The influence of levels of information on the use of prospective evaluations

Recent work on voting behavior suggests that both retrospective and prospective evaluations are important components of vote choice. To test the generalizability of the prospective model, (1) the same model of voting behavior is applied to groups of differing cognitive abilities, (2) a comparison of the extent to which each group extrapolates from the past to the future is made, and (3) the frequency with which people of each group respond don't know is examined. The evidence presented supports the hypothesis that the prospective model is generalizable across segments of the population. Alternatively, since there are relatively few differences across categories, one might view this paper as a collection of negative findings.     

Strengths,Limitations, and Recommendations for Instrumental Color Measurement in Forensic Soil Characterization

Color determination of soil evidence is often done by visual comparison to soil color charts. A handheld spectrophotometer was tested with representative materials for its suitability for forensic soil characterization. Instrumental colorimetry provides accurate colorimetry with ~10-fold better precision than a soil color chart. The minimum sample size for accurate color determination was between 0.02 and 0.04 mg of fine soil for the specific instrument tested. Reporting colors in the L*a*b* space permits quantification of ΔE₀₀, a measure of perceptible color difference, could enable objective quantification of small color differences and thresholds for forensic soil comparisons. A ΔE₀₀ greater than ~ 3.5 to 6 likely indicates disparate soil sources in a forensic comparison, in the absence of confounding factors like sample alteration. Despite the superior precision of instrumental colorimetry, this approach is inappropriate for samples which are mottled at an inseparable scale, attached to a substrate, or too small for instrumental measurement.     

PARENT EDUCATION AFTER SEPARATION/DIVORCE

As part of a Canadian best practices evaluation of parent education for divorcing parents, this study assessed program effects on postseparation parenting. Statistically significant changes from pretest to 4 to 6 month follow-up were evident on all scales related to conflict between former partners, whereas changes related to positive and cooperative parenting were less conclusive. All parents experienced a reduction in conflict that places children in the middle of the conflict by the follow-up stage. Low-moderate-conflict parents experienced more increases in adaptive parenting.     

Establishing the Limits of TrueAllele® Casework: A Validation Study

The limits of the expert system, TrueAllele^® Casework (TA), were explored using challenging mock casework profiles that included 17 single‐source and 18 two‐, 15 three‐ and 7 four‐person DNA mixtures. The sensitivity (ability to detect a minor contributor) of the TA analysis process was examined by challenging the system with mixture DNA samples that exhibited allelic and locus dropout and other stochastic effects. The specificity (ability to exclude nondonors) was rigorously tested by interrogating TA derived genotypes with 100 nondonor profiles. The accuracy with which TA estimated mixture weights of contributors to the two‐person mixtures was examined. Finally, first‐degree relatives of donors were used to assess the ability of the system to exclude close relatives. TA demonstrated great accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. TA correctly assigned mixture weights and excluded nearly all first‐degree relatives. This study demonstrates the analysis power of the TrueAllele^® Casework system.