The occurrence of eye blinks during a guilty knowledge test

Abstract

In the present experiment we examined whether eye blinks could discriminate between guilty and innocent examinees in a Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT). Based on the assumption that guilty examinees would experience more cognitive load when responding to the key items than to the control items, we hypothesized that they would display fewer eye blinks during the key items than during the control items. For innocent examinees, responding to the key and control items should be equally demanding, and no differences in eye blinks between key and control items were expected. A total of 26 participants took part in an experiment where 13 guilty examinees committed a mock theft (of an exam paper) and the remaining 13 innocent examinees went on with their normal business. All participants underwent a GKT whereby their eye blinks were measured. Both guilty and innocent examinees displayed the pattern of eye blinks that we predicted. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

It runs in the family: Meta-regulation and its siblings

Regulators in different countries and domains experiment with regulatory tools that allow organizations to adapt regulation to their individual circumstances, while holding them accountable for their self-regulation systems. Several labels have been coined for this type of regulation, including systems-based regulation, enforced self-regulation, management-based regulation, principles-based regulation, and meta-regulation. In this article, these forms of regulatory governance are classified as belonging to one family of “process-oriented regulation.” Based on a review of diverse empirical and theoretical research, it is suggested that the family of process-oriented regulation tends to have a positive, albeit varied, impact on organizations' performance, and the factors that shape this inconsistent effect are analyzed. Building on aspects of Parker's normative construct of “meta-regulation,” the article explores the extent to which her innovative notion of a learning-oriented approach to regulation might overcome some of the weaknesses of prevalent process-oriented approaches. It is proposed that under conditions of regulatory uncertainty or entrenched and prevalent non-compliance or both, meta-regulation is likely to have many advantages over other forms of process-oriented regulation. Yet realizing these advantages requires a rare combination of high regulatory capacity, a stable regulatory agenda, and a supportive political environment.     

International Cougar Management Guidelines: Processes for Collaboration and Implementation

This article briefly describes the development of international cougar management guidelines for use in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Release of the guidelines in mid-2005 is intended as the prelude to a further round of redrafting and revision, based on the experience of managers in the field, new scientific developments, and comments from various stakeholders. The guidelines are notable as the outcome of extensive scientific collaboration and careful consultation with wildlife agency administrators. The guidelines draw on the work and experience of cougar specialists in western North America through the regular meetings of the Mountain Lion Workshop.     

Dynamics of social class contempt in contemporary British television comedy

British television comedy has often ridiculed the complexities and characteristics of social class structures and identities. In recent years, poor white socially marginalised groups, now popularly referred to as “chavs”, have become a prevalent comedy target. One of the most popular and controversial television “comedy chavs” is Little Britain's fictional teenage single mother, Vicky Pollard. This article examines the representation of Vicky Pollard in light of contemporary widespread abuse of the white working class. Highlighting the polysemic and ambivalent nature of Vicky Pollard's representation, the article argues that whilst Little Britain's characterisation of Vicky Pollard largely contributes to contemporary widespread demonisation of the working class, there are moments within Little Britain when a more sympathetic tone towards the poor working class may be read, and where chav identities are used to ridicule the pretensions, superficiality, and falsity of middle-class identities. The article concludes that television comedy has been, and continues to be, a significant vehicle through which serious concerns, anxieties, and questions about social class and class identities are discursively constructed and contested.     

Inducing corporate compliance: A compound corporate liability regime

Corporate liability regimes have two major social goals: (i) inducing corporations to internalize all social ramifications of their activity; and (ii) inducing corporations to prevent, deter, and report their employee misconduct. The scholarly polemic has shown that none of the liability regimes recognized thus far in the literature efficiently satisfies both social goals. Following a Law and Economics approach, this paper develops an innovative regime that may comprise an optimal corporate liability framework in most settings. The Compound Corporate Liability Regime developed in this paper is a two-layer strict liability regime. Under this regime, corporations that self-report their employee misconduct incur a sanction that is reduced by the variable enforcement costs saved due to their self-reporting. Such a liability framework aligns social and corporations’ interests, and thereby satisfies both social goals of corporate liability regimes.     

Acute fatal acetaminophen overdose without liver necrosis

Two unusual cases of suicidal overdose of acetaminophen (paracetamol) without the usual extensive centrilobular necrosis of the liver are reported. Both cases were subjected to comprehensive drug screening by immunoassay, and a combination of gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, nitrogen detection, and electron capture detection. Acetaminophen was detected in both cases. No other drugs were detected in case #1, and only a small amount of olanzapine (<0.1 mg/L) was detected in case #2. No anatomical cause of death was identified in either case. If untreated, the normal outcome of a large acetaminophen overdose would be massive hepatic necrosis with delayed death and low blood and tissue acetaminophen concentrations. In contrast, particularly high postmortem acetaminophen concentrations were measured in both our cases with little hepatic tissue damage. For case #1, femoral blood acetaminophen 1280 mg/L, vitreous 878 mg/L, and liver 729 mg/kg; in case #2, cardiac blood 1220 mg/L, vitreous 779 mg/L, liver 3260 mg/kg, and gastric 11,500 mg/500 g. Acetaminophen was measured using high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (254 nm) using 3-hydroxyacetanilide as the internal standard. The very high concentrations of acetaminophen is these cases but relatively little hepatic damage suggests an alternative, possibly cardiac, mechanism of death.     

Responding to violence against women: social science contributions to legal solutions

Violence against women represents a serious problem in America. Not only does intimate partner violence represent a significant threat to women, but it also counts among its victims, children living in the violent household. By its very nature, intimate partner or domestic violence may be approached as either a legal or a social problem. However, there is a shortage of legal approaches that have been informed by sound social science research. One promising framework for developing such integrated responses to intimate partner violence is therapeutic jurisprudence, which encourages legal professionals to work closely with social scientists to develop system responses based on empirical data. Such an approach contrasts sharply with the current practice of developing law based on assumptions, which frequently reflect traditional paternalistic and sexist attitudes toward women. This paper begins by examining the current theories and scientific knowledge on domestic violence with particular emphasis on the supporting data. A theoretical framework for conceptualizing domestic violence characterized as patriarchal terrorism as distinct from common couple violence is examined and offered as a means of explaining inconsistencies in research findings. Following a review of current legal responses to domestic violence, the paper concludes by outlining alternative strategies and recommendations for future efforts that are supported by current theory and research.     

THE ECONOMICS OF "WIRELESS NET NEUTRALITY"

Network neutrality issues have been vigorously debated worldwideover the past few years. One major aim of network neutralityproponents is to prevent high-speed Internet service providersfrom charging content providers for priority delivery. Recently,proponents have turned their attention to the regulation ofwireless networks, such as those for cellular phones, whichprovide increasing numbers of consumers with access to Internetservices. Some application providers have relied on a recentacademic paper to support greater regulation of wireless operators.Although the proposals to regulate these networks use the phrase"net neutrality," the regulations they seek to impose on wirelessoperators have little in common with those being sought forother Internet service providers. In this article, we providea framework for determining whether certain kinds of regulationsshould be imposed on the owners of wireless networks. We alsoconsider the benefits and costs of specific proposals for theregulation of these networks. Our principal conclusion is thatthe costs of most of these proposals are likely to exceed thebenefits.