UGB-Workshop vom 13. und 14. Oktober 2008 in Münster

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Experimental design for acquiring relevant data to address the issue of comparing consecutively manufactured tools and firearms

The comparison of consecutively manufactured tools and firearms has provided much, but not all, of the basis for the profession of firearm and toolmark examination. The authors accept the fundamental soundness of this approach but appeal to the experimental community to close two minor gaps in the experimental procedure. We suggest that “blinding” and attention to appropriateness of other experimental conditions that would consolidate the foundations of our profession. We do not suggest that previous work is unsound.     

Is there a magical time boundary for diagnosing eyewitness identification accuracy in sequential line‐ups?

We examined whether eyewitness identification latencies for sequential line‐up decisions indicate an optimum time boundary that reliably discriminates accurate from inaccurate decisions. Participants (N = 381) observed a crime simulation and attempted two separate identifications from target‐present or target‐absent sequential line‐ups. As has previously been found with simultaneous line‐ups, the optimum time boundary identified did not reliably discriminate accurate from inaccurate identifications for both line‐up targets. Diagnosticity for choosers was, however, much higher at very high confidence levels than at lower levels. Possible reasons for why one index of signal strength (confidence), but not another (latency), might postdict accuracy within the sequential framework were presented.     

Integrative Elemente im Immissionsschutzrecht

Zusammenfassung  Als wichtiges Grundprinzip des Umweltrechts strebt das Integrationsprinzip den Schutz der Umwelt als ungeteiltes Ganzes an, bei dem kein Bereich und keine Handlung isoliert von anderen betrachtet werden dürfen. Wegbereiter dieser gesamthaften Umweltschutzstrategie ist das Gemeinschaftsrecht, das vor allem mit der UVP- und der IVU-Richtlinie das deutsche Umweltrecht ma?gebend beeinflusst hat, so auch das Immissionsschutzrecht, das an verschiedenen Stellen integrative Elemente aufweist. Diese werden durch das im Entstehen begriffene Umweltgesetzbuch st?rker betont werden.     

Die Zukunft des Jagdrechts in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Reformbedürftig oder bewährt?

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Detection of deception with fMRI: Are we there yet?

A decade of spectacular progress in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology and systems neuroscience research has so far yielded few changes in our daily lives. The dearth of clinical applications of this prolific and academically promising research tool began raising the eyebrows of the public and the research funding agencies. This may be one of the reasons for the enthusiasm and interest paid to the growing body of literature suggesting that blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) fMRI of the brain could be sensitive to the differences between lie and truth. The word ‘differences’ is critical here since it refers to the often‐ignored core concept of BOLD fMRI: it is only sensitive to differences between two brain states. Thus, available studies report using fMRI to discriminate between lie and truth or some other comparative state rather than to positively identify deception. This nuance is an example of the extent to which applied neuroscience research does not lend itself to the type of over‐simplification that has plagued the interpretation of fMRI‐based lie detection by the popular press and the increasingly vocal academic critics. As an early contributor to the modest stream of data on fMRI‐based lie detection, I was asked by Dr Aldert Vrij to write a piece in favour of fMRI‐based lie detection, to be contrasted with a piece by Dr Sean Spence presenting an opposite point of view ( Spence, 2008 ). This seemingly straightforward task presented two hurdles: having to respond to the popular as well as scientific view of what lie detection with fMRI is and present a wholly positive view of evolving experimental data.