Lindsey E. Wylie

Misinformation Effect in Older versus Younger Adults: A Meta-Analysis and Review

This chapter reports the results of a meta-analysis which revealed that older adults are more susceptible to memory distortion following misleading information compared with young adults. The older the older adults were, the larger the effect (compared with young adults). We recommended some interview techniques that could reduce memory distortion in older adults, such as the Cognitive Interview, source-monitoring questions, encouraging effortful thinking.Part 1: Memory for People. The Reliability of Eyewitness Identifications by the Elderly: An Evidence-based Review, S.L. Sporer, N. Martschuk. Misinformation Effect in Older versus Younger Adults: A Meta-analysis and Review, L.E. Wylie, L. Patihis, L.L. McCuller, D.Davis, E.M. Brank, E. F. Loftus, B. Bornstein. True and False Recognition of Faces by Older Persons, J. Barltett. Eyewitness Identifications: The Interaction Between Witness Age and Estimator Variables, J. Beaudry, C. Bullard. Improving the Performance of Older Witnesses on Identification Procedures, R. Wilcock, R. Bull. Part 2: Memory for Events. Aging and False Memory: Fuzzy-trace Theory and the Elderly Eyewitness, C.F.A Gomes, B.R. Cohen, A. Desai, C.J. Brainerd, V.F. Reyna. Eyewitness Memory and Metamemory in Older Adults, J. Price, M. Mueller, S.Wetmore, J. Neuschatz. Associative Memory Deficits: Implications for the Elderly Eyewitness, D.J. LaVoie, K. Fogler. Accuracy of Eyewitness Memory for Events in Young and Older Adults, A. Aizpurura, M. Migueles, E. Garcia-Bajos. Memory Trust and Distrust in Elderly Eyewitnesses: To what Extent do Older Adults Doubt their Memories?, L. Henkel. Interviewing the Elderly Eyewitness, T.A. Marche, J.L. Briere, T. L. Cordwell, R. E. Holliday. Part 3: Special Topics in Elderly Eyewitness Memory. A Credible Crime Report? Communication and Perceived Credibility of Elderly Eyewitnesses, M. Allison, C.A.E. Brimacombe. Uniting Theory to Empirical Evidence: How to Understand Memory of the Elderly Witness, A.K. Thomas, L. Gordon, J.B. Bulevich. The Older Witness in Court-An International Perspective, G.Davies, N. Robertson. Testimony by the Elderly in the Eyes of the Jury: The Impact of Juror Characteristics, A.E. Pittman, M.P. Toglia, C.T. Leone, K. Mueller-Johnson.

Differing Perspectives on Older Adult Caregiving

Informal older adult caregiving allows older adults to stay in their homes or live with loved ones, but decisions surrounding older adult care are fraught with complexities. Related research and case law suggest that an older adult’s need for and refusal of help are important considerations; the current study is the first to examine these factors experimentally. Two samples (potential caregivers and care recipients) provided responses regarding anticipated emotions, caregiver abilities, and allocation of daily caregiving decision making based on a vignette portraying an older adult who had a high or low level of autonomy and who accepted or refused help. Study findings suggest differing views about caregiving; potential caregivers may not be as well prepared to take on caregiving as the potential care recipients anticipate and potential caregivers may allocate more decisional responsibility to older adults than the care recipients expect. Implications for older adult abuse are discussed.

Assessing School and Student Predictors of Weapons Reporting

School violence and weapons at school are a major concern for community members, school administrators, and policy makers. This research examines both student-level and school-level variables that predict middle school students’ willingness to report a weapon at school under several reporting conditions. Results substantiate previous analyses of these data that student-level variables explain students’ willingness to report a weapon but extend these findings to include school climate variables that affect willingness to report (i.e., collective identity and conflict). School climate variables were also shown to influence reporting under conditions where there would be consequences for the weapons-carrying student or for the reporting student; however, school climate was not found to influence anonymous reporting conditions. Although policies aimed at improving school climate may increase a student’s willingness to report and are important in their own right, improving a school’s climate may be a daunting task. This research, therefore, suggests that the most efficient way to encourage weapons reporting is to provide students with an anonymous way to report.

Four decades of the journal Law and Human Behavior: a content analysis

Although still relatively young, the journal Law and Human Behavior (LHB) has amassed a publication history of more than 1300 full-length articles over four decades. Yet, no systematic analysis of the journal has been done until now. The current research coded all full-length articles to examine trends over time, predictors of the number of Google Scholar citations, and predictors of whether an article was cited by a court case. The predictors of interest included article organization, research topics, areas of law, areas of psychology, first-author gender, first-author country of institutional affiliation, and samples employed. Results revealed a vast and varied field that has shown marked diversification over the years. First authors have consistently become more diversified in both gender and country of institutional affiliation. Overall, the most common research topics were jury/judicial decision-making and eyewitness/memory, the most common legal connections were to criminal law and mental health law, and the most common psychology connection was to social-cognitive psychology. Research in psychology and law has the potential to impact both academic researchers and the legal system. Articles published in LHB appear to accomplish both.

Age and lineup type differences in the own-race bias

The own-race bias (ORB) suggests that recognition for faces of ones own race is superior to recognition of other-race faces. A popular explanation for the ORB is amount of interracial contact, which may have cohort effects for older and younger adults. We compared White younger and older adults on the ORB utilizing a hybrid facial recognition and full diagnostic lineup (i.e., simultaneous and sequential target absent and target present lineups) paradigm. Both younger and older adults demonstrated an ORB. Signal detection estimates suggest younger adults compared to older adults have better discrimination accuracy for own-race over other-race faces. Interracial contact did not explain recognition for younger adults, but was related to a shift in response criterion for older adults.

Problem signs in law school: Fostering attorney well-being early in professional training

Attorneys suffer from high rates of stress, alcoholism, and mental health problems that are costly for the legal system and impair their abilities to serve their clients. There is some indication that these problems begin in law school. The present study assessed a cohort of law students at an American law school for their reported levels of stress, depression, anxiety, substance use, and overall adjustment/coping. Findings indicate that law students suffer from high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and alcohol use, and that these problem behaviors fluctuate throughout the course of law school. We discuss the implications for law student/lawyer well-being and legal education.

Extraordinary and Compelling: The Use of Compassionate Release Laws in the United States.

As the United States’ prison population has increased in size and aged, the number of older inmates in deteriorating health has grown markedly. In 1984, federal compassionate release laws were established, allowing for the release of inmates given “extraordinary and compelling circumstances” not present at sentencing. Many states established similar laws. Despite possible financial and ethical benefits of compassionate release, few inmates have been released under these laws. This research explored why. In Study 1, to assess the scope of this legislation, we provided a compendium of relevant laws, including information on jurisdictions with such laws, criteria for release outlined in each law, and exceptions that may preclude release. Results demonstrated that as of 2016, 46 jurisdictions had a compassionate release law in place. The most frequently cited criterion for release was having a chronic illness. In Study 2, to assess the possibility that public sentiment presents obstacles to using these statutes, we probed members of the public and prison wardens on perceptions of the laws, including factors (i.e., criminal history and offense type) associated with willingness to recommend release of a chronically ill inmate. Both community members and wardens were generally supportive of compassionate release, especially for nonviolent inmates and those with no criminal history. To explain why these statutes are underutilized, we comment on the complexity and diversity of mechanisms involved in correctional bureaucracies and propose a cost-benefit framework in which the risk of reoffending and loss of retributive opportunity outweigh pragmatic benefits of release on compassionate grounds.

Absenteeism Interventions: An Approach for Common Definitions in Statewide Program Evaluations

Abstract Chronic absenteeism is related to poor academic performance, delinquency, and other high-risk behaviors. Although research has found some promising interventions to reduce absenteeism, the literature lacks clarity on operationalizing absenteeism and when programs should intervene with youth who have varying absenteeism patterns. Using the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework to classify youth into tiers based on their degree of absenteeism, the present study evaluated 12 absenteeism programs, across 137 schools, with a sample of 1,606 youth as part of a statewide evaluation in which programs provided attendance data using a common measurement system. The findings indicated that youth with the highest rates of absenteeism (Tier 3) showed significant improvement in attendance during intervention, whereas youth with fewer absences (Tiers 1A, 1B, and 2) did not significantly improve attendance. Using a mixed repeated measures analysis to compare attendance prior to the program to attendance while in the program, results revealed that tier classification and school explained change in attendance for both excused and unexcused absences. Using common measurement for absenteeism and tier classifications is a useful framework for comparing attendance patterns and program success across programs within different schools, school districts, and states whose measurement of attendance may vary.

Measuring Older Adult Confidence in the Courts and Law Enforcement

Older adults are an increasingly relevant subpopulation for criminal justice policy but, as yet, are largely neglected in the relevant research. The current research addresses this by reporting on a psychometric evaluation of a measure of older adults’ Confidence in Legal Institutions (CLI). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided support for the unidimensionality and reliability of the measures. In addition, participants’ CLI was related to cynicism, trust in government, dispositional trust, age, and education, but not income or gender. The results provide support for the measures of confidence in the courts and law enforcement, so we present the scale as a viable tool for researchers and practitioners interested in understanding older adults’ confidence in these institutions. We conclude by discussing the implications of our work on efforts to improve interactions between older adults and legal institutions, and we highlight avenues for further research.

Public health framing and attribution: Analysis of the first lady’s remarks and news coverage on childhood obesity

Abstract First Lady Michelle Obama’s public health promotion “Let’s Move” seeks to place children on a path to better health by giving families access to health education and fostering healthier environments. We examined the use of public health framing and attribution of responsibility in the First Lady’s remarks and newspaper articles reporting on childhood obesity. We coded the Whitehouse.gov website for remarks made by the First Lady regarding the childhood obesity prevention program “Let’s Move.” Of the 103 remarks coded, 35% of the remarks used public health framing. The First Lady’s remarks attributed responsibility and solutions for the childhood obesity crisis in terms of environmental factors, rather than individual factors. Using the same themes, we coded a sample of 260 articles that reported on “Let’s Move” specifically or childhood obesity generally, published during the same time period as the First Lady’s remarks. Approximately 20% of the articles used public health framing and similarly attributed childhood obesity to environmental factors. When comparing the two outlets, themes in the news articles were similar to the First Lady’s remarks; however, each lacked complete public health framing, which may contribute to less effective public health messaging.