Perceptions of Luck: Near Win and Near Loss Experiences

Current research examining gambling behaviors has tended to focus on structur-al features such as the “near miss” phenomenon. Until now this research has focused mainly on a near “win” situation and ignored what can be considered a near “loss” situation (Wohl & Enzle, 2003). The present study compared the effects of participants‟ (N=132) near win/loss situations when playing a Wheel of Fortune slot-machine program designed to manipulate near wins and near losses. Near win/loss events were presented at a rate of 15, 30, or 45 percent of the total trials during an acquisition phase. Participants experiencing near win situations at the 45% levels persisted in their gambling behaviors more than the participants in other conditions. A better understanding of the impact of the structural variables of a slot machine, such as a near win and loss events can help explain gamblers‟ continued tendencies to gamble

Using the DELPHI Method to Collect Feedback on Student\u27s Perceptions of Teaching Quality

In educational institutions, teaching effectiveness is a highly valued asset among administrators, professors, and students alike. Information gathered from students is often used as a basis for promotion and tenure decisions (Abrami & d’Apollonia, 1999; Waters, Kemp, & Pucci, 1988), and, ideally, formative purposes. However, students do not always believe that their evaluations carry much weight (Chen & Hoshower, 2003; Spencer & Schmelkin, 2002). This is likely due to the fact that summarized results from student evaluations often do not get in the hands of professors until after that particular course has concluded and, therefore, the feedback does not directly benefit the students who provided it. The goal of the current paper is to introduce a method that can be used by instructors to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching in a particular course in such a way as to implement change in the course if necessary for those very same students. First, we will discuss teaching effectiveness in general; second we will introduce the DELPHI method and its usefulness in evaluating effective teaching; and third we will report on the results of using this method in our courses with the goal of improving the learning experience for the students providing the feedback

Alias Use Among Inmates: Gender, Race, and Seriousness of Crime

The use of an assumed name or alias is often thought of as a criminal technique to evade incarceration by hiding one\u27s identity; however this is not always the case. There are many types of aliases. These include the pseudo-alias, which is often due to clerical error consisting of misspelling foreign names or changing letter combinations; white-collar psuedonymity (Hartman, 1951) such as traveling in cognito, assuming a stage name, or nome de plume; and the use of a criminal alias to dissociate a person from his or her crime (Harry, 1992)

Can Psychological Science Help Fingerprint Examiners Meet the Daubert Criterion?

This paper investigates the efficacy of fingerprinting as an investigative tool in law enforcement agencies. Fingerprint examiners have been providing expert testimony in courtrooms for over a century using their professional expertise to state whether or not two fingerprints are matches. This foolproof method has recently come under scrutiny as judges have threatened to rule fingerprint evidence inadmissible as it lacks the scientific merit to meet the Daubert criterion. This paper explores the legal issues surrounding fingerprinting, and further studies how psychological science can help the fingerprint examiners meet the Daubert criterion by studying other domains in which psychological science has been useful (i.e., eyewitness identification). Finally, this paper provides a blueprint for the areas of fingerprinting that examiners need to empirically study. Law enforcement agencies have used fingerprints to identify criminals for hundreds and even thousands of years. Until recently, this has been an infallible method of identification. However, this investigative tool has been under scrutiny after its reliability and validity were challenged in the United States v. Llera Plaza, Acosta, and Rodriguez (2002). This marked the first court case in history in which the judge initially denied fingerprint evidence because it was not able to meet the Daubert criterion, a set of five criteria that establishes scientific reliability and validity (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993). These recent legal cases have sparked an ongoing debate between the courts and law enforcement agencies. Though no court has of yet refused the testimony of fingerprint examiners, the date is steadily approaching unless examiners can satisfy the Daubert criterion to establish fingerprinting as a true science. This paper attempts to put this ongoing debate into perspective by providing a detailed development of the area of fingerprinting, including current identification methods. Secondly, this paper will be investigating the legal issues surrounding fingerprint evidence, as well as the steps that need to be taken to satisfy the Daubert criterion. In doing so, we will consider how the field of psychological science can aid in this pursuit, as it has helped other fields establish themselves as sciences (i.e., eyewitness identification). Finally, a number of fingerprint topics that need to be empirically studied through the aid of psychological science will be laid out and discussed

Hemispherical Differences Between Feeling of Knowing and Tip-of-Tongue Metacognitive States for Laterally Presented Faces

Feeling of knowing phenomenon and tip of the tongue state research currently address these metacognitive states as failed attempts of information retrieval. Because direct access to memory is unsuccessful in both of these states we must ask the question of how and where these functions are processed in the brain. Because we know that each hemisphere of the brain processes specific functions, we can then hypothesize that FOK and TOT are processed separately in different hemispheres of the brain. FOK will be will be more accurate when processed in the right hemisphere, and TOT states will occur more often in the left hemisphere. Contrary to our hypothesis, our data suggest that FOK is a left cerebral function as FOK are higher when faces are presented in the right visual field (e.g. left hemisphere). It is believed that this is a result of greater activation of semantic information associated with the face in the left hemisphere. If so, our data support Koriat\u27s Accessibility Model

Verbal Overshadowing and Non-Verbal Descriptions of Faces

When a person becomes a witness to a crime he or she is often asked to recall the event when the police arrive. Of particular interest is the verbal description of the offender. A verbal description can aid in locating suspects still in the vicinity; however, under certain circumstances the verbal description can hinder the subsequent recognition of the culprit. This is referred to as verbal overshadowing. Recent research has demonstrated that verbal overshadowing occurs when the witness is forced to provide details of the offender that are not readily available to the witness. When witnesses are allowed instead to provide free recall of the offender, subsequent recognition is not hindered. Non-verbal methods for describing faces have been used by agencies such as the FBI for years. To assist in constructing facial composites of perpetrators, the FBI developed the FBI Facial Identification Catalog. In the catalog images of faces representing various features are displayed. For example, rather than describing the feature of having a long nose, the witness can simply point to a page of pictures of long noses. In eyewitness studies, feature description tasks are often designed as bi-polar opposites on Likert-type scales. For example, did the suspect have a SHORT NOSE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 LONG NOSE? This verbal task can easily be modified such that a picture of a Short Nose and a picture of a Long Nose anchor the Likert- type scale eliminating the verbal component. A procedure such as this might allow for more detailed questioning without running the risk of verbal overshadowing. The present study examines the effect of verbal overshadowing when participants were given either warned detail recall or forced detail recall when assigned to either a verbal or pictorial description condition. It was hypothesized that participants in the pictorial warning condition would display a significantly smaller verbal overshadowing effect than participants in the other conditions

Psikologi kognitif. Edisi kedelapan

Jakartaxvii, 541 p.: gloss., indeks; 25 c

Looking for Mr. Bad Guy: How Tipsters Tip

In recent years, law enforcement officials have been utilizing advanced technology in order to capture criminals who might have otherwise evaded the law. We have all seen suspects\u27 pictures on the news or on wanted posters in the post office, and there is even a popular television show titled America\u27s Most Wanted (AMW) that deals solely with capturing those suspects that have managed to avoid law enforcement officials. This crime fighting method has been demonstrated to be advantageous. For example, in 1993, Mark Curriden reported that of the 541 cases AMW had aired, 347 had been solved, and 236 were solved due to tips from viewers. This is significant because 64% of the cases that were aired had been solved with 44% of the cases being solved with the assistance of the public. Without this process, many criminals would remain unpunished for the crimes that were committed. Although the show is beneficial, it remains unclear exactly which features of the process contribute to its success. Using data collected by AMW on a captured suspect, the process will be examined. Through assessment and statistical analysis, perhaps a clearer view of the process will develop. Further, by obtaining a better idea of how and why the process works, it becomes possible to improve it, and capture a greater percentage of suspected criminals

Using Match-to-Sample to Evaluate the Perceptual Expertise Hypothesis

Unfortunately for law enforcement, many cases that need to be solved do not involve concrete evidence. Instead, they must rely on a witness to the crime. It has been proven that eyewitness identification is not always accurate, however, many innocent suspects have been sent to prison based on eyewitness testimony alone. People are not always able to recall events as they actually happened or the way they actually were. Many factors may influence a person\u27s ability to correctly identify or recall a certain event or person. It has been found that race is one factor that may influence the ability to accurately recall a face. If race does have an affect on recollection and eyewitness testimony, it is extremely important to study it. There has been some research that shows a cross racial effect. In examination of the cross racial effect, we focused on the occurrence of the perceptual expertise phenomenon. An example of perceptual expertise follows: A person works with geometric shapes for the majority of his or her life. This same person is given a match-to-sample test. In this match-to-sample test, there are two different types of stimuli. There are wavy lines and there are geometric shapes. According to the perceptual expertise phenomenon, the participant will be much better at matching geometric shapes than matching wavy lines. It can be said that the person has a perceptual expertise for geometric shapes in this example because of exposure to them over the life span, unlike the unfamiliar waves. Knowing this, the participant should be able to match the geometric shape more quickly and with fewer mistakes. In the cross racial experiment proposed, perceptual expertise applies to experience, or lack thereof, with other races in comparison to ones own race. According to the perceptual expertise theory, a person would be better at matching persons of their own race than matching those of another race. It is for this reason that it is very important to study the same race phenomenon and perceptual expertise phenomenon and its effect on our society