Observers Of Behavior Research Articles

Sensitivity of the Social Behavior Observer Checklist to Early Symptoms of Patients With Frontotemporal Dementia.

Changes in social behavior are common symptoms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer disease syndromes. For early identification of individual patients and differential diagnosis, sensitive clinical measures are required that are able to assess patterns of behaviors and detect syndromic differences in both asymptomatic and symptomatic stages. We investigated whether the examiner-based Social Behavior Observer Checklist (SBOCL) is sensitive to early behavior changes and reflects disease severity within and between neurodegenerative syndromes. Asymptomatic individuals and patients with neurodegenerative disease were selected from the multisite ALLFTD cohort study. In a sample of participants with at least 1 time point of SBOCL data, we investigated whether the Disorganized, Reactive, and Insensitive subscales of the SBOCL change as a function of disease stage within and between these syndromes. In a longitudinal subsample with both SBOCL and neuroimaging data, we examined whether change over time on each subscale corresponds to progressive gray matter atrophy. A total of 1,082 FTLD pathogenic variant carriers and noncarriers were enrolled (282 asymptomatic, 341 behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, 114 semantic and 95 nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia, 137 progressive supranuclear palsy, and 113 Alzheimer disease syndrome). The Disorganized score increased between asymptomatic to very mild (p = 0.016, estimate = -1.10, 95% CI = -1.99 to -0.22), very mild to mild (p = 0.013, estimate = -1.17, 95% CI = -2.08 to -0.26), and mild to moderate/severe (p < 0.001, estimate = -2.00, 95% CI = -2.55 to -1.45) disease stages in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia regardless of pathogenic variant status. Asymptomatic GRN pathogenic gene variant carriers showed more reactive behaviors (preoccupation with time: p = 0.001, estimate = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.06 to 1.16; self-consciousness: p = 0.003, estimate = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.52 to 2.01) than asymptomatic noncarriers (estimate = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.98 to 1.03; estimate = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.20 to 1.41). The Insensitive score increased to a clinically abnormal level in advanced stages of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (p = 0.003, estimate = -0.73, 95% CI = -1.18 to -0.29). Higher scores on each subscale corresponded with higher caregiver burden (p < 0.001). Greater change over time corresponded to greater fronto-subcortical atrophy in the semantic-appraisal and fronto-parietal intrinsically connected networks. The SBOCL is sensitive to early symptoms and reflects disease severity, with some evidence for progression across asymptomatic and symptomatic stages of FTLD syndromes; thus, it may hold promise for early measurement and monitoring of behavioral symptoms in clinical practice and treatment trials. This study provides Class II evidence that the SBOCL is sensitive to early behavioral changes in FTLD pathogenic variants and early symptomatic individuals in a highly educated patient cohort.

Unraveling the motivational secrets of honey bee foraging during the COVID pandemic

“bee scientists and beekeepers share the same passion for bees: while scientists test hypotheses, beekeepers are fantastic observers of bee behavior”“In between lockdowns, we managed to meet … to boost the spirit of the team … this fleeting experience was followed by new lockdowns”

Executive functions, child development and social functioning in premature preschoolers. A multi-method approach

Thirty-six months is a key time to assess executive functions in premature children. Following an observational, cross sectional-comparative design, 57 children were assessed using development tests, parent reporting, and behavioural observation. The scores are in the average range, although greater vulnerability is observed in the motor skills, and in specific executive functions. The risk factors due to prematurity, sex, and behaviour observed during the assessment are related to achievement. The girls achieve better performance in global and fine motor skills. Lower gestational age is associated with poorer motor skills, and lower weight with linguistics. Parents of those born at higher birth weights or with lower prematurity report less Flexibility and Emotional Control. Data derived from functioning social observation support the results obtained using the development test and from the information provided by the parents. The results support a multi-method assessment at an early age be made part of protocol to reduce the impact of prematurity.

Reproductive behaviour before and after oestrus and oviposition in the captive short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus).

Most of our current knowledge regarding echidna reproductive behaviour is based on qualitative measurements; therefore, it is unclear if specific behavioural cues could be utilised in their captive reproductive management. This study aimed to identify quantitative changes in general and reproductive behaviour of echidna breeding pairs and pregnant females that might facilitate the detection of oestrus and impending oviposition and provide a summary of reproductive behaviour observed in a captive colony over a three-year observation period. Three echidna breeding pairs and two trios were monitored daily for seven reproductive and eight general behaviours during the 2020 breeding season. After confirmed copulation, females were monitored for four egg-laying and eight general behaviours until egg incubation. General observations of reproductive behaviours during the 2018-2020 breeding seasons were recorded as part of routine husbandry. For breeding pairs, there was a significant rate of change over time before and after copulation for the behaviours 'urogenital sniffing', 'rolling' and 'copulation attempt'. For pregnant females, time engaged in 'pacing' significantly increased while 'time eating' and the 'quantity of food eaten' significantly decreased on the day of oviposition. We were not able to identify oestrus from specific behaviours, but our observations suggest that the female echidna's period of receptivity is less than 24h. The frequency that males express 'urogenital sniffing', 'rolling' and 'copulation attempt' toward the female can be used to alert zookeepers that copulation has likely occurred. Increased pacing, reduced feeding time and quantity of food eaten can aid zookeepers to identify impending oviposition. This study demonstrates that there are quantifiable changes in specific echidna behaviours that can be incorporated into zoo husbandry practices to improve the reproductive management of this species.

Anisotropic deformability and strength of slate from NW-Spain

Slates are metamorphic rocks characterized by the pervasive occurrence of cleavage or foliation producing a highly anisotropic mechanical behavior characterized by fissility. Deformability and strength of these rocks are therefore dependent on the cleavage plane orientations relative to the principal stresses. In this study, the failure and deformability of these rocks are experimentally investigated by means of a set of standard uniaxial and triaxial compression tests on samples cut with the cleavage forming different angles. Propagation velocity measurements have also been taken in a good number of specimens. Compression tests show that deformability and strength are clearly anisotropic for this rock and that failure through the cleavage plane is observed in the range of dip angles from 15 to 75°. Transversely isotropic elastic parameters are fit based on improved existing approaches. Moreover, the strength of tested samples cut normal and parallel to foliation relevantly differ, something noted qualitatively in the past by some authors in some metamorphic anisotropic rocks. However, this difference has neither been explicitly reported for the case of other foliated sedimentary rocks such as shales, nor formalized in theoretical strength approaches. The triaxial compression experimental data on slates were fit with the Jaeger's plane of weakness (JPW) model. Strength criteria differentiating the strength in directions normal and parallel to foliation are proposed to adapt the JPW model to the observations in slate strength behavior. Other model improvement is proposed, the use of a non-linear strength criterion for the intact rock (Hoek-Brown), which shows to better represent observed strength laboratory results.

De geobserveerde onderzoeker

Abstract The observed researcher: opportunities and challenges for observational research among corporate investigators This contribution discusses observational research within the context of corporate investigations. Corporate investigators are themselves keen observers of human behavior, and as such, observation of these professionals results in an interesting researcher-participant dynamic. By playing with (assumed and ascribed) roles, much information can be gathered about the daily reality of corporate investigators and how they experience this. Building trust is both essential and challenging because of professional skepticism, however, once trust was established, participants actively contributed to the research. By assuming ignorance or, conversely, knowledge in a dynamic manner, the researcher was able to make use of the roles ascribed to her based on age, gender and education level.

Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of the tool for identifying "Patients' Views on the Observance of Professional Behavior by Specialized Physicians"

Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of the tool for identifying "Patients' Views on the Observance of Professional Behavior by Specialized Physicians"

Social Behavior Observer Checklist: Patterns of Spontaneous Behaviors Differentiate Patients With Neurodegenerative Disease From Healthy Older Adults.

Neurodegenerative disease syndromes often affect personality and interpersonal behavior in addition to cognition, but there are few structured observational measures of altered social demeanor validated for this population. We developed the Social Behavior Observer Checklist (SBOCL), a 3-min checklist tool, to facilitate identification of patterns of interpersonal behavior that are diagnostically relevant to different neurodegenerative syndromes. Research assistants without formal clinical training in dementia used the SBOCL to describe participants' behavior, including 125 healthy older adults and 357 patients diagnosed with one of five neurodegenerative disease syndromes: 135 behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), 57 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), 51 non-fluent variant PPA (nfvPPA), 65 progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and 49 amyloid-positive Alzheimer's disease syndrome (AD), all of whom had concurrent 3D T1 MRI scans available for voxel-based morphometry analysis. SBOCL item interrater reliability ranged from moderate to very high, and score elevations showed syndrome-specific patterns. Subscale scores derived from a degree*frequency product of the items had excellent positive predictive value for identifying patients. Specifically, scores above 2 on the Disorganized subscale, and above 3 on the Reactive and Insensitive subscales, were not seen in any healthy controls but were found in many patients with bvFTD, svPPA, nfvPPA, PSP, and AD syndromes. Both the Disorganized and Reactive subscale scores showed significant linear relationships with frontal and temporal gray matter volume that generalized across syndromes. With these initial psychometric characteristics, the SBOCL may be a useful measure to help non-experts identify patients who are appropriate for additional specialized dementia evaluation, without adding time to patient encounters or requiring the presence of an informant.

Appropriate Drone Flight Altitude for Horse Behavioral Observation

Recently, drone technology advanced, and its safety and operability markedly improved, leading to its increased application in animal research. This study demonstrated drone application in livestock management, using its technology to observe horse behavior and verify the appropriate horse–drone distance for aerial behavioral observations. Recordings were conducted from September to October 2017 on 11 horses using the Phantom 4 Pro drone. Four flight altitudes were tested (60, 50, 40, and 30 m) to investigate the reactions of the horses to the drones and observe their behavior; the recording time at each altitude was 5 min. None of the horses displayed avoidance behavior at any flight altitude, and the observer was able to distinguish between any two horses. Recorded behaviors were foraging, moving, standing, recumbency, avoidance, and others. Foraging was the most common behavior observed both directly and in the drone videos. The correlation coefficients of all behavioral data from direct and drone video observations at all altitudes were significant (p &lt; 0.01). These results indicate that horse behavior can be discerned with equal accuracy by both direct and recorded drone video observations. In conclusion, drones can be useful for recording and analyzing horse behavior.

First Record of the Cymothoid Isopod Nerocila exocoeti Pillai, 1954 (Crustacea, Isopoda) in the South-West Indian Ocean and First Record of a Perciform Host, Echeneis naucrates, for this Species.

Cymothoid isopods of the genus Nerocila are generally poorly known. The aim of this work was to document the first record of cymothoid isopod Nerocila exocoeti for the South-West Indian Ocean, representing a significant westward range extension for this species. A single adult, female N. exocoeti and 38 mancae specimens were collected from a live sharksucker Echeneis naucrates at D'Arros Island, Seychelles. The female isopod specimen was examined using a stereo microscope and described based on distinct morphological traits. Observations of novel behaviour were also made for E. naucrates. The examined female isopod specimen measured 26mm long by 10mm wide. It possessed short coxae with the postero-lateral angles of pereonites 1-5 not produced and those of 6 and 7 reduced. The first antenna was composed of eight articles and the endopod of the uropod was half the length of the exopod. These traits confirm the specimen as N. exocoeti. Observations of novel behaviour in the wild host specimen showed the individual to deliberately and repeatedly swim ashore before thrashing in the substrate, returning to the water only once the isopod was removed. To date, N. exocoeti is known from India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Taiwan. The present study represents the first record of N. exocoeti from the South-West Indian Ocean region and the first record of E. naucrates as a host of any cymothoid isopod. Additionally, N. exocoeti has previously only been recorded as parasitising beloniform fish hosts and these data present the first evidence of a perciform host for this species. The novel behaviour observed in E. naucrates likely represents a means to remove external parasites.

Risk-seeking or impatient? Disentangling variance and time in hazardous behaviors

Individual observations of risky behaviors present a paradox: individuals who take the most risks in terms of hazards (smoking, speeding, risky sexual behaviors) are also less likely to take risks when it comes to innovation, financial risks or entrepreneurship. Existing theories of risk-preferences do not explain these patterns. From a simple model, we argue that many decisions involving risk have a temporal dimension, and that this dimension is often the main determinant of individual choices. In many real life instances, risk taking amounts to damaging the individual's capital (whether embodied capital, financial capital, social reputation, etc.), which would affect her over a long period of time after the risky decision. In evolutionary terms, the marginal cost of this type of risky behavior depends on the relative importance of the future in the individual's fitness (e.g. her time horizon). Individuals with short time horizons will give less importance to a degradation of their capital because this degradation will be paid effectively for a shorter period of time. This approach explains patterns of behaviors observed across socio-economic groups and puts forward new approaches to prevent hazardous behaviors such as smoking. • From a simple model, we show that risk decisions reflect two types of preferences • “Hazardous behaviors” reflect a preference for short term gains rather than high variance • “Venture behaviors” reflect a preference for the variance of rewards • This accounts for the social distribution of risk behaviors observed in the literature

Metallocene: multi-layered molecular rotors.

The electronic and structural prerequisites for a multi-layered molecular rotor have been demonstrated herein in terms of nine 18-valence-electron metallocene sandwich complexes. First, the lack of strong covalent bonds between layers is a key issue to obtain a barrier-free rotation of one layer relative to other layers, where the considerable energetic but unidirectional (such as electrostatic interactions) interactions are needed between layers to keep the structural integrity against fragment separation and structural distortion in a rotation process. Second, one or more layers should possess continuous and delocalized π electron clouds to provide a driving force for the barrier-free rotation. More importantly, besides a negligible rotation barrier, the reasonable rotational period associated with the ultra-soft rotation mode is a critical point for the observability of dynamical behavior in multi-layered molecular rotors.

A home-based longitudinal study of vocalization behaviors across infants at low and elevated risk of autism.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to expand existing literature on prelinguistic vocalizations by reporting results of the first home-based longitudinal study examining a wide variety of behaviors and characteristics, including early vocalizations, across infants at low and elevated risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study of vocalizations and vocalization changes across early developmental periods shows promise in reflecting early clinically significant differences across infants at low and elevated risk of ASD. Observations of early vocalizations and their differences during infancy could provide a reliable and essential component of an early developmental profile that would lower the average diagnostic age for ASD. However, studies employing observation of vocalization behaviors have been limited and often conducted in laboratory settings, reducing the external generalization of the findings. The present study was conducted to determine the consistency of previous findings with longitudinal data collected in home environments. Infants in the present study represented elevated risk from two etiological backgrounds, (a) infants born prematurely and with low birth weight and (b) infants who had an older sibling diagnosed with ASD. All data were collected in the infants' homes and compared with data collected from infants with low likelihood of ASD. The study included 44 participants (31 in the low-risk sample, 13 in the high-risk sample) with vocalization behaviors observed at 6- and 12-months through 20-min semi-structured play interactions with caregivers. Observations were video-recorded and later coded for speech and non-speech vocalizations. Differences in the 6-month vocalization behaviors were not statistically significant across risk levels of ASD. By 12 months; however, risk group differences were evident in the total number of vocalizations overall with specific differences across groups representing moderate to large, clinically relevant effects. Infants at low risk of ASD demonstrated significantly greater developmental change between 6- and 12-months than did the infants at high risk. Data were also reviewed for differences across high-risk group etiologies. The present study was unique and innovative in a number of ways as the first home-based longitudinal study examining infant vocal behaviors across low and high risk of ASD. Many of the present study findings were consistent with previous cross-sectional investigations of infants at elevated risk for ASD, indicating support for further home-based longitudinal study in this area. Findings also indicated some preliminary subgroup differences between high-risk etiologies of ASD. Vocalization differences across high risk groups had not been previously addressed in the literature. Vocalization differences are notable by 12-months of age between infants at low and elevated risk of ASD and infants at high risk demonstrated reduced developmental changes between 6- and 12-months compared to the infants at low risk. Observation of early infant vocalization behaviors may reasonably occur in the home, providing early childhood professionals and researchers with empirical support for data collection of child-caregiver interactions in this setting. Potential differences across high-risk etiologies warrant further investigation.

A Prohibition to Receive Remuneration (Gifts) in Connection with the Performance of Official Duties as a Measure of Anti-Corruption Criminological Security

A prohibition for persons holding government (municipal) positions, for government (municipal) employees, and some other employees of the public sphere who are public officials to receive remuneration (gifts) is aimed at preventing bribery (Art. 290, 291, 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and could be viewed as a measure of anti-corruption criminological security. However, the existing collisions of civil, administrative and criminal law norms that regulate this prohibition lead to an ongoing discussion in research publications and complexities in practice. The goal of this research is to study the conditions and identify the problems of the legal regulation of receiving remuneration (gifts) in connection with the performance of official duties that prevent the implementation of anti-corruption criminological security. The authors use the legal theory of security measures to analyze the provisions of Clause 3, Part 1, Art. 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Clause 6, Part 1, Art. 17 of the Federal Law «About the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation», examine the doctrinal approaches to defining the priority of enforcing the above-mentioned norms, study the significant features of the category «ordinary gift» and conduct its evaluation from the standpoint of differentiating between gifts and bribes, also in connection with the criteria of the insignificance of the corruption deed. The empirical basis of the study is the decisions of courts of general jurisdiction. The authors also used their experience of working in Commissions on the observance of professional behavior and the resolution of conflicts of interests at different levels. The conducted research allowed the authors to come to the following fundamental conclusions: 1) the special security rule under Clause 6, Part 1, Art. 17 of the Federal Law «About the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation», which sets a full prohibition for government employees to receive remuneration (gifts) in connection with the performance of official duties, contradicts Clause 3, Part 1, Art. 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (the existing legal-linguistic vagueness of categories in Art. 575 of the CC of the RF leads to problems in law enforcement and makes a negative impact on the anti-corruption mentality of people); 2) as the concepts «gift» and «bribe» do not logically intersect, the development of additional normative legal criteria for their delineation seems to be unpromising and will lead to a new wave of scholastic and practical disagreements; 3) the introduction of a uniform and blanket ban on receiving remuneration (gifts) in the public sphere by eliminating Clause 3, Part 1, Art. 575 of the CC of the RF seems to be an effective measure of preventing bribery, and its application is justified until Russian society develops sustainable anti-corruption mentality.

Validating measures of emotional abuse with behavioral observations during interpersonal conflict

Emotional abuse is a form of intimate partner violence that can have detrimental effects on both individual well-being and relationship outcomes. However, differences in definitions and forms of emotional and psychological abuse have led to difficulties in its measurement. The Multi-Dimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA) is an emotional abuse index that differentiates several different forms of psychological abuse. The current study sought to validate subscales of the MMEA by examining their relation to emotionally abusive behavior observed during interpersonal conflict. Additionally, the Conflict Tactics Scale Psychological Aggression scale and its severity subscales (CTS-PA) were compared to the MMEA. Heterosexual couples ( N = 167) participated in a conflict discussion task. Conflict discussions were coded for belligerence, contempt, domineering, and stonewalling behavior. Women completed the MMEA and CTS-PA questionnaire about their own and their partners’ emotional abuse perpetration. Results indicated that the total MMEA score for men and women was associated with belligerence, whereas the CTS-PA total score was associated with women’s contempt. The restricted engulfment subscale was associated with men’s dominance and contempt, and woman’s belligerence. The minor CTS-PA scale was associated with men and women’s contempt, and women’s stonewalling. The severe CTS-PA scale was only associated with women’s contempt. Additionally, we found significant associations between men’s stonewalling and contempt and their partner’s MMEA and CTS-PA subscales. For women, stonewalling was associated with their partner’s restricted engulfment. Men’s hostile withdrawal scale was also associated with their partner’s dominance during the conflict. Our results suggest that the MMEA multi-dimensional subscales appear to capture a wider range specific abusive behaviors compared to the CTS-PA’s severity constructs.

Evaluatıon of the clınıcal environment and the professıonal behavıor of nurses by means of the eyes of nursıng students

Aim: The study was aimed to reveal the first clinical observations and observations about professional behaviors of first year nursing students. Method: A qualitative research method was used. The data were collected using document analysis as a qualitative research method. 60 nurs­ing first year students were included in the research group. Inductive content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Findings: As a result of the document analysis two main categories which were “my first observations” and "observations of professional behaviors”. Four themes regarding the my first observations were identified. These themes were “physical properties of the hospital/clinic”, “observations about the general condition of patients and patient relatives”, “observations about health professional”, “my observations about me in terms of being a student for the first time”. Two themes regarding the observations for professional behaviors were identified. These themes, “behaviors considered as professional in nurses” and “non-professional behaviors observed in nurses” and related sub-themes were identified. Conclusions: The students were affected by the physical conditions of the clinic and the approach of health professionals to students. It is recommended that clinical practices should be planned on the basis of the collaboration between schools and hospitals to support the professional behavior of students.

Observations of parasitoid behaviour in both no‐choice and choice tests are consistent with proposed ecological host range

AbstractThe solitary larval endoparasitoid Eadya daenerys Ridenbaugh (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a proposed biocontrol agent of Paropsis charybdis Stål (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae), a pest of eucalypts in New Zealand. Eadya daenerys oviposition behaviour was examined in two assay types during host range testing, with the aim of improving ecological host range prediction. No‐choice sequential and two‐choice behavioural observations were undertaken against nine closely related species of New Zealand non‐target beetle larvae, including a native beetle, introduced weed biocontrol agents, and invasive paropsine beetles. No behavioural measure was significantly different between no‐choice and two‐choice tests. In sequential no‐choice assays the order of first presentation (target–non‐target) had no significant effect on the median number of attacks or the attack rate while on the plant. Beetle species was the most important factor. Parasitoids expressed significantly lower on‐plant attack rates against non‐targets compared to target P. charybdis larvae. The median number of attacks was always higher towards target larvae than towards non‐target larvae, except for the phylogenetically closest related non‐target Trachymela sloanei (Blackburn) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae). Most non‐target larvae were disregarded upon contact, which suggests that the infrequent attack behaviour observed by two individual E. daenerys against Allocharis nr. tarsalis larvae in two‐choice tests and the frass of Chrysolina abchasica (Weise) was probably abnormal host selection behaviour. Results indicate that E. daenerys is unlikely to attack non‐target species apart from Eucalyptus‐feeding invasive paropsines (Chrysomelinae). Non‐lethal negative impacts upon less preferred non‐target larvae are possible if E. daenerys does attack them in the field; however, this is likely to be rare.

Steady state dynamic dependence between local mobility and non-affine fluctuations in two-dimensional aggregates

Motivated by qualitative experimental observations in collective behavior of self-propelled camphor particles at air-water interfaces, we study a generic aggregate forming system in two dimensions using canonical ensemble constant temperature molecular dynamics simulation. The aggregates form due to the competition between short-range attraction and long-range repulsion of pair-wise interactions as a generic proxy for the specific case of short-range capillary attraction competing with long-range Marangoni-assisted repulsion in camphor boat systems. Choosing the appropriate set of interaction parameters, we focus on characterising the local dynamics in two specific limiting morphologies, viz. compact and string-like aggregates. We focus on the temporal evolution of the mobility of an individual particle and the dynamic change in its nearest neighbourhood, measured in terms of the Debye–Waller factor () and the non-affine parameter (), respectively (both defined in the text), and their interrelation over several lengths of observation time . The distribution for both measures are found to follow the relation: for the measured quantity x. The exponent is equal to two and one respectively, for the compact and string-like morphologies following the respective ideal fractal dimension of these aggregates. A functional dependence between these two observables is determined from a detailed statistical analysis of their joint and conditional distributions. The results obtained can readily be used and verified by experiments on aggregate forming systems more generic than the specific camphor boat system that motivated us, such as globular proteins, nanoparticle self-assembly etc. Further, the insights gained from this study might be useful to understand the evolution of collective dynamics in diverse glass-forming systems.

Procedural aspects of interrogation of minors in criminal proceedings

The article is devoted to the study of procedural aspects of the organization and interrogation of minors in criminal proceedings. The article considers the provisions of the current criminal procedural legislation on the requirements for the interrogation of a minor in criminal proceedings. The peculiarities of the interrogation of juvenile witnesses, victims, suspects are highlighted separately. The conclusions state that interrogation as one of the most important and most frequently practiced investigative actions is a form of obtaining evidentiary information, a procedural means of forming and verifying evidence. The interrogation of minors has its own peculiarities, due to the specifics of minors as its participants. This is reflected in certain procedural features of the procedure for such actions with the participation of minors, which are regulated by the CPC of Ukraine. To achieve the most effective result of interrogation of minors, in the process of its implementation it is important to comply with procedural and psychological aspects, strict compliance with the law on preparation, conduct and recording of interrogation and taking into account mental characteristics, socio-psychological characteristics, temperament of the interrogated, observance of high moral and tactful behavior.

When a Nudge Backfires: Combining (Im)Plausible Deniability with Social and Economic Incentives to Promote Behavioral Change

Both theory and recent empirical evidence on nudging suggest that observability of behavior acts as an instrument for promoting (discouraging) pro-social (anti-social) behavior. We connect three streams of literature (nudging, social preferences, and social norms) to investigate the universality of these claims. By employing a series of high-powered laboratory and online studies, we report here on an investigation of the questions of when and in what form backfiring occurs, the mechanism behind the backfiring, and how to mitigate it. We find that inequality aversion moderates the effectiveness of such nudges and that increasing the focus on social norms can counteract the backfiring effects of such behavioral interventions. Our results are informative for those who work on nudging and behavioral change, including scholars, company officials, and policy-makers.