Oculomotor examination of the weapon focus effect: does a gun automatically engage visual attention?

A person is less likely to be accurately remembered if they appear in a visual scene with a gun, a result that has been termed the weapon focus effect (WFE). Explanations of the WFE argue that weapons engage attention because they are unusual and/or threatening, which causes encoding deficits for the other items in the visual scene. Previous WFE research has always embedded the weapon and nonweapon objects within a larger context that provides information about an actor's intention to use the object. As such, it is currently unknown whether a gun automatically engages attention to a greater extent than other objects independent of the context in which it is presente

Age-related differences in spontaneous trait judgments from facial appearance.

We tested whether there are age-related declines in detecting cues to trustworthiness, a skill that has been demonstrated to be rapid and automatic in younger adults. Young (age M = 21.17 years) and older (age M = 70.15 years) adults made criminal appearance judgments to unfamiliar faces, which were presented at a duration of either 100, 500, or 1000-ms. Participants’ response times and judgment confidence were recorded. Older compared to young adults were poorer at judging trustworthiness at 100-ms, and were slower overall in making their judgments. Further, the cues (i.e., perceptions of anger, trustworthiness, and happiness) underlying criminality judgments were the same across age groups. Judgment confidence increased with increasing exposure duration for both age groups, while older adults were less confident in their judgments overall than their young counterparts. The implications are discussed

Alcohol and remembering a hypothetical sexual assault: Can people who were under the influence of alcohol during the event provide accurate testimony?

We examined the influence of alcohol on remembering an interactive hypothetical sexual assault scenario in the laboratory using a balanced placebo design. Female participants completed a memory test 24 hours and 4 months later. Participants reported less information (i.e., responded ‘don’t know’ more often to questions) if they were under the influence of alcohol during scenario encoding. The accuracy of the information intoxicated participants reported did not differ compared to sober participants, however, suggesting intoxicated participants were effectively monitoring the accuracy of their memory at test. Additionally, peripheral details were remembered less accurately than central details, regardless of intoxication level; and memory accuracy for peripheral details decreased by a larger amount compared to central details across the retention interval. Finally, participants were more accurate if they were told they were drinking alcohol rather than a placebo. We discuss theoretical implications for alcohol myopia and memory regulation, together with applied implications for interviewing intoxicated witnesses

Does presenting perpetrator and innocent suspect faces from different facial angles influence the susceptibility of eyewitness memory? An investigation into the misinformation effect and eyewitness misidentification

Introduction: This study investigated the effects of face angle congruency across stages of a misinformation paradigm on lineup discrimination accuracy.Methods: In a between-subjects design, participants viewed a mock crime with the perpetrator’s face from the front or profile angle. They then read a news report featuring an innocent suspect’s image from the same or different angle as the perpetrator had been shown. A subsequent lineup manipulated perpetrator presence and viewing angle of the lineup members, who were all shown either from the front or in profile.Results: No significant difference emerged in identification errors based on angle congruency between stages. However, accuracy was higher when faces were shown from the front angle, both during the initial event and the lineup, compared to the profile angle.Discussion: The results of this research underscore the importance of considering viewing angles in the construction of lineups

Government responses to gender-based violence during COVID-19

Gender-based violence (GBV) significantly and substantially threatens women's health. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing risks and patterns of GBV. The impact of COVID-19 on GBV is not inevitable, however, and can be mediated by the policies of governments. In this study we developed the Government GBV Response Index to systematically examine how countries (N = 60) performed in response to the pandemic with respect to the government 1) enacting specific national-level GBV policy; 2) making dedicated COVID-19 specific funding available; and 3) adapting existing GBV responses to COVID-19 related restrictions and challenges. Most countries (N = 33) delivered fewer than two policy responses. We also performed rapid case study analyses to investigate what might contribute to countries having more comprehensive government policy. We find that civil society organizations played a key role in facilitating GBV policy during the pandemic, especially if they are well-funded and well-connected to the government, and if the country has a high-level government official responsible for gender issues

A critical analysis of gender-based violence reporting and evidence building applications (GBVxTech) for capturing memory reports

Introduction: Gender-based violence (GBV) is under-reported to the authorities owing to the stigma, shame, and fear of reprisal that surrounds these crimes. To address this, there has been an influx of technologies, including mobile phone and online applications that allow victim-survivors (hereafter, victims) to document and report GBV (hereafter referred to as GBVxTech). We critically analysed the extent to which GBVxTech applications align with the scientific knowledge base on gathering accounts of crimes from victims and witnesses.Methods: We identified 41 reporting and evidence building applications from around the world but found many (n = 19) were no longer accessible. A total of 13 applications met the study criteria and were available for download. We evaluated each application on how well its design and features align with established minimum best practice standards for gathering complete and accurate accounts from witnesses and victims, such as the pre-interview instructions (e.g., setting ground rules), questioning approach (e.g., using open-ended questions), and the adequacy of security features (e.g., password protection).Results and Discussion: We found most applications employ open questions, encourage victims to report information in an independent voice, and seek to elicit information pertinent to a criminal investigation. None of the applications use leading questions. However, most applications do not establish ground rules, and many use forced-choice questions, do not time stamp the information gathered, or document when users change their answers. Many applications have limited security features, potentially compromising users’ safety. Further, some applications do not provide information about how to use the app, an informed consent procedure, or data usage information. We discuss the findings and offer recommendations for future GBVxTech development

Impact of alcohol on memory:a systematic review

This chapter reviews the literature in psychology on acute alcohol intoxication and memory. Special emphasis is placed on empirical studies that have systematically examined alcohol’s effects on memory performance in forensic contexts. Three aspects of memory performance are considered, including memory accuracy (i.e. the ability of the complainant to accurately distinguish between correct and incorrect information about the crime), memory reliability (i.e. the probability that information recalled by the complainant at a given level of certainty is correct), and completeness (i.e. the quantity of information reported by the complainant). The review also documents the major theoretical perspectives on memory and acute alcohol intoxication. A total of 19 studies are reviewed. The results show that different memory performance measures are relevant depending on whether we are policy makers formulating interview guidance or decision makers evaluating the strength of memory evidence in a given case. Overall, the research to date indicates that acute alcohol intoxication during rape affects the completeness, but not the accuracy and reliability of what is remembered

The impact of beliefs about face recognition ability on memory retrieval processes in young and older adults

This study examined whether beliefs about face recognition ability differentially influence memory retrieval in older compared to young adults. Participants evaluated their ability to recognise faces and were also given information about their ability to perceive and recognise faces. The information was ostensibly based on an objective measure of their ability, but in actuality, participants had been randomly assigned the information they received (high ability, low ability or no information control). Following this information, face recognition accuracy for a set of previously studied faces was measured using a remember– know memory paradigm. Older adults rated their ability to recognise faces as poorer compared to young adults. Additionally, negative information about face recognition ability improved only older adults’ ability to recognise a previously seen face. Older adults were also found to engage in more familiarity than item-specific processing than young adults, but information about their face recognition ability did not affect face processing style. The role that older adults’ memory beliefs have in the meta-cognitive strategies they employ is discussed