Presumption Instructions and Juror Decision Making

Examined the effects of 3 types (conclusive, mandatory, permissive) of presumptions (“PRs”) on verdicts in a 4 (defendant culpability) by 6 (PR instruction) factorial design. 264 undergraduates read a case summary and completed a questionnaire about the summary. Only the conclusive PR significantly increased overall guilty verdicts. Additional analyses indicated that as defendant culpability decreased there was a greater tendency to nullify the PR instructions. The mandatory PR instruction intended to shift the burden of production elicited the most misapplications of the PR instructions (guilty verdicts that are inconsistent with the PR instruction)

Time Changes: Growing Complexity in Texas Sentencing Law

The Seventieth Legislature made criminal sentencing guidelines more onerous, but a number of factors combined to undercut its impact. These changes made the relationships between the legislative, judicial, and administrative components of the criminal justice system become increasingly complex, often resulting in one agency undercutting the decisions of another. Because of the complex web of agencies that have a role in determining the disposition of a convicted defendant, changes in the rules of sentencing must be analyzed at several different levels to determine their true impact. Despite the apparently more punitive thrust of the new legislation, no clear policy direction has emerged from legal developments in the law affecting the disposition of criminal defendants. These sentencing guidelines are more complex and create a greater possibility of confusion. Understanding the intricate interrelationships among the numerous agencies and rules that affect the disposition of a convicted defendant is essential to effective prosecution and defense of criminal cases

County Court of Ulster County v. Allen and Sandstorm v. Montana: The Supreme Court Lends an Ear But Turns Its Face

Because criminal verdicts provide no clue as to how the jury reached its decision, jury instructions are crucial indicators of how a deductive device operates. Deductive devices are mechanisms that allow or require the fact-finder to assume the existence of a fact when proof of other facts are shown. Any deductive device, whether permissive or mandatory, has pernicious possibilities that imperil the rationality of fact-finding. The controlling method of review for deductive devices in criminal cases simply require a rational connection between the basic fact and the presumed fact. However, the Supreme Court in Allen broke new ground in exempting permissive inferences from facial review—an innovation that finds no support in the cases cited by the Allen majority. Sandstorm demonstrates a heightened sensitivity to the way a presumption device sounds to the ear of the juror. There, the Court’s primary concern was the propensity for the instruction to mislead the jury into regarding the presumption as conclusive or as shifting the burden of persuasion. The Court unanimously held that the mere possibility that the jury reached its decision in an impermissible manner requires reversal, even if the jury might have reached the same result in a constitutionally acceptable fashion. The combined impact of Allen and Sandstorm will undoubtedly encourage the use of permissive, rather than mandatory, presumptions. Sandstorm will discourage any deviation from permissive language so as to provide clarity and avoid reversal, while Allen will exempt the carefully drafted inference from facial appellate review, withdrawing it from meaningful review if all formalities are observed

Role of lateral and feedback connections in primary visual cortex in the processing of spatiotemporal regularity: a TMS study

Our human visual system exploits spatiotemporal regularity to interpret incoming visual signals. With a dynamic stimulus sequence of four collinear bars (predictors) appearing consecutively toward the fovea, followed by a target bar with varying contrasts, we have previously found that this predictable spatiotemporal stimulus structure enhances target detection performance and its underlying neural process starts in the primary visual cortex (area V1). However, the relative contribution of V1 lateral and feedback connections in the processing of spatiotemporal regularity remains unclear. In this study we measured human contrast detection of a briefly presented foveal target that was embedded in a dynamic collinear predictor-target sequence. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to selectively disrupt V1 horizontal and feedback connections in the processing of predictors. The coil was positioned over a cortical location corresponding to the location of the last predictor prior to target onset. Single-pulse TMS at an intensity of 10% below phosphene threshold was delivered at 20 or 90ms after the predictor onset. Our analysis revealed that the delivery of TMS at both time windows equally reduced, but did not abolish, the facilitation effect of the predictors on target detection. Furthermore, if the predictors’ ordination was randomized to suppress V1 lateral connections, the TMS disruption was significantly more evident at 20ms than at 90ms time window. We suggest that both lateral and feedback connections contribute to the encoding of spatiotemporal regularity in V1. These findings develop understanding of how our visual system exploits spatiotemporal regularity to facilitate the efficiency of visual perception

Effects of aging on biological motion discrimination

Peer reviewedPreprin

Age-related delay in information accrual for faces: Evidence from a parametric, single-trial EEG approach

Background: In this study, we quantified age-related changes in the time-course of face processing by means of an innovative single-trial ERP approach. Unlike analyses used in previous studies, our approach does not rely on peak measurements and can provide a more sensitive measure of processing delays. Young and old adults (mean ages 22 and 70 years) performed a non-speeded discrimination task between two faces. The phase spectrum of these faces was manipulated parametrically to create pictures that ranged between pure noise (0% phase information) and the undistorted signal (100% phase information), with five intermediate steps. Results: Behavioural 75% correct thresholds were on average lower, and maximum accuracy was higher, in younger than older observers. ERPs from each subject were entered into a single-trial general linear regression model to identify variations in neural activity statistically associated with changes in image structure. The earliest age-related ERP differences occurred in the time window of the N170. Older observers had a significantly stronger N170 in response to noise, but this age difference decreased with increasing phase information. Overall, manipulating image phase information had a greater effect on ERPs from younger observers, which was quantified using a hierarchical modelling approach. Importantly, visual activity was modulated by the same stimulus parameters in younger and older subjects. The fit of the model, indexed by R2, was computed at multiple post-stimulus time points. The time-course of the R2 function showed a significantly slower processing in older observers starting around 120 ms after stimulus onset. This age-related delay increased over time to reach a maximum around 190 ms, at which latency younger observers had around 50 ms time lead over older observers. Conclusion: Using a component-free ERP analysis that provides a precise timing of the visual system sensitivity to image structure, the current study demonstrates that older observers accumulate face information more slowly than younger subjects. Additionally, the N170 appears to be less face-sensitive in older observers

Free choice activates a decision circuit between frontal and parietal cortex

We often face alternatives that we are free to choose between. Planning movements to select an alternative involves several areas in frontal and parietal cortex that are anatomically connected into long-range circuits. These areas must coordinate their activity to select a common movement goal, but how neural circuits make decisions remains poorly understood. Here we simultaneously record from the dorsal premotor area (PMd) in frontal cortex and the parietal reach region (PRR) in parietal cortex to investigate neural circuit mechanisms for decision making. We find that correlations in spike and local field potential (LFP) activity between these areas are greater when monkeys are freely making choices than when they are following instructions. We propose that a decision circuit featuring a sub-population of cells in frontal and parietal cortex may exchange information to coordinate activity between these areas. Cells participating in this decision circuit may influence movement choices by providing a common bias to the selection of movement goals