A Psychologist\u27s Perspective on Capital Juries

Symposium: Toward A Model Death Penalty Code: The Massachusetts Governor\u27s Council Report

The Capital Jury Project: The Role of Responsibility and How Psychology Can Inform the Law

Symposium: The Capital Jury Projec

Sticky Metaphors and the Persistence of the Traditional Voluntary Manslaughter Doctrine

This Article begins with a curious puzzle: Why has the traditional voluntary manslaughter doctrine in criminal law-the so-called heat of passion defense to a charge of murder-proven so resistant to change, even in the face of more than a half-century of seemingly compelling empirical and normative arguments in favor of doctrinal reform? What could possibly account for the traditional doctrine\u27s surprising resilience? In this Article, we propose a solution to this puzzle. The Article introduces a new conceptual theory about metaphor-the sticky metaphor theory-that highlights an important aspect of metaphorical language and metaphorical thought that has been almost completely overlooked in the existing literature of law, psychology, and linguistics. We believe the sticky metaphor theory may turn out to be highly significant to both the voluntary manslaughter doctrine in particular and the law in general

Sticky Metaphors and the Persistence of the Traditional Voluntary Manslaughter Doctrine

This Article begins with a curious puzzle: Why has the traditional voluntary manslaughter doctrine in criminal law-the so-called heat of passion defense to a charge of murder-proven so resistant to change, even in the face of more than a half-century of seemingly compelling empirical and normative arguments in favor of doctrinal reform? What could possibly account for the traditional doctrine\u27s surprising resilience? In this Article, we propose a solution to this puzzle. The Article introduces a new conceptual theory about metaphor-the sticky metaphor theory-that highlights an important aspect of metaphorical language and metaphorical thought that has been almost completely overlooked in the existing literature of law, psychology, and linguistics. We believe the sticky metaphor theory may turn out to be highly significant to both the voluntary manslaughter doctrine in particular and the law in general

Tradeoffs and theory: The double-mediation model

Most theories of decision making suggest that, when options imply tradeoffs between their attributes, conflict increases as tradeoff size increases, because greater sacrifices are to be incurred in choosing one option instead of another. An alternative view is that conflict decreases as tradeoff size increases, because stronger arguments can be made for any decision. The authors propose a unified model, the double-mediation model, which combines the mediating effects of sacrifice and argumentation. Our model generally predicts an inverse U-shaped relation between tradeoff size and conflict. Results support this prediction. Also, when the decision situation increases the mediating effect of sacrifice relative to that of argumentation, the relation between tradeoff size and conflict changes in an upward direction; conversely, when the decision situation increases the mediating effect of argumentation relative to that of sacrifice, the relation changes in a downward direction. Results support these predictions as well. Commonalities and differences between our model and other formulations are discussed.Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), project POCTI/PSI/42275/2001

Technical Information on the Carbonation of the EBR-II Reactor, Summary Report Part 2: Application to EBR-II Primary Sodium System and Related Systems

Residual sodium is defined as sodium metal that remains behind in pipes, vessels, and tanks after the bulk sodium metal has been melted and drained from such components. The residual sodium has the same chemical properties as bulk sodium, and differs from bulk sodium only in the thickness of the sodium deposit. Typically, sodium is considered residual when the thickness of the deposit is less than 5-6 cm. This residual sodium must be removed or deactivated when a pipe, vessel, system, or entire reactor is permanently taken out of service, in order to make the component or system safer and/or to comply with decontamination and decomissioning regulations. As an alternative to the established residual sodium deactivation techniques (steam-and-nitrogen, wet vapor nitrogen, etc.), a technique involving the use of moisture and carbon dioxide has been developed. With this technique, sodium metal is converted into sodium bicarbonate by reacting it with humid carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is emitted as a by-product. This technique was first developed in the laboratory by exposing sodium samples to humidifed carbon dioxide under controlled conditions, and then demonstrated on a larger scale by treating residual sodium within the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) secondary cooling system, followed by the primary cooling system, respectively. The EBR-II facility is located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in southeastern Idaho, USA. This report is Part 2 of a two-part report. This second report provides a supplement to the first report and describes the application of the humdidified carbon dioxide technique ("carbonation") to the EBR-II primary tank, primary cover gas systems, and the intermediate heat exchanger. Future treatment plans are also provided

Treatment Method for Fermi Barrel Sodium Metal Residues

Fermi barrels are 55-gallon drums that once contained bulk sodium metal from the shutdown Fermi 1 breeder reactor facility, and now contain residual sodium metal and other sodium/air reaction products. This report provides a residual sodium treatment method and proposed quality assurance steps that will ensure that all residual sodium is deactivated and removed from the Fermi barrels before disposal. The treatment method is the application of humidified carbon dioxide to the residual sodium followed by a water wash. The experimental application of the treatment method to six Fermi barrels is discussed, and recommendations are provided for further testing and evaluation of the method. Though more testing would allow for a greater refinement of the treatment technique, enough data has been gathered from the tests already performed to prove that 100% compliance with stated waste criteria can be achieved