The effect of the instructions on face recognition: accuracy and eye movements

The present experiment examines how instructions (absolute judgement vs. relative judgement) affect the performance in simultaneous lineups (present perpetrator and absent perpetrator). To find out whether the participants really followed the instructions, their eye movements were recorded when they faced the photo lineup. Sixty participants (44 women and 16 men) took part in the experiment. Overall, the results showed that participants with absolute judgement instructions made significantly less inter-photograph comparisons than those with relative judgement instructions. In the present perpetrator lineup, hit rate was lower for participants with absolute judgement instructions than with relative judgement instructions. In the absent perpetrator lineup, no differences were between both instruction conditions. Furthermore, as was expected, no relationship was found between “pre” and “post” confidence and accuracy in the lineups. Moreover, we examined participants’ metamemory evaluations about their examination pattern of the photographs in the lineup. Our results did not show high incongruity between the own participants’ judgment and their visual behavio

Psychological distress in Spanish airline pilots during the aviation crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and psychometric analysis of the 12-item general health questionnaire

The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychological distress of Spanish airline pilots, a group of professionals undergoing an unprecedented work situation as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. To do so, we administered the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). A total of 342 questionnaires were obtained, with the largest respondent age group being 41–50 years. The psychometric properties of the instrument were also evaluated, with an exploratory factor analysis revealing a unidimensional structure that explained 59.23% of the variance. The total score on the standard GHQ-12 was 4.54 ± 3.31 very close to the cut-off point established to determine psychological distress. The score increased among those unemployed and was also higher among pilots on furlough compared to those whose work situation was relatively normal. Furthermore, the reliability measured by the total Cronbach's alpha was above 0.8 of each across all employment status considered. These results show the desirability of conducting periodic psychological distress assessments of pilots so that effective measures can be implemented to ensure their psychological and socio-emotional well-being.Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu