scholarly journals Reasons to Doubt the Reliability of Eyewitness Memory: Commentary on Wixted, Mickes, and Fisher (2018)

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberley A. Wade ◽  
Robert A. Nash ◽  
D. Stephen Lindsay
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Eyewitness Memory ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
High Confidence ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Eyewitness Reports ◽  
The Common ◽  
Mock Crime

Wixted, Mickes, and Fisher (this issue) take issue with the common trope that eyewitness memory is inherently unreliable. They draw on a large body of mock-crime research and a small number of field studies, which indicate that high-confidence eyewitness reports are usually accurate, at least when memory is uncontaminated and suitable interviewing procedures are used. We agree with the thrust of Wixted et al.’s argument and welcome their invitation to confront the mass underselling of eyewitnesses’ potential reliability. Nevertheless, we argue that there is a comparable risk of overselling eyewitnesses’ reliability. Wixted et al.’s reasoning implies that near-pristine conditions or uncontaminated memories are normative, but there are at least two good reasons to doubt this. First, psychological science does not yet offer a good understanding of how often and when eyewitness interviews might deviate from best practice in ways that compromise the accuracy of witnesses’ reports. Second, witnesses may frequently be exposed to preinterview influences that could corrupt reports obtained in best-practice interviews.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Eyewitness Confidence and Identification Accuracy: A New Synthesis

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Wixted ◽  
Gary L. Wells
Keyword(s):  
Eyewitness Identification ◽  
Police Department ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Information Value ◽  
Identification Accuracy ◽  
High Confidence ◽  
Testing Conditions ◽  
Eyewitness Confidence ◽  
New Synthesis ◽  
Mock Crime

Summary The U.S. legal system increasingly accepts the idea that the confidence expressed by an eyewitness who identified a suspect from a lineup provides little information as to the accuracy of that identification. There was a time when this pessimistic assessment was entirely reasonable because of the questionable eyewitness-identification procedures that police commonly employed. However, after more than 30 years of eyewitness-identification research, our understanding of how to properly conduct a lineup has evolved considerably, and the time seems ripe to ask how eyewitness confidence informs accuracy under more pristine testing conditions (e.g., initial, uncontaminated memory tests using fair lineups, with no lineup administrator influence, and with an immediate confidence statement). Under those conditions, mock-crime studies and police department field studies have consistently shown that, for adults, (a) confidence and accuracy are strongly related and (b) high-confidence suspect identifications are remarkably accurate. However, when certain non-pristine testing conditions prevail (e.g., when unfair lineups are used), the accuracy of even a high-confidence suspect ID is seriously compromised. Unfortunately, some jurisdictions have not yet made reforms that would create pristine testing conditions and, hence, our conclusions about the reliability of high-confidence identifications cannot yet be applied to those jurisdictions. However, understanding the information value of eyewitness confidence under pristine testing conditions can help the criminal justice system to simultaneously achieve both of its main objectives: to exonerate the innocent (by better appreciating that initial, low-confidence suspect identifications are error prone) and to convict the guilty (by better appreciating that initial, high-confidence suspect identifications are surprisingly accurate under proper testing conditions).

Russia–Ethiopia: Humanitarian Ties Cooperation in Scientific Research

2018 ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
Alexander Tkachenko
Keyword(s):  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Modern World ◽  
State University ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Scientific Project

The report shows the results of the Russian-Ethiopian historic and ethnographic expedition – a joint scientific project of two countries, successfully implemented in the early 1990s. Advanced results achieved by this expedition were much owed to participation of several leading Russian and Ethiopian scientific centers and universities – the Institute for African Studies, the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Lomonosov Moscow State University, Addis Ababa University and Institute for Ethiopian Studies, The Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, and others. The participants of the expedition gathered and summarized a large body of data acquired during opinion polls, held in the course of the visits to a number of educational, medical, economic and manufacturing centers and organizations, including workshops, agricultural farms, banks, scientific centers. The collected scientific data has allowed, based on multi-factor analysis, to specify the nature of evolutionary processes in communal relations, efficiency of various aspects of federalism policy in a cosmopolitan country. Its value is reflected by applicability and sharp demand for a scientific view on one of the most troubled sides of social and political life of many African countries, and of the modern world. Based on the field research, a high number of articles and monographs have been prepared and published in the Russian Federation. They include “Report on Field Studies of Ethiopia Carried Out by Russian Historical, Ethnic, Sociological, Expedition, 1990–1992”, “Ethiopia: History, Culture and Ethnicity”, “Ethiopia: the Particular Features of Federalism”, “Drama in Modern Ethiopian Literature and Theatre”, “Mission in Ethiopia. African Policy of the USSR in the eyes of the Soviet Diplomat. 1956–1982”, two volumes of “Africa” encyclopedia and others.

Pornography Use and Psychological Science: A Call for Consideration

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-75
Author(s):  
Joshua B. Grubbs ◽  
Shane W. Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Adolescent Development ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Minority Populations ◽  
Development Research ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Pornography Use ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Developed Nations ◽  
Multiple Domains ◽  
Romantic Satisfaction

Pornography use is both ubiquitous and controversial in developed nations. Although research related to pornography use has flourished in topical and special-interest journals for several decades, much of this work has remained in the periphery of mainstream interests. The current article reviews how pornography use is likely relevant to various domains within psychological science, particularly emphasizing its significance in relationship research, adolescent-development research, and clinical science. Specifically, pornography use is likely salient to research examining both sexual and romantic satisfaction. Additionally, it is also likely relevant to understanding adolescent sexual development, particularly among sexual-minority populations. Finally, a large body of research suggests that pornography use may become problematic, either because of excessive use or moral incongruence about such use, illustrating its salience in clinical psychological science. Collectively, the current research related to pornography use suggests that it is of interest to multiple domains in psychological science and that its effects can range from positive to neutral to negative.

Longer Life Spans and Delayed Maturation in Wild-Derived Mice

2002 ◽  
Vol 227 (7) ◽  
pp. 500-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Miller ◽  
James M. Harper ◽  
Robert C. Dysko ◽  
Stephen J. Durkee ◽  
Steven N. Austad
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Glycosylated Hemoglobin ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Aging Research ◽  
Maximal Life Span ◽  
Common Stocks ◽  
Physiology And Biochemistry ◽  
The Common ◽  
Delayed Maturation ◽  
Laboratory Breeding

Nearly all the experimental mice used in aging research are derived from lineages that have been selected for many generations for adaptation to laboratory breeding conditions and are subsequently inbred. To see if inbreeding and laboratory adaptation might have altered the frequencies of genes that influence life span, we have developed three lines of mice (Idaho [Id], Pohnpel [Po], and Majuro [Ma]) from wild-trapped progenitors, and have compared them with a genetically heterogeneous mouse stock (DC) representative of the laboratoryadapted gene pool. Mean life span of the Id stock exceeded that of the DC stock by 24% (P < 0.00002), and maximal life span, estimated as mean longevity of the longest-lived 10% of the mice, was also increased by 16% (P < 0.003). Mice of the Ma stock also had a significantly longer maximal longevity than DC mice (9%, P = 0.04). The longest-lived Id mouse died at the age of 1450 days, which appears to exceed the previous longevity record for fully fed, non-mutant mice. The life table of the Po mice resembled that of the DC controls. Ma and Id mice differ from DC mice in several respects: both are shorter and lighter, and females of both stocks, particularly Id, are much slower to reach sexual maturity. As young adults, Id mice have lower levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I), leptin, and glycosylated hemoglobin compared with DC controls, implicating several biochemical pathways as potential longevity mediators. The results support the idea that inadvertent selection for rapid maturation and large body size during the adaptation of the common stocks of laboratory mice may have forced the loss of natural alleles that retard the aging process. Genes present in the Id and Ma stocks may be valuable tools for the analysis of the physiology and biochemistry of aging in mice.

Societal Change and Wisdom: Insights from the World after Covid Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Grossmann ◽  
Oliver Twardus ◽  
Michael E. W. Varnum ◽  
Eranda Jayawickreme ◽  
John McLevey
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Societal Change ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
The World ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Societal Changes ◽  
Time Capsule ◽  
The Common

How will the world change as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic? What can people do to best adapt to the societal changes ahead? To answer these questions, over the course of the summer-fall 2020 we launched the World After COVID Project, interviewing more than 50 of the world’s leading scholars in the behavioral and social sciences, including fellows of national academies and presidents of major scientific societies. Experts independently shared their thoughts on what effects the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our societies and provided advice for successful response to new challenges and opportunities. Using mixed-method and natural language processing analyses, we distilled and analyzed these predictions and suggestions, observing a diversity of scenarios. Results also show that half of the experts approach their post-Covid predictions dialectically, highlighting both positive and negative features of the same prediction. Moreover, prosocial goals and meta-cognition—two chief tenants of the Common Wisdom model—were evident in their recommendations for how to cope with possible changes. The project provides a time capsule of experts’ predictions during major societal changes. We discuss implications for strengthening focus on prediction (vs. mere explanation) in psychological science as well as the value of uncertainty and dialecticism in forecasting.

Intensive Outpatient Treatment for Eating Disorders

2017 ◽  
pp. 696-700
Author(s):  
Linda Paulk Buchanan
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Outpatient Treatment ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Outpatient Psychotherapy ◽  
Levels Of Care ◽  
The Common ◽  
Intensive Outpatient ◽  
Family Nutrition ◽  
Population Treatment ◽  
Common Misconceptions

As the vast majority of people with eating disorders cannot recover with traditional outpatient psychotherapy, a multimodal and multidisciplinary approach is recognized as the best practice for treatment of this population. Treatment begins with assessment of psychological, psychiatric, and nutritional functioning followed by a combination of individual, family, nutrition, and group therapy. The author shares how she became interested in this field and describes some of the joys and challenges she has experienced in developing a freestanding, psychologist-owned intensive outpatient facility. This chapter covers levels of care, treatment components, and some of the common misconceptions associated with these individuals. The author discusses the business aspects of her practice. Resources are provided for developing this niche.

Positive Corporate Governance and its Implications for Executive Compensation

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 1777-1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
James McConvill
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Executive Compensation ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Pay For Performance ◽  
Negative Perception ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Exponential Increase ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The Common ◽  
Common Perception

As a result of a series of high-profile corporate collapses worldwide, along with regular reporting of shareholder money being spent on corporate jets, executive golf days and increasingly excessive executive compensation arrangements, the common perception is that the executives of our largest corporations are driven by self-interest with little regard for what is best for the corporation. Due to this negative perception, there has been an exponential increase in the amount of laws, rules and guidelines setting in place a heightened standard of corporate governance best practice. Without such regulation, it is believed, another collapse or scandal is inevitable. In this article, I dispute this reasoning. In my view if we embrace “positive corporate governance”, in which the positive strengths and virtues of company executives are emphasised, we can move towards an environment in which heavy regulation is replaced by positive corporate norms inside the corporation. I then apply my approach of positive corporate governance to address one of the most significant issues confronting corporate regulation at present- how to deal with the rapid increase in executive compensation in our largest corporations. I suggest that the dominant methodology of pay for performance is ultimately flawed.

Process safety common lead metrics: implementing and learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 544
Author(s):  
Steve Fogarty
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Process Safety ◽  
Chemical Safety ◽  
Common Lead ◽  
Tier System ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Common ◽  
Safety Metrics ◽  
Selection Of

No matter which major accident event investigation is looked into, some common themes concerning the requirements for process safety metrics present themselves. For example, the recent Macondo investigation by the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) examined both API 754 and IOGP 456, and re-iterated that metrics need to be developed to capture the health of barriers and management systems. The effectiveness of barriers and management systems needs to be assessed, as does the frequency that these barriers are being called upon to make sure that the risk is being properly managed. Both API 754 and IOGP 456 use the four-tier system, where the top two tiers are lagging, and tiers three and four are more leading. Both standards focus on reporting and benchmarking the lagging metrics; however, the selection of leading metrics is left to be determined by individual companies. Recent work completed by the IChemE Safety Centre (ISC) focuses on these leading metrics, but takes a different approach by developing a suite of 21 common lead metrics that allows for developments to occur. By having common metrics across companies and across industries, ISC and its member companies are at the groundbreaking point where benchmarking and identification of best practice can begin. APPEA is leading the charge with a unanimous agreement by the CEOs at the April CEO meeting to implement the common lead metrics across the APPEA companies. Quadrant Energy is well underway with its journey, and this extended abstract discusses the process being undertaken to commence reporting on all 21 of these process safety common lead metrics.

Synthesis of Longitudinal Joint of Flexible Pavement

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Rosli Mohd Hasan ◽  
David Porter ◽  
Zhanping You
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Asphalt Pavement ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Performance Evaluations ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Longitudinal Joint ◽  
Longitudinal Joints ◽  
Machine Operator ◽  
Selection Of

This paper provides a wide range of information related to longitudinal joints of asphalt pavement, such as types of longitudinal joints, performance evaluations, factors of failure, and selection of the best practice in constructing longitudinal joints. Additionally, this synthesis provides an overview of construction methods which are typically used in constructing longitudinal joints, along with guides and approaches implemented by different road builders or authorities to attain a better longitudinal joint. It was found that difficulties during compaction of the asphalt pavement at the center line resulted in poor joint density. This has reduced the performance and durability of pavement that is associated with cracks and degradations due to moisture damage, such as raveling. Results from previous field studies and laboratory evaluations have been summarized to understand the factors of failure of the adjacent joint. The Michigan joint technique was found to be the best method in constructing longitudinal joints of HMA. The cutting wheel and the edge restraining device techniques are also recommended by the asphalt technologists however are dependent on the machine operator to obtain consistent results.  

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