Children's Conceptual Knowledge of Lying and Its Relation to Their Actual Behaviors: Implications for Court Competence Examinations

Child witnesses must undergo a competence examination in which they must show appropriate conceptual understanding of lying and truth-telling, and promise to tell the truth. Three experiments (Ns = 123, 103, 177) were conducted to address the assumptions underlying the court competence examination that (1) children who understand lying and its moral implications are less likely to lie and (2) discussing the conceptual issues concerning lying and having children promising to tell the truth promotes truth-telling. Both measures of lying and understanding of truth- and lie-telling were obtained from children between 3 and 7 years of age. Most children demonstrated appropriate conceptual knowledge of lying and truth-telling and the obligation to tell the truth, but many of the same children lied to conceal their own transgression. Promising to tell the truth significantly reduced lying. Implications for legal systems are discussed.     

Application of multivariate chemometrics in forensic soil discrimination based on the UV-Vis spectrum of the acid fraction of humus

Forty-four soil samples from five different areas were examined on the basis of the UV-Vis spectrum of the acid fraction of humus with a view to achieving good discrimination between them. Fulvic and humic acids were extracted from the samples into an alkaline aqueous solution and absorbance values, after appropriate transformations, were subjected to a K-mean cluster analysis (CA) over the objects (samples) for an initial feature reduction (20 variables retained). This was followed by principal component analysis (PCA) for the removal of outliers (four samples removed). The same statistical technique was used on the remaining samples to decide how many variables to enter into the linear discriminant function analysis (DA) and whether original variables or component scores should be used. It was found that the scree test was a good criterion for deciding on the number of components to extract (nine components extracted) and that the use of component scores instead of original variables led to a lower average redundancy (20.6%) of the variables in the discriminant model. From the components entered into the model and their loadings, it was concluded that the discrimination achieved was due to the relative concentration of aromatic groups and other fragments in the samples as well as the degree of soil humification. An overall 85% correct classification of the training dataset was observed (Wilks' lambda = 0.0420) and the method was judged satisfactory for supporting exclusionary forensic purposes.     

Lying,Speech and Impersonal Harm

Law and Philosophy - Should the law punish the mere utterance of lies even if the listener has not been deceived? Seana Shiffrin has recently answered this question in the affirmative. She argues...     

The Boundaries of Property: Complexity,Relationality, and Spatiality

What does the property boundary mean to laypersons? How do everyday geographies of property work? Merrill and Smith offer an influential set of hypotheses concerning the boundary's role in communicating simple messages of exclusion in the everyday world. The first goal of this article is to assess these claims. Drawing from qualitative data on gardening from Vancouver, I suggest that the messages of the boundary may also be complex, intersubjective, and ambiguous. The supposedly robust moral intuitions that inform people's interactions with boundaries are not always exclusionary. Drawing from the sharp distinction between the heterogeneity of the empirical record and the studied simplicity of Merrill and Smith's account, my second goal is to make some broader claims regarding property and the boundary. Rather than seeking universality, simplicity, and singularity, I suggest the necessity and value of working with complexity. A relational view of property and space (or “spatiality”), I suggest, offers us a better perspective in which to begin to think about the complex work of the everyday property boundary.     

The dual myths of ‘narco‐terrorism’: How myths drive policy

When held up to the reality and complexity of the relationships between drug traffickers and insurgents, the concept of ‘narco‐terrorism’ falls short of serving as a useful explanatory device. Properly analyzed, ‘narco‐terrorism’ emerges as a political myth based on a stereotypic view of the Andean drug trade, peasant insurgency and the relationships between them. The myth of ‘narco‐terrorism’ coincided with the Latin American policy interests of the Reagan and the Bush administrations. Ironically, the myth's transparency served the policy interests of the opponents of these administrations, who used it to further their own politicized agendas ‐ creating yet another myth. This research traces the evolution and politicization of this concept and shows how it has hindered both scholarship and policy making. The research confirms, in part, earlier work of Australian criminologist Grant Wardlaw and American expert on the Andean drug trade, Rensselaer Lee.