Cognitive Instructions Research Articles

Challenges Of Obtaining Reliable Eyewitness Testimony from Children and Practical Implications

The reliability of eyewitness testimony provided by children has always been a controversial area in research. This paper addresses the challenges of obtaining reliable eyewitness testimony from children and explores its practical implications. The research background highlights the importance of understanding children's developmental stage, memory and language skills, and how these factors influence their ability to provide accurate testimony. The review explores the different aspects that influence the reliability of children's testimony, including verbal and non-verbal factors, cognitive instructions, and how to build trust. As children have high emotional needs, it is important to provide support while obtaining eyewitness testimony. The final section summarizes the main findings, highlighting the effectiveness of multiple interviews, flexible questioning strategies and the importance of parent and interviewer support. Disadvantages include differences in children's anxiety levels and the need to adapt interview techniques to children. Future research should focus on refining these techniques and studying the impact of different support systems on children from different backgrounds.

Increasing disclosures of older adult maltreatment: a review of best practices for interviewing older adult eyewitnesses and victims

The current article provides a contemporary review of the best practices for interviewing older adults about crimes they witnessed or experienced. Specifically, we provide a detailed overview of how investigators can use a range of interviewing adaptations and procedures to acquire detailed and accurate maltreatment disclosures from older adults. In addition to discussing well-established investigative interviewing practices (e.g. rapport building, free-recall, cognitive instructions and prompts), this article also summarizes more recent literature on the benefits of multidisciplinary investigations, use of assistive technology and interview accommodations, along with effective practices for working with minority and marginalized older adults. Lastly, several research, professional and policy recommendations are provided for supporting older adults during investigative interviews.

Using cognitive instructions to elicit narrative differences between children's true and false testimonies

AbstractThere is a need to tell if children are providing truthful testimonies in legal cases. This study examined differences between children's true and false statements obtained using either an interview that included cognitive instructions or one that did not. Children witnessed a theft that they were asked to deny and were interviewed with or without cognitive instructions. Truth‐tellers were more forthcoming when they were interviewed using cognitive instructions. Honest statements contained more information about the theft than dishonest statements, but only amongst children interviewed using cognitive instructions. All cognitive instructions were effective at eliciting more details from truth‐tellers than liars. Overall, cognitive instructions encourage children to be forthcoming and provide informative testimonies, as well as facilitate lie detection. Findings can inform interviewing practices that incorporate cognitive instructions for forensic and legal professionals to use with child witnesses.

The effectiveness of cognitive instructions when children provide true and false eyewitness reports of another’s transgression

ABSTRACT Children’s non-disclosures of another’s wrongdoing, particularly in cases involving alleged maltreatment, is a notable concern among forensic professionals. The current study was designed to provide these professionals with much needed information about the efficacy of a range of interviewing strategies, namely free-recall, cognitive instructions and closed-ended questions, when children are asked to conceal the transgression of an adult. After being asked to falsely deny a theft they witnessed, children (ages 8 to 13; N = 104) were interviewed using either the cognitive instructions (n = 52) or a Standard Interview (n = 52). Two raters coded the children’s: (1) report honesty; (2) number of words used; (3) number of Transgression Details disclosed; (4) number of events recalled; (5) temporal order accuracy; and (6) number of theft disclosures made. Children produced longer testimonies with more Transgression Details, disclosures and events on the interview with the cognitive instructions, without compromising temporal order accuracy. However, there were no interview differences in overall report honesty. Overall, the free-recall reports had the most words, along with more Transgression Details, theft disclosures and events recalled. The reverse-order recall was the most effective cognitive instruction for increasing the amount of events recalled. Overall, the cognitive instructions increased the amount of information and disclosures about the theft, but they did not discourage false reporting.

Linguistic meanings as cognitive instructions.

Natural languages like English connect pronunciations with meanings. Linguistic pronunciations can be described in ways that relate them to our motor system (e.g., to the movement of our lips and tongue). But how do linguistic meanings relate to our nonlinguistic cognitive systems? As a case study, we defend an explicit proposal about the meaning of most by comparing it to the closely related more: whereas more expresses a comparison between two independent subsets, most expresses a subset-superset comparison. Six experiments with adults and children demonstrate that these subtle differences between their meanings influence how participants organize and interrogate their visual world. In otherwise identical situations, changing the word from most to more affects preferences for picture-sentence matching (experiments 1-2), scene creation (experiments 3-4), memory for visual features (experiment 5), and accuracy on speeded truth judgments (experiment 6). These effects support the idea that the meanings of more and most are mental representations that provide detailed instructions to conceptual systems.

The Implementaion of Habituation Method of Early Age Students and the Characteristics in the Islamic Boarding School of Salafiyah

This research is based on facts about the increasing of Islamic boarding school for early age students. Does the existence of the increase can be an institution that can accommodate the development of the mental of children? As a golden age, early ages become a very strategic entrance to the continuing of children education in the stage of elementary school to the next stages. To determine the level of effectiveness, it certainly depends on many factors, among which is the method that is applied by the manager of the boarding school. This study aims to explore and analyze the implementation of the habituation method to the early age students in Islamic Boarding School of Salafiyah, Proto, Kedungwuni, Pekalongan Regency. To uncover the data comprehensively, the researchers applied a qualitative approach, referring to the standard of field research. The source of data is obtained from the caretaker, teachers, and the representative of early age students randomly, through interviews, observations, and documentation study. To examine the validity of data, the researchers use triangulation of source of data, observation and theories. The technique of analyzing data is conducted through reduction, display, and verification of data. The results of the research showed that the application of the habituation method in daily activities for early age students emphasize on amaliyah diniyah yaumiyah. The habituation of students prioritizes daily ethics, taking ablution, praying in congregation, reciting the Koran, daily prayers, and maintaining cleanliness. However, the habituation has not concerned the cognitive domain in a standardized manner as the cognitive instructions are handed over to schools where students study formally; the boarding school is paid more attention to the affective and psychomotor domains. Their habitual characteristics take place naturally without any obvious standards. As a boarding school of early age students of Salafiyah, the students are more directed at habituation to live in the family as is usual. While the caretaker and teachers have run optimally like their parents themselves.

EHealth-supported case management for patients with panic disorder or depression in primary care: Study protocol for a cRCT (PREMA)

BackgroundPanic disorder (PD), frequently occurring with agoraphobia (AG), and depression are common mental disorders in primary care and associated with considerable individual and societal costs. Early detection and effective treatment of depression and PD/AG are of major importance. Cognitive behavioural exposure exercises have been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms. Practice team-based case management can improve clinical outcomes for patients with chronic diseases in primary care. The present study aims at evaluating the effects and cost-effectiveness of a primary care team-based intervention using behavioural therapy elements and case management supported by eHealth components in patients with PD/AG or depression compared to treatment as usual.Methods/designThis is a two-arm cluster-randomized, controlled trial (cRCT). General practices represent the units of randomisation. General practitioners recruit adult patients with depression and PD ± AG according to the International Classification of Diseases, version 10 (ICD-10). In the intervention group, patients receive cognitive behaviour therapy-oriented psychoeducation and instructions to self-managed exposure exercises in four manual-based appointments with the general practitioner. A trained health care assistant from the practice team delivers case management and is continuously monitoring symptoms and treatment progress in ten protocol-based telephone contacts with patients. Practice teams and patients are supported by eHealth components. In the control group, patients receive usual care from general practitioners. Outcomes are measured at baseline (T0), at follow-up after 6 months (T1), and at follow-up after 12 months (T2). The primary outcome is the mental health status of patients as measured by the Mental Health Index (MHI-5). Effect sizes of 0.2 standard deviation (SD) are regarded as relevant. Assuming a drop-out rate of 20% of practices and patients each, we aim at recruiting 1844 patients in 148 primary care practices. This corresponds to 12.5 patients on average per primary care practice. Secondary outcomes include depression and anxiety-related clinical parameters and health-economic costs.DiscussionIf the intervention is more effective than treatment as usual, the three-component (cognitive behaviour therapy, case-management, eHealth) primary care-based intervention for patients suffering from PD/AG or depression could be a valuable low-threshold option that benefits patients and primary care practice teams.Trial registrationGerman clinical trials register, DRKS00016622. Registered on February 22nd, 2019.

Local Entrainment of Alpha Oscillations by Visual Stimuli Causes Cyclic Modulation of Perception

Prestimulus oscillatory neural activity in the visual cortex has large consequences for perception and can be influenced by top-down control from higher-order brain regions. Making a causal claim about the mechanistic role of oscillatory activity requires that oscillations be directly manipulated independently of cognitive instructions. There are indications that a direct manipulation, or entrainment, of visual alpha activity is possible through visual stimulation. However, three important questions remain: (1) Can the entrained alpha activity be endogenously maintained in the absence of continuous stimulation?; (2) Does entrainment of alpha activity reflect a global or a local process?; and (3) Does the entrained alpha activity influence perception? To address these questions, we presented human subjects with rhythmic stimuli in one visual hemifield, and arhythmic stimuli in the other. After rhythmic entrainment, we found a periodic pattern in detection performance of near-threshold targets specific to the entrained hemifield. Using magnetoencephalograhy to measure ongoing brain activity, we observed strong alpha activity contralateral to the rhythmic stimulation outlasting the stimulation by several cycles. This entrained alpha activity was produced locally in early visual cortex, as revealed by source analysis. Importantly, stronger alpha entrainment predicted a stronger phasic modulation of detection performance in the entrained hemifield. These findings argue for a cortically focal entrainment of ongoing alpha oscillations by visual stimulation, with concomitant consequences for perception. Our results support the notion that oscillatory brain activity in the alpha band provides a causal mechanism for the temporal organization of visual perception.

The Differential Effectiveness of the Cognitive Interview Instructions for Enhancing Witnesses’ Memory of a Familiar Event

This study examines the influence of familiarity on witnesses’ memory and the individual effectiveness of each of the four cognitive interview instructions in improving witnesses’ recall of scripted events. Participants (N = 195), either familiar or unfamiliar with the hospital script, were presented with a video of a surgical operation. One week later, an interviewer used one of the four cognitive interview instructions or a control instruction to ask them about the video. Participants familiar with the surgery context recalled significantly more correct information and, in particular, more consistent and irrelevant details than those unfamiliar with the surgery context. Furthermore, the results confirmed the effectiveness of all four cognitive interview mnemonics in enhancing the amount of correct information reported, irrespective of the participants’ familiarity with the critical event. However, their efficacy differed depending on the category of details considered. The practical implications of these results are discussed.

Does free recall moderate the effect of mental context reinstatement instructions on children's cued recall?

Cognitive Interview instructions increase children's recall of events; one important instruction is the mental reinstatement of context. We examined one factor that may affect mental context reinstatement: whether children had the opportunity to freely recall the event before answering cued recall questions. One hundred and fifty-two children aged 6, 9, or 11 years were interviewed twice about a staged event. The event consisted of an argument between two adults about whose turn it was to show the children a film. One week after the event, some of the children received mental context reinstatement instructions before having their cued recall tested. Some children also received a free recall test immediately before the cued recall test. In the second interview, 2 weeks after the first interview, all children freely recalled the event. The results showed no effects of mental context reinstatement instructions and no moderating effect of free recall on children's cued recall. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

The Effects of cognitive styles, stimulus cohesiveness, and instructions on category learning

The Effects of cognitive styles, stimulus cohesiveness, and instructions on category learning

Developmental changes in probabilistic reasoning: The role of cognitive capacity, instructions, thinking styles, and relevant knowledge

In three experiments we explored developmental changes in probabilistic reasoning, taking into account the effects of cognitive capacity, thinking styles, and instructions. Normative responding increased with grade levels and cognitive capacity in all experiments, and it showed a negative relationship with superstitious thinking. The effect of instructions (in Experiments 2 and 3) was moderated by level of education and cognitive capacity. Specifically, only higher-grade students with higher cognitive capacity benefited from instructions to reason on the basis of logic. The implications of these findings for research on the development of probabilistic reasoning are also discussed.

Relative influences of affect and cognition on behavior: are feelings or beliefs more related to blood donation intentions?

This study tested the relative predictive power of affect and cognition on global attitude and behavioral intention within the tripartite model of attitude structure. Participants (N = 264) completed questionnaires that included an item regarding blood donation experience, five semantic differential items, four behavioral intention items, and one global attitude item. Participants were randomly assigned to either an affective or cognitive instruction set for the semantic differential items. As predicted, semantic differentials were more highly correlated with both global attitude and behavioral intention when completed under the affective instructions than under the cognitive instructions. In addition, donors' and non-donors' attitudes on the semantic differential scales were distinguished from one another only when they were elicited under the affective instruction set. Results provide support for the tripartite model of attitude structure. Future research should examine the relative importance of affect and cognition in less emotion-laden domains.

Relative Influences of Affect and Cognition on Behavior: Are Feelings or Beliefs More Related to Blood Donation Intentions?

Relative Influences of Affect and Cognition on Behavior: Are Feelings or Beliefs More Related to Blood Donation Intentions?

Influence of instructions and cognitive articulation on reducing the Müller-Lyer illusion with a repeated trial.

The role of specific, suggestive instructions and of the subject's cognitive articulation in fostering modifications of Müller-Lyer illusory effect was studied. 60 female students were divided into four subgroups on the basis of (a) Witkin's GEFT scores and (b) instructions given to the subjects for the repeated trial. Analysis shows no statistically significant difference between the more and less articulated subjects on the first trial, for influence of both cognitive articulation and instructions or their interaction on the reduction of the illusion. Data are interpreted in terms of some theoretical explanations of geometrical illusions, such as 'centration theory' and 'assimilation theory'.

Hypnosis as an adjunct to thought-stopping and covert reinforcement in the treatment of homicidal obsessions in a twelve-year-old boy

Abstract A combined cognitive behavioral approach was used to successfully treat matricidal obsessions in an otherwise psychologically well-adjusted 12-year-old boy. The primary problem was conceptualized as anxiety over loss of control. Therapeutic techniques included re-defining of symptoms, thought-stopping, hypnotic enhancement of imagery in order to facilitate cognitive restructuring, covert reinforcement, home practice, and paradoxical instructions to produce the symptom. A decline in obsessions began after 3 sessions and total remission was observed after 6 sessions (10 weeks). 2-year follow-up revealed no recurrence of symptoms. The value of hypnosis as an adjunct to behavior therapy with children is discussed.

Effects of different cognitive strategies on chronic pain experience

The present research sought to examine the importance of cognitive factors in the experience and treatment of chronic pain. An attempt was made to explore possible mediational influences by testing the effectiveness of several cognitive strategies. Experimental conditions were manipulated to examine the influence of three types of cognitive strategies: (1) reinterpreting the pain stimuli, (2) diverting one's attention from it, and (3) concentrating on the sensation itself. Dependent measures such as subjective indices of pain, behavioral observations, and an unobtrusive measure of pain behavior were obtained in an attempt to explore the experience of pain. Results demonstrated that, within a physical rehabilitation hospital setting, patients with a history of persistent pain showed a significant change in their ratings of the quality and intensity of this experience, and in their behavior, through the use of reinterpretive cognitive instructions.

On the self-regulation of the occipital alpha rhythm: control strategies, states of consciousness, and the role of physiological feedback.

In an experiment investigating the self-control of occipital alpha strength, a factorial design was employed with two levels of feedback (available or non-available), three levels of instruction (Cognitive, Oculomotor, and none), and two levels of lighting (on and off), except that the no-feedback-no-instruction group was not run. The Cognitive instructions were based on the strategies reported in the literature: To generate alpha, persons were instructed to relax, "let go", try to feel pleasant and serene, and allow themselves to review pleasant personal experiences; to suppress alpha, persons were instructed to concentrate, try hard, exert themselves mentally, and try to fell anxious or frustrated. The Oculomotor instructions to generate alpha were to visually blur and not focus, and to suppress alpha were to "look" and focus. The results led to the following conclusions: (a) Feedback-augmented enhancement and suppression of occipital alpha strength is always mediated by learned control of oculomotor processes, although sometimes persons are not aware that they are employing this strategy, especially in the case of alpha enhancement; alpha feedback trainees learn to "not look" in order to enhance alpha strength. (b) Whenever Cognitive strategies are successful in producing alpha strength changes, this is due to the fact that they can be efficient mediators of changes in oculomotor processes. (c) Feedback together with simple Oculomotor instructions leads to more successful alpha control than either alone. (d) High or enhanced levels of occipital alpha strength are not invariably accompanied by the "alpha experience", in fact, if a person is not led to expect it, the alpha experience will usually not occur during occipital alpha enhancement feedback. (e) States of nonsensory awareness, such as an absorption in thoughts and feelings, are reliably associated with enhanced occipital alpha strength. This association is what would be expected: Since vision is the dominant sensory modality in humans, it is reasonable that when visual processing is reduced during alpha enhancement feedback that there is also reduced sensory awareness in general and often greater attention to thoughts and feelings. (f) Alpha feedback per se is neither necessary for nor especially facilitative of the achievement of the alpha experience. Thus, if the alpha experience is more likely to occur with alpha feedback than without it, this is due to the special circumstances that make up the feedback situation and not due to alpha feedback per se.