Metric forensic anthropology decisions: Reliability and biasability of sectioning-point-based sex estimates

Subjective decisions make human cognitive processes more susceptible to bias and error. Specifically, research indicates that additional context biases forensic anthropologists’ morphological analyses. To address whether metric analyses are also subject to bias, we conducted a pilot study in which 52 experienced osteologists measured a difficult-to-classify human femur, with or without additional contextual information. Using a metric sectioning-point sex-estimation method, participants provided a sex estimate for individual skeletal element(s) and, when given multiple elements, the combined skeletal assemblage. Control group participants (n = 24) measured only the femur. In addition to the femur, bias group participants (n = 28) either measured a female humerus and viewed a female-biasing photograph (n = 14) or measured a male humerus and viewed a male-biasing photograph (n = 14). We explored whether the experts in the different groups would differ in: (1) femoral measurements; (2) femoral sex-estimation conclusions; and (3) final sex-estimation conclusions for the skeletal assemblage. Although the femoral measurements and femoral sex estimates were comparable across groups, the overall sex estimates in the female-biased group were impacted by contextual information—differing from both the control and male-biased groups (p < 0.001). Our results demonstrate that cognitive bias can occur even in metric sex-estimation conclusions. Specifically, this occurred when the metric data and single-element sex estimates were synthesized into an overall estimate. Thus, our results suggest that metric methods are most vulnerable to bias when data are synthesized into an overall conclusion, highlighting the need for bias countermeasures and comprehensive statistical frameworks for synthesizing metric data to mitigate the effects of cognitive bias.     

Peace Pedagogy and Interpretative Frameworks of Distrust: State–Society Relations in the Colombian Peace Process

The Havana Peace Accords of 2016 sought to end five decades of internal conflict in Colombia. As well as disarming the FARC, they promise to bring state institutions to abandoned regions and enable citizen participation. However, there is an obstacle to this which has consistently been overlooked by Juan Manuel Santos' government: a chronic distrust in the state dating back to colonialism. This article draws on ethnographic research with the Colombian government's ‘peace pedagogy’ team, tasked innovatively with educating citizens about the Havana Accords and incorporating them in the co-production of peace. It shows that citizens' learning about state policies, and reception of state efforts to shape that learning, are filtered through pre-existing perceptions of the state: in Colombia, interpretative frameworks of distrust. This ethnography illuminates state–society relations in the Colombian peace process, offering implications for ongoing implementation of the Accords, and posing questions for other countries in transition, arguing that historically-constituted perceptions of the state should be taken into account when communicating government policies to society.     

骨龄自动化评估的研究进展

骨龄是反映人体生长发育的一项重要指标,能够较为客观地反映个体生长发育水平及成熟度。传统的人工骨龄评估通常是将左手腕X线片与参考标准进行比较,从而获得相应的骨龄值,该方法既耗时又存在观察者间的差异。近年来,随着计算机科学的不断发展,促使骨龄评估开始由传统的人工评估向自动化评估转变。虽然骨龄自动化评估的研究已相当多,但大部分仍处于实验阶段。本文综述了近年来国内外学者在骨龄自动化评估方面的相关研究与进展,以期为相关研究人员提供参考与研究思路。     

Where and When to Spank: A Comparison Between U.S. and Japanese College Students

Although physical punishment has been studied for decades, there are gaps in the literature regarding frequently used form, context, and cross cultural differences. A comparison was made using 227 college students in the United States and Japan, who were presented with four scenarios and surveyed regarding attitudes toward physical punishment, perceptions of appropriate discipline methods, and past experience with physical punishment. Japanese and U.S. respondents reported similar personal experience with physical punishment (Japanese 86%, U.S. 91%). However, U.S. respondents reported a higher likelihood of being hit with an object than did Japanese respondents. For U.S. respondents, the bottom and the hand were the top two sites on the body used for physical punishment, whereas the head and the face were the top two places for the Japanese sample. Unlike U.S. respondents, type of child misbehavior was found to have an impact on Japanese respondents’ views on the appropriate discipline method.     

人类学背景下的语言和言语研究--论语言人类学的研究视野

语言人类学的学科定义以及语言实践、言语行为、指引性和参与性等理论方法的研究视野加深了我们对语言的理解。把语言视作一种交际工具、一种思维模式、一种文化实践 ,即一种行为形式的语言观 ,使得这门边缘学科能够创造性地继续影响它所吸收养分的人文社会学科 ,同时对我们理解语言对于人类的意义有其独特的贡献。语言人类学是人类学背景下的语言和言语研究 ,是把语言作为文化源和言语作为文化实践的研究 ,是语言学的一种人类学阐释。     

历史人类学刍议

历史人类学是文化人类学的一门新兴边缘学科 ,由于这一新兴学科的研究领域是历史上的各民族文化 ,并且在研究过程中需要借助于大量的历史典籍资料 ,容易使人将其与历史学相混。历史人类学是一门具有特定研究领域并具有文化人类学研究传统的新兴分支学科 ,其实质与价值不可能被其他任何学科替代 ,其发展也不会损及其他学科 ,因而应当对这门新兴学科加以积极引进和消化吸收 ,早日形成本土化的中国历史人类学。     

社会区隔:旅游活动的文化社会学本质--一种基于布迪厄文化资本理论的解读

在布迪厄文化资本理论的认识架构内,旅游文化资本由其他类型的资本转换而来,可以区分为旅游文化能力、旅游文化产品和旅游文化制度三种形式.旅游文化资本的存在揭示了旅游活动的基本结构和其中隐含的权力动力学.旅游文化资本在某些条件下是人的社会竞争的有效资源,旅游活动只是社会区隔这一人的社会存在的本质目标的手段之一,社会区隔是旅游活动的文化社会学本质.     

刑事审判中实物证据的审查判断及排除

刑事审判中,实物证据以其特有的客观性、稳定性和不可替代性特征而对于案件事实的认定发挥着令人更为信服的证实作用,从而显示出实物证据的证明优势。但实物证据在刑事诉讼证明中,也存在其一定的局限性。对于实物证据的审查,应主要从其客观真实性、证据来源、保管和鉴定过程、与案件事实的关联性、是否全面等方面进行。对于非法实物证据实行有别于言词证据的裁量排除原则,即只有在相关部门不能补正或者作出合理解释的情况下,才对其予以排除。