The Direct and Indirect Effects of Domestic Violence on Young Children's Intellectual Functioning

This study examined the direct and indirect effects of domestic violence on preschoolers' intellectual functioning. The sample consisted of 100 women and their 3–5-year-old children (44 boys and 56 girls) recruited from the general community. Forty-three percent of mothers had experienced domestic violence within the last year, defined by at least one physically aggressive act by an intimate partner. Children who had witnessed domestic violence had significantly poorer verbal abilities than nonwitnesses after controlling for SES and child abuse, but there were no group differences on visual–spatial abilities. Domestic violence also indirectly affected both types of intellectual abilities through its impact on maternal depression and the intellectual quality of the home environment. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed, as well as the implications for interventions for young child witnesses.     

Measurement Error in County-Level UCR Data

Maltz and Targonski (2002) have provided an important service by disaggregating the county level data to help researchers examine measurement errors in the county level data, but their conclusion that county-level crime data, as they are currently constituted, should not be used, especially in policy studies is not justified. All data has measurement error, presumably even their measures of this error. Unfortunately, however, Maltz and Targonski provide no systematic test for how bad the data are. Their graphs obscure both the small number of counties affected, that these are rural counties, and that just because some of the population in a county is not represented in calculating the crime rate, that is not the same thing as showing that the reported number is in error. Nor do they provide evidence for the more important issue of whether there is a systematic bias in the data. The evidence provided here indicates right-to-carry laws continue to produce substantial reductions in violent crime rates when states with the greatest measurement error are excluded. In fact, restricting the sample results in somewhat larger reductions in murders and robberies, but smaller reductions in aggravated assaults.     

汉语对第二语言词汇习得的影响

词汇习得是语言习得的一项重要内容,无论对母语习得还是第二语言习得而言,词汇习得研究都很有必要,它有助于完善语言习得的研究体系。在我国,多年以来人们对词汇习得的认识都存在着偏差,仅局限于了解词汇的意义,而非全面掌握词汇。本文在母语为汉语的第二语言习得背景下,通过对词汇习得内涵、认知模式以及母语对第二语言词汇习得的影响等方面进行分析,以期发现第二语言词汇习得的某些规律性。     

公安院校多媒体课件的编制

随着计算机多媒体技术的飞速发展 ,多媒体课件已被公安院校教师广泛应用于教学过程中。编制多媒体课件时应选择合适的课题 ,编制的课件应符合学员的学习认知规律并具有艺术美感。     

Context Effects in Forensic Entomology and Use of Sequential Unmasking in Casework

Context effects are pervasive in forensic science, and are being recognized by a growing number of disciplines as a threat to objectivity. Cognitive processes can be affected by extraneous context information, and many proactive scientists are therefore introducing context‐minimizing systems into their laboratories. Forensic entomologists are also subject to context effects, both in the processes they undertake (e.g., evidence collection) and decisions they make (e.g., whether an invertebrate taxon is found in a certain geographic area). We stratify the risk of bias into low, medium, and high for the decisions and processes undertaken by forensic entomologists, and propose that knowledge of the time the deceased was last seen alive is the most potentially biasing piece of information for forensic entomologists. Sequential unmasking is identified as the best system for minimizing context information, illustrated with the results of a casework trial (n = 19) using this approach in Victoria, Australia.     

Seeing is believing: observer perceptions of trait trustworthiness predict perceptions of honesty in high-stakes emotional appeals

Instantaneous first impressions of facial trustworthiness influence the manner in which observers evaluate ensuing information about stranger targets [e.g. Porter, S., &; ten Brinke, L. (2009). Dangerous decisions: A theoretical framework for understanding how judges assess credibility in the courtroom. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 14, 119–134. doi:10.1348/135532508X281520]. In two studies, we examined the association between perceptions of general trustworthiness and honesty assessments in an extremely high-stakes sample – individuals publicly pleading for the return of a missing relative, half of whom had killed the missing individual. In Study 1, observers (N?=?131) provided trustworthiness ratings – either before or after viewing and evaluating the honesty of videotaped or audio-only pleas – for a still image that depicted a neutral expression on the face of each pleader. In Study 2, observers (N?=?220) evaluated the sincerity of audio pleas paired either with an untrustworthy-looking target, a trustworthy-looking target, or no target face. Collectively, our findings indicated that first impressions of trait trustworthiness form the basis of state judgments of honesty, potentially contributing to misguided credibility assessments and miscarriages of justice in the legal system.     

The enhanced cognitive interview: expressions of uncertainty,motivation and its relation with report accuracy

The Enhanced Cognitive Interview (ECI) is one of the most widely studied and used methods to interview witnesses. However, ECI research has mainly focused on increasing report size and somewhat overlooked how to improve and evaluate report accuracy. No study evaluated if witnesses’ spontaneous expressions of uncertainty are accurate metacognitive judgments, nor if witnesses’ motivation during the interview affects report accuracy. This study examined how witnesses’ judgments of recall ‘uncertainty’ and their motivation perception could relate to report accuracy. Forty-four psychology students watched a mock robbery video recording and were interviewed 48 hours later with either the Portuguese version of the ECI or a Structured Interview (SI). Afterward, participants’ motivation was assessed and items of information were classified as ‘certainties’ or ‘uncertainties’. Results suggest that our ECI protocol was effective, since participants interviewed with the ECI produced more information without compromising accuracy. ‘Uncertainties’ were less accurate than ‘certainties’, and their exclusion raised overall, ECI, and SI, accuracy. More motivated participants had better recall accuracy. Accounting for witnesses’ motivation and spontaneous verbal expressions of uncertainty may be effective and time-saving procedures to increase accuracy. These are key points that professionals and researchers should consider.     

Mental disorders and cognitive impairment in ageing offenders

The aim of our study was to identify psychiatric and cognitive disorders among older prison inmates and to investigate whether there is an association between mental disorders and cognitive impairment. 138 men aged 50 and over were recruited in seven French prisons (Group 1) and 138 men aged 50 and over were recruited from the general public (Group 2). Participants were assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, the Mini Mental State Examination, and the Frontal Assessment Battery. The results reveal very significant differences in the incidence of mental disorders and in cognitive performance between the two groups. However, there does not appear to be a significant link between mental disorders and cognitive performance. We discuss the risk factors for mental disorders and cognitive impairment. We raise particularly the issue of depression, which is the most common pathology in this population and which is generally associated with the risk of suicide.     

Wrongful convictions and claims of false or misleading forensic evidence

The results are reported of a study to examine case factors associated with 732 wrongful convictions classified by the National Registry of Exonerations as being associated with “False or Misleading Forensic Evidence.” A forensic error typology has been developed to provide a structure for the categorization and coding of factors relating to misstatements in forensic science reports; errors of individualization or classification; testimony errors; issues relating to trials and officers of the court; and evidence handling and reporting issues. This study, which included the analysis of 1391 forensic examinations, demonstrates that most errors related to forensic evidence are not identification or classification errors by forensic scientists. When such errors are made, they are frequently associated with incompetent or fraudulent examiners, disciplines with an inadequate scientific foundation, or organizational deficiencies in training, management, governance, or resources. More often, forensic reports or testimony miscommunicate results, do not conform to established standards, or fail to provide appropriate limiting information. Just as importantly, actors within the broader criminal justice system—but not under the purview of any forensic science organization—may contribute to errors that may be related to the forensic evidence. System issues include reliance on presumptive tests without confirmation by a forensic laboratory, use of independent experts outside the administrative control of public laboratories, inadequate defense, and suppression or misrepresentation of forensic evidence by investigators or prosecutors. In approximately half of wrongful convictions analyzed, improved technology, testimony standards, or practice standards may have prevented a wrongful conviction at the time of trial.