Reality-monitoring characteristics in confirmed and doubtful allegations of abuse

According to reality-monitoring theory, memories of experienced and imagined events are qualitatively different, and can be distinguished by children from the age of 3. Across three studies, a total of 119 allegations of sexual abuse by younger (aged 3-8) and older (aged 9-16) children were analyzed for developmental differences in the presence of reality-monitoring criteria, which should characterise descriptions of experienced events. Statements were deemed likely or unlikely to be descriptions of actual incidents using independent case information (e.g., medical evidence). Accounts by older children consistently contained more reality-monitoring criteria than those provided by younger children, and age differences were particularly strong when the cases were deemed doubtful (Studies 1 and 2)

What happens when interviewers ask repeated questions in forensic interviews with children alleging abuse?

This study was designed to explore 1) the ways in which interviewers refocus alleged victims of abuse on their previous responses and 2) how children responded when they were refocused on their previous responses. Transcripts of 37 forensic interviews conducted by British police officers trained using the best practices spelled out in the Memorandum of Good Practice were examined. The instances in which interviewers asked repeated questions were isolated and coded into categories with respect to the reasons why interviewers needed to ask the repeated question (i.e., there was no apparent reason, to challenge a child’s response, clarification, no answer the first time the question was asked, digression, or compound question). The children’s responses to the repeated questions were further categorised into mutually exclusive categories (i.e., elaboration, repetition, contradiction, or no answer). On average interviewers asked children 8 repeated questions per interview. Most of the time interviewers asked repeated questions to challenge a previous response (62%), but they were also sometimes asked for no apparent reason (20%). Children repeated previous responses or elaborated on a previous response 81% of the time and contradicted themselves 7% of the time when re-asked the same question. We conclude that children did not appear unduly pressured to change their answers, and, more importantly, did not contradict themselves when interviewers attempted to refocus them on particular responses

Difficulties translating research on forensic interview practices to practitioners: Finding water, leading horses, but can we get them to drink?

Over the last 3 decades, researchers have elucidated the cognitive and motivational conditions that affect the capacity and willingness of young alleged victims to describe their experiences to forensic interviewers. Applied researchers have also studied the contents and features of training programs designed to help interviewers take advantage of the research on developmentally appropriate interviewing. The latter studies have highlighted a knowledge transfer problem-scientists understand best-practice techniques well, many interviewers believe that they both understand and employ those practices, but widespread training has had a limited impact on the actual quality of interviews conducted in the field. There is now clear evidence that improvements in interviewing practice occur reliably only when training courses involve multiple modules, distributed over time, with repeated opportunities for interviewers to consolidate learning and to obtain feedback on the quality of the interviews they do conduct. Barriers to the implementation of such training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database RecordNational Institute of Child Health and Human Development Intramural Research Program, The UK Economic and Social Research Council, the Nuffield Foundation, and the Jacobs Foundation.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Psychological Association via https://doi.org/10.1037/amp000003

Is the critical Shields stress for incipient sediment motion dependent on channel-bed slope?

Data from laboratory flumes and natural streams show that the critical Shields stress for initial sediment motion increases with channel slope, which indicates that particles of the same size are more stable on steeper slopes. This observation is contrary to standard models that predict reduced stability with increasing slope due to the added downstream gravitational force. Processes that might explain this discrepancy are explored using a simple force-balance model, including increased drag from channel walls and bed morphology, variable friction angles, grain emergence, flow aeration, and changes to the local flow velocity and turbulent fluctuations. Surprisingly, increased drag due to changes in bed morphology does not appear to be the cause of the slope dependency because both the magnitude and trend of the critical Shields stress are similar for flume experiments and natural streams, and significant variations in bed morphology in flumes is unlikely. Instead, grain emergence and changes in local flow velocity and turbulent fluctuations seem to be responsible for the slope dependency due to the coincident increase in the ratio of bed-roughness scale to flow depth (i.e., relative roughness). A model for the local velocity within the grain-roughness layer is proposed based on a 1-D eddy viscosity with wake mixing. In addition, the magnitude of near-bed turbulent fluctuations is shown to depend on the depth-averaged flow velocity and the relative roughness. Extension of the model to mixed grain sizes indicates that the coarser fraction becomes increasingly difficult to transport on steeper slopes

A model for fluvial bedrock incision by impacting suspended and bed load sediment

A mechanistic model is derived for the rate of fluvial erosion into bedrock by abrasion from uniform size particles that impact the bed during transport in both bed and suspended load. The erosion rate is equated to the product of the impact rate, the mass loss per particle impact, and a bed coverage term. Unlike previous models that consider only bed load, the impact rate is not assumed to tend to zero as the shear velocity approaches the threshold for suspension. Instead, a given sediment supply is distributed between the bed and suspended load by using formulas for the bed load layer height, bed load velocity, logarithmic fluid velocity profile, and Rouse sediment concentration profile. It is proposed that the impact rate scales linearly with the product of the near-bed sediment concentration and the impact velocity and that particles impact the bed because of gravitational settling and advection by turbulent eddies. Results suggest, unlike models that consider only bed load, that the erosion rate increases with increasing transport stage (for a given relative sediment supply), even for transport stages that exceed the onset of suspension. In addition, erosion can occur if the supply of sediment exceeds the bed load transport capacity because a portion of the sediment load is transported in suspension. These results have implications for predicting erosion rates and channel morphology, especially in rivers with fine sediment, steep channel-bed slopes, and large flood events

A Systems Theory Perspective

Aktualisierung: Am 12. Oktober 2018 wurde die digitale Version des Buchbeitrags um den fehlenden Teil (Seiten 53-66) ergänzt

The Effects Of Rapport-Building Style on Children’s Reports of a Staged Event

Three- to 9-year-old children (N = 144) interacted with a photographer and were interviewed about the event either a week or a month later. The informativeness and accuracy of information provided following either open-ended or direct rapport building were compared. Children in the open-ended rapport-building condition provided more accurate reports than children in the direct rapport-building condition after both short and long delays. Open-ended rapport-building led the 3- to 4-year-olds to report more errors in response to the first recall question about the event, but they went on to provide more accurate reports in the rest of the interview than counterparts in the direct rapport-building condition. These results suggest that forensic interviewers should attempt to establish rapport with children using an open-ended style

Forensic interviews with children in Scotland: a survey of interview practices among police.

The present study surveyed 91 police interviewers in Scottish police forces about their perceptions of how well they adhered to the Scottish Executive (2003) guidelines. Almost all respondents (97%) received the appropriate national training and overwhelmingly indicated (again 97%) that their training equipped them either quite, very, or extremely well for conducting their interviews. Not surprisingly, therefore, that most interviewers (88%) believed that their interviews allowed them to obtain full and complete accounts of the events being investigated. However, aside from this positive self evaluation there are reasons to be concerned about some aspects of the interviews being conducted; 1) Most interviewers (78%) received no refresher training, 2) no interviewers received formal feedback about the quality of interviews that they conducted, 3) practice interviews were reportedly not included in most interviews, 4) the use of open-ended prompts were not widely used with 20% of interviewers indicating that they were rarely used, and 5) interviews are not currently being electronically recorded. These results are discussed with respect to the context of child interviewing in Scotland and recommendations for future training

Formation of Box Canyon, Idaho, by megaflood: implications for seepage erosion on Earth and Mars

Amphitheater- headed canyons have been used as diagnostic indicators of erosion by groundwater seepage, which has important implications for landscape evolution on Earth and astrobiology on Mars. Of perhaps any canyon studied, Box Canyon, Idaho, most strongly meets the proposed morphologic criteria for groundwater sapping because it is incised into a basaltic plain with no drainage network upstream, and approximately 10 cubic meters per second of seepage emanates from its vertical headwall. However, sediment transport constraints, ^4He and ^14C dates, plunge pools, and scoured rock indicate that a megaflood (greater than 220 cubic meters per second) carved the canyon about 45,000 years ago. These results add to a growing recognition of Quaternary catastrophic flooding in the American northwest, and may imply that similar features on Mars also formed by floods rather than seepage erosion