Asking Children to Talk About Abuse: Can Research Help Improve Police Interviewer Skills?

Asking Children to Talk About Abuse: Can Research Help Improve Police Interviewer Skills?

Child abuse cases often lack corroborative evidence in the form of injuries, DNA or direct witness observations. Instead, the most important source of information about the alleged crime is typically the child’s testimony. A wide range of factors can influence children’s capability and willingness to disclose abuse during a police interview. Hence, the child interviewer needs to elicit reliable information from children without influencing their testimony. The National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD)...

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In Defense of Anger: An Evolutionary Necessity and its Contemporary Applicability

In Defense of Anger: An Evolutionary Necessity and its Contemporary Applicability

Anger is defined as an unpleasant feeling that results from an unpleasant event and it is, therefore, not particularly surprising that so many people dismiss it as a pointless emotion. However, anger has proven to confer a great number of evolutionary benefits on those who utilize it, including (1) improving one’s bargaining position, (2) ensuring the wellbeing of society, (3) signalling to others that you care about the wellbeing of society, and (4) convincing authors to not...

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Sleepy Politics: How Sleep Deprivation can Affect Political Decision Making

Sleepy Politics: How Sleep Deprivation can Affect Political Decision Making

In today’s political landscape, important decisions are often made by those who are severely sleep deprived. This raises the question of potential consequences of sleep deprivation for political decision making. Psychological research on the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive functioning, decision making, communication, and coordination in groups can help to answer this question. There are several effects of sleep deprivation indicating that it could have negative consequences. For example, sleep-deprived individuals are less flexible in changing plans and courses... / more

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