Inconsistencies in children's recall of witnessed events: The role of age,question format and perceived reason for question repetition

Purpose. Children's inconsistencies when answering repeated questions about past events are a source of concern in forensic, educational, and other contexts. Theoretical accounts of these inconsistencies have predominantly assumed that children shift because they infer adult dissatisfaction with their initial answer. This study aimed to test this account via examination of the effects of question format on shifting, as well as via direct questioning of children. Method. Four‐, five‐, and seven‐year‐olds (N = 226) were asked 17 recall questions about a recent classroom activity, with eight target questions repeated in one of four formats: no‐correct (mildly misleading questions to which the correct answer was ‘no’), yes‐correct (mildly misleading questions to which the correct answer was ‘yes’), specific open wh‐ questions, and forced‐choice questions. They were then asked about the adult's reasons for repetition. Accuracy, shifting, and interpretations of question repetition were examined. Results. Shifting from accuracy decreased with age, and was affected by question format in 4‐year‐olds only, who shifted more to no‐correct than to forced‐choice questions. Shifting towards accuracy was more common in forced‐choice questions than either no‐correct or open questions, but there were no significant age differences. First‐answer‐unsatisfactory interpretations of question repetition were rare, especially in the two younger groups. The oldest group offered a wider range of interpretations and also showed some evidence of an association between first‐answer‐unsatisfactory interpretations and shifting. Conclusions. Overall, our findings present a challenge to first‐answer‐unsatisfactory explanations of young children's shifting in recall settings, at least where overt pressure to shift is low. Forensic implications are considered.     

HMG, AIOC and the Anglo-Iranian oil crisis: In defence of Anglo-Iranian

At the interface of big business and government, with whom does influence and responsibility lie? Rarely is the answer clear-cut, yet accounts of the Anglo-Iranian oil crisis of 1948-54 have often roundly blamed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) for British mishandling of it. This article seeks to redress the balance. Whilst no apologia for AIOC policy, it contends that HMG should shoulder much more responsibility than hitherto allowed. From clandestine partnership through to sacrificial pawn, the government used the company as an instrument of foreign policy as it sought to marry the protection of AIOC interests in Iran with wider concerns for combating communism and promoting the Anglo-American 'special relationship'.     

Book reviews

Philip Towle, Enforced Disarmament: From the Napoleonic Campaigns to the Gulf War (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), x + 268 pp., £35 (hb), ISBN 0-19-820636-4.

Paul K. Davis, 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present (Oxford and Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 2000), 474 pp., £59.95 (hb), ISBN 1-57607-0751.

David Nicholls, Napoleon: A Biographical Companion (Oxford: ABC-Clio, 2000), 340 pp., £29.95 (hb), ISBN 0-87436-957-6.

The Satow Siam Papers: The Private Diaries and Correspondence of Ernest Satow, vol. i, 1884-1885, introduced and edited by Nigel Brailey (Bangkok: The [Thai] Royal Historical Society, 1997), iv + 203 pp., price not obtainable, ISBN 974-89918-7-3.

Ernest Satow, C.M.G., A Diplomat in Siam: H.B.M. Minister-Resident, Bangkok, 1885-88, introduced and edited by Nigel Brailey (Bangkok: Orchid Press, rev. edn. 2000), 208 pp., price not obtainable, ISBN 074-8304-73-6.

John Lukacs, Five Days in London, May 1940 (New Haven CT: Yale University Press, 1999), viii + 236 pp., £12.95, ISBN 0-300-08030-1.     

The Campaign Value of Incumbency: A New Solution to the Puzzle of Less Effective Incumbent Spending

A puzzle in research on campaign spending is that while expenditure is positively related to votes won, this effect is far more strongly, or even exclusively, enjoyed by challengers rather than by incumbents. We unearth a new explanation for the puzzle, focusing on the hidden, yet variable, campaign value of office perquisites which incumbents deploy in their campaigns to win votes. When these variable office benefits are unobserved, then the effect is to make observed incumbent spending less effective than spending by challengers. Using data from the 2002 Irish general election, where incumbency was assigned a variable campaign value and included in declared campaign spending, we are able to demonstrate this hidden incumbency effect and estimate its relationship to electoral success, in terms of overall votes, share of votes, and probability of winning a seat. Contrary to previous research showing ineffective incumbent spending, we find that when the campaign value of office is also measured, public office value “spending” is not only very effective in winning votes, but also seems to be more effective than regular incumbent spending.     

‘Our Culture's Not for Sale!’: Music and the Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca in Mexico

The Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca (APPO), a social movement that emerged in June 2006, was a response to severe government repression of a teachers' strike in Oaxaca, Mexico. This article focuses on the movement participants' involvement with music, and the innovative ways in which songs associated with APPO were shared and circulated during the conflict. APPO's engagement with musical activities created spaces in which the political significance of regional culture was reinterpreted and re-signified. APPO, despite failing in its primary political objectives, thus generated new ways of relating to the performance, representation, politics and consumption of musical traditions.     

EU–Russia Security Relations and the Survey of Russian Federation Foreign Policy: One Year On

Abstract

The Kremlin's change of leadership on 7 May 2008 and growing international fears of Russia's resurgence, especially in the aftermath of the Georgian conflict, make this an interesting time to reflect upon EU–Russia security relations. This article does so by examining closely the Survey of Russian Federation Foreign Policy and, one year on from its approval, drawing upon subsequent developments as preliminary corollary or otherwise of its bearing on policy. On balance, it seems that the Kremlin's evolving perception of Russia and international relations has encouraged revised priorities and objectives and a more forceful foreign policy that not only slow progress in filling the Common Spaces, but also increase the likelihood of Russia–EU competition especially in their shared neighbourhood.     

Voting for government coalitions in Ireland under single transferable vote

This paper addresses the issue of whether voters indicate a preference for a government rather than, or in addition to a preference for a party, when they cast a ballot under the system of the single transferable vote (STV). It thus contributes to the existing literature on strategic coalition voting by examining whether coalition preferences matter where electors are given the option to rank the parties in order of preference. The question then becomes: does this ranking reflect or signal a coalition preference? Using survey data from two Irish elections, this paper finds that whereas first preferences are closely aligned with coalition choices, Irish voters do not systematically use second preferences to express a view on their preferred coalition formation.