PICKING CHERRIES WITH BLINDERS ON: A COMMENT ON ERICKSON ET AL. (2007) REGARDING THE USE OF TESTS IN FAMILY COURT*

Erickson, Lilienfeld, and Vitacco's (2007/this issue ) review of the suitability and limitations of psychological tests invites legal and mental health professionals to rely on it as an objective guide for selecting, using, and admitting psychological tests in family court matters. Unfortunately, their discussion is marred by a pronounced bias in favor of multiscale, objective personality inventories and against performance‐based or projective instruments. This bias is evident not only in their unbalanced emphasis on the strengths of the former and weaknesses of the latter, but also in their use of selective citations and loaded language in launching what amounts to a polemical argument in support of tests that they favor. Their discussion of the Rorschach inkblot test is particularly misleading. This article refutes their unwarranted criticisms of the theoretical underpinnings of the Rorschach test, its research base, its norms, its interscorer reliability, the validity of its scores, and its admissibility in the courtroom. The value of multimethod assessments that include the use of direct clinical observation of performance under standardized conditions in custody evaluations is highlighted.     

物证鉴定的能力验证

能力验证是物证鉴定质量保障体系的重要组成部分,可以非常有效的评估、监控和提高实验室物证鉴定能力和质量。本文论述了物证鉴定能力验证的主要方法、形式、类型和特点,以及在物证鉴定实验室质量管理中的具体应用,介绍了国外物证鉴定实验室参加能力验证活动的历史和现状,并提出在我国物证鉴定实验室广泛开展能力验证活动的思考。     

The FDA and genetic testing: improper tools for a difficult problem

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently issued draft guidance on how it intends to regulate laboratory-developed tests, including genetic tests. This article argues that genetic tests differ from traditional targets of FDA regulation in both product as well as industry landscape, and that the FDA''s traditional tools are ill-suited for regulating this space. While existing regulatory gaps do create risks in genetic testing, the regulatory burden of the FDA''s proposal introduces new risks for both test providers and patients that may offset the benefits. Incremental expansion of current oversight outside of the FDA can mitigate many of the risks necessitating increased oversight while avoiding the creation of new ones that could undermine this industry.     

Confirmation by LC–MS of drugs in oral fluid obtained from roadside testing

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two current on-site oral fluid (OF) drug detection devices (OraLab and Dräger), as part of the Spanish participation in the Roadside Testing Assessment Project (ROSITA Project). The study was done in collaboration with the Spanish Traffic Police, in Galicia (NW Spain), during 2004 and 2005. A total of 468 drivers selected at the police controls agreed to participate through informed consent. In addition, saliva samples were collected and sent to the laboratory to confirm the on-site results. For this purpose, two different analytical liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) methods were used to detect 11 drugs or metabolites in a 300 μL sample. Simultaneous analysis of morphine, 6-acetylmorphine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDA, MDMA, MDEA, MBDB, cocaine and benzoylecgonine was carried out using 100 μL of oral fluid, after an automated solid phase extraction. A different LC–MS method was performed to detect Δ⁹-THC in 200 μL of oral fluid using liquid–liquid extraction with hexane at pH 6. Both methods were fully validated, including linearity (1–250 ng/mL, 2–250 ng/mL) recovery (>50%), within-day and between-day precision (CV < 15%), accuracy (mean relative error < 15%), limit of detection (0.5 and 1 ng/mL), quantitation (1 and 2 ng/mL) and matrix effect. All of the positive cases and a random selection of 30% of the negatives were analyzed for confirmation analysis. Good results (sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value > 90%) were obtained for cocaine and opiates by OraLab, and for cocaine by Dräger. However, the results for the other compounds could be improved for both detection devices. Differences in the ease of use and in the interpretation mode (visual or instrumental) were observed.     

测谎技术及其在我国司法实践中的应用

测谎仪的发明和应用,在犯罪侦查史上是一个重大的突破。现在,测谎技术作为一项通用高科技已被世界上50多个国家广泛应用于国防、司法乃至商业等各个领域。实践证明,测谎技求完全是科学可信的,通过测谎可以准确地鉴别有罪和无罪。近年来,测谎技术正快速和大量地进入了我国司法领域,它作为一种行之有效的辅助侦查手段,为公、检、法、司等机关解决众多疑难案件提供了重要的参考依据,并取得显著效果。为了促进和推广这项技术的应用,本文着重对测谎技术的概念和原理及其在我国司法实践中的应用等方面作较详细的阐述。     

领导人才素质测评探讨

把握领导人才素质的特点并对其进行分析和评测 ,是干部管理工作的一项重要内容。领导人才素质的测评不能简单地用维度的方法进行堆砌 ,而要将领导者置于特定的领导环境下 ,注重领导者完成任务的程度和质量 ,实现以任务为中心的测评     

等速肌力检测在辨别伪肢体瘫中的应用

目的：探讨等速肌力检测在法医学鉴定中辨别伪肢体瘫的应用价值,为建立规范、统一的法医学肌力评价方法提供科学依据。方法选取骨折或神经损伤者57例（损伤组）和伪装者128例（伪装组）,应用等速肌力测试系统对损伤组两侧膝关节与伪装组膝关节进行检测,对双侧膝关节屈、伸肌的峰力矩（peak torque,PT）、峰力矩角度（peak torque angle,PTA）进行比较,归纳两组膝关节的力矩-时间图特征。结果损伤组膝关节屈、伸肌的双侧PT的比较差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）,PTA的比较差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）;伪装组膝关节屈、伸肌的双侧PT、PTA的比较差异均有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。损伤组两侧膝关节力矩-时间图主要为单峰前置型,伪装组膝关节力矩-时间图主要为多峰型。结论在法医学鉴定中,等速肌力检测在辨别伪肢体瘫方面可以通过力矩-时间图的相关特点进行评价。     

Structural Equation Modeling of School Violence Data

SUMMARY

Methodological challenges associated with structural equation modeling (SEM) and structured means modeling (SMM) in research on school violence and related topics in the social and behavioral sciences are examined. Problems associated with multiyear implementations of large-scale surveys are discussed. Complex sample designs, part of any large-scale survey, introduce multiple methodological challenges into SEM analysis. Problems with missing data and data imputation procedures are explored, along with commonly occurring departures from normality. Hypothesis testing of models and associated fit indices are explicated. Issues surrounding the use of Lagrange Multiplier tests of constraint validity in SMM are examined. Finally, basic problems associated with developing viable models of complex social phenomena with SEM are considered.     

The Masculine Yardstick of Physical Competence: U.S. Police Academy Fitness Tests

State and local law enforcement training academies differ in a myriad of ways, including the content of their classes, the type of instruction received, and the tests mandated for graduation. The focus of this study is the physical fitness test and how it affects the proportion of women to men matriculating from these academies. A predictive model of academy completion rates is derived from a sample of 96 police training academies. The presence of gendered physical testing requirements was found to be positively related to the proportion of women to men graduating from training. In addition to the empirical models, data on the specific content of these tests are provided. The variability of tests suggests that gendered physical requirements are an illusionary panacea, as they do not address the fundamental assumptions of the tests themselves.     

Applying the Verifiability Approach in an international airport setting

In the current study, we tested the utility of applying the Verifiability Approach (VA) within an international airport setting. The VA works on the notion that truth tellers provide more verifiable details than liars and has shown to be successful within other empirical deception detection scenarios. Three hundred and ninety-nine airside participants (those originating from Europe, Asia and African) were asked questions regarding their travel plans. We asked participants to either lie (n?=?195) or tell the truth (n?=?204) about their planned activities. The critical question required participants to provide information that would convince the investigator that they were telling the truth. We then transcribed and coded their responses for verifiable details; that is, details that could potentially be checked by an investigator. Overall, truth tellers provided significantly more verifiable details than liars. Furthermore, when taking their geographical origin into account, there was no interaction effect between veracity and region. Additionally, truth tellers provided a higher verifiable/total detail ratio than liars, which again showed no interaction effect between veracity and region. These findings support the suitability of the VA as a cross-cultural veracity tool and implications for its use as an additional security aid are discussed.