterrent effect on homicide, attention is called to some limitations of this investigation and the need for additional research.     

THE BOOK SHELF

Books reviewed in this article: 1. Betelheim, Bruno. The Children of the Dream . 2. Comfort, Alex, Ph.D. The Joy of Sex . 3. Rheinstein, Max. Marriage, Divorce, and the Law . 4. Viscott, David S., M.D. The Making of a Psychitrist .     

THE BOOK SHELF

Books reviewed in this article: 1. Allen, Gina, and Clement G. Martin, M.D. Intimacy (subtitle, Sensitivity, Sex, and the Art of Love) . 2. Dreyfuss, Henry. Symbol Sourcebook . 3. Fast, Julius. The New Sexual Fulfillment . 4. Glasser, Wm., M.D. The Identity Society . 5. Mindess, Harvey. Laughter and Liberation . 6. Otto, Herbert A. (Ed.) The New Sexuality . 7. Carpenter, Don. Getting Off . 8. Doebler, C. H. Planning Your Child's Education . 9. Gersh, Marvin J., M.D., Iris F. Litt, M.D. The Handbook of Adolescence . 10. Schutz, William C. Hero Comes Everybody .     

THE BOOK SHELF

Books reviewed in this article: 1. Bard, Morton, Ph.D., Training Police As Specialists in Family Crisis Intervention . 2. Eck, Marcel, Lies and Truth . 3. From, Erich, The Revolution of Hope . 4. Howard, Jane, Please Touch . 5. Hunt, Morton, The Affair . 6. Lowen, Alexander, M.D., Pleasure: A Creative Approach to Life . 7. Masters, William H. and Virginia E. Johnson, Human Sexual Inadequacy . 7A. Belliveau, Fred, and Lin Richter, Understanding Human Sexual inadequacy . 8. Mindey, Carol, The Divorced Mother . 9. Watson, Andrew S., M.D., Psychiatry for Lawyers .     

Politically valued resources and preferred outcomes: Does the political context matter?

Previous research has concluded that ownership of economic resources that are politically valued leads to preferential outcomes during interactions with government officials. However, how the political context, and specifically the roles of the government actors involved, influences the relationship between political valued resources (PVRs) and desired outcomes has to date been relatively unexplored. In our paper, we argue that in interactions with elected legislators, PVRs are much more likely to lead to preferential outcomes. Conversely, due to the lack of power these resources have with bureaucrats in charge of regulatory enforcement, PVRs are less likely to lead to preferential outcomes. We provide some support for our arguments by looking for shifting patterns of effects in outcome variables that typically fall under the jurisdiction of each political role type. We find that large firms, export firms, and technology firms largely report having favorable influence over laws and regulations due to lobbying and increased foreign ownership, while also spending more days in inspections and more managerial time dealing with regulations.