Lineup Identification by Children: Effects of Clothing Bias

This study examined effects of clothing cues on children's identification accuracy from lineups. Four- to 14-year-olds (n = 228) saw 12 video clips of individuals, each wearing a distinctly colored shirt. After watching each clip children were presented with a target-present or target-absent photo lineup. Three clothing conditions were included. In 2 conditions all lineup members wore the same colored shirt; in the third, biased condition, the shirt color of only one individual matched that seen in the preceding clip (the target in target-present trials and the replacement in target-absent trials). Correct identifications of the target in target-present trials were most frequent in the biased condition, whereas in target-absent trials the biased condition led to more false identifications of the target replacement. Older children were more accurate than younger children, both in choosing the target from target-present lineups and rejecting target-absent lineups. These findings suggest that a simple clothing cue such as shirt color can have a significant impact on children's lineup identification accuracy.     

Forensic Facial Reconstruction: A Systematic Review of Nasal Prediction Techniques

Prediction facial features from the skull are recurring theme on the forensic literature. The nose has been investigated since it has a significant role in facial recognition and the literature shows that there is not an universal method for nasal prediction. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review to analyze what are the most consistent techniques of nasal reconstruction. Primary studies describing or validating nasal reconstruction techniques in adults and published in journals of Forensic Sciences were included in this review. Tedeschi‐Oliveira's method positioned nasal tip with acceptable accuracy as Gerasimov's method. The Krogman's and Iscan's technique underestimated nasal projection in North Americans. The Prokopec's and Ubelaker's method obtained accuracy in Caucasoid. George's method presented results similar to reference standard in Caucasoid. In a supplementary way, studies are needed to accurately estimate the nasal width.     

Burden sharing in the NATO alliance: An empirical test of alternative views

This paper undertakes an empirical test of two opposing views of interdependencies among members of military alliances. The first view, associated with Olson and Zeckhauser, argues that the public good aspect of defense induces free riding behavior by smaller alliance members, which imposes a disproportionate burden of supporting the alliance on the larger members. A second view argues that NATO defense activities produce a mix of outputs, some of which are not purely public, and some of which may be complementary across nations. Furthermore, the nature of the weapons systems and their relative use by alliance members may induce substantial cooperation by allies. The test proposed here analyzes the relationship between defense spending shares of NATO members and their population and relative wealth shares. A simple model is specified and tested using pooled time series cross sectional data. The empirical results indicate more support for the cooperative view of ally relationships than the Olson-Zeckhauser non-cooperative model.     

Natural Disasters,Human Development and Poverty at the Municipal Level in Mexico

This article analyses the effects of natural disasters on human development and poverty levels at the municipal level in Mexico. Using several sources, we build a panel of data in order to uncover if different natural shocks can affect social indicators. After controlling for geographic and natural characteristics which can make municipalities more hazard prone, as well as for other institutional, socio-economic and demographic pre-shock characteristics, in addition to using fixed effects, we find that general shocks, especially from floods and droughts, lead to significant drops in both types of indicator.     

Seek Help from Teachers or Fight Back? Student Perceptions of Teachers’ Actions during Conflicts and Responses to Peer Victimization

Previous research has shown that teachers’ actions when addressing conflict on school grounds can shape adolescent perceptions regarding how well the school manages victimization. Our objective in this study was to determine how these perceptions influenced the likelihood that adolescent students would react to victimization scenarios by either seeking help from school authority or physically fighting back. Vignettes describing two events of victimization were administered to 148 ethnic minority adolescents (Latino, African American, and Asian backgrounds; 49% female) attending an urban high school with high rates of conflict. Positive perceptions of teachers’ actions during conflicts—assessed via a questionnaire tapping how teachers manage student conflicts both generally and in a specific instance of strife—predicted a greater willingness to seek help from school authority, which in turn negatively predicted self-reported aggressive responses to the victimization scenarios. Path analysis established the viability of this indirect effect model, even when we controlled for sex, beliefs about the acceptability of aggression, and previous levels of reactive aggression. Adolescents’ perceptions of teachers’ actions during conflicts are discussed in relation to social information processing models, improving student–teacher relations, and decreasing aggression at schools.