Suggested false memories of a non-existent film: forensically relevant individual differences in the crashing memories paradigm.

There is ample evidence to suggest that posing leading questions is dangerous, in that it may elicit compliant responses that are not necessarily accurate. Further, suggestive questioning is considered to possibly result in the development of false memories, implied in the suggestion. [Crombag, H. F. M., Wagenaar, W. A., & van Koppen, P. J. (1996). Crashing memories and the problem of 'source monitoring'. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10(2), 95-104. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199604)10:2<95::AID-ACP366>3.0.CO;2-#] introduced a crashing memories paradigm in which participants are asked a single leading question about a non-existent film. The present research sought to replicate the false-memory-eliciting effect of the crashing memory induction. Further, we sought to explore associations with forensically relevant personality traits, particularly acquiescence, compliance, and suggestibility. In two studies, a significant minority of participants endorsed the leading question about the non-existent film (25.7%, and 38% respectively). We found no support for an association with acquiescence or compliance, but suggestibility was associated with the development of false memories.

'Anyone who commits such a cruel crime, must be criminally irresponsible': context effects in forensic psychological assessment.

In recent years, it has become clear that expert opinion can be biased. It has been argued that forensic psychologists may also be susceptible to bias. In the present study, the vulnerability of forensic psychological evaluation of the suspect's mental health to the context effect (i.e. the influencing of the expert opinion by irrelevant information) was tested. Master students in forensic psychology were asked to interpret test scores of a suspect in a fictitious double murder case. Some participants received a version of the case in which the description of the murders was neutral. Others received a more explicit version. Whereas the explicitness should not affect the forensic psychological evaluation, it was found that participants in the latter condition seemed more concerned about the suspect's mental health than those in the former. It is concluded that training programmes in forensic psychological assessment should devote attention to bias.

Sensation seeking and its relationship with psychopathic traits, impulsivity and aggression: a validation of the Dutch Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS).

Sensation seeking is a personality trait that manifests as a preference for change, variety and novelty. Sensation seeking has been positively associated with different externalising behaviours. However, its associations with psychopathic traits, impulsivity and aggression are unclear. These associations were examined via the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS) using individuals from the general population and forensic patients. The results show that the BSSS has good psychometric properties, including test-retest reliability and a four-factor structure. Additionally, the results support associations between sensation seeking and psychopathic traits, impulsivity and total scores of aggression but revealed no specific associations with different types of aggression (e.g. proactive and reactive). The Dutch BSSS is a valuable tool for assessing sensation seeking in both the general population and forensic patients. Future research should further examine its utility and explore the role of sensation seeking in antisocial conduct.

Memory and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy: a potentially risky combination in the courtroom.

Does Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy affect the accuracy of memories? This recurrent issue in recent memory research bears relevance to expert witness work in the courtroom. In this review, we will argue that several crucial aspects of EMDR may be detrimental to memory. First, research has shown that eye movements undermine the quality and quantity of memory. Specifically, eye movements have been shown to decrease the vividness and emotionality of autobiographical experiences and amplify spontaneous false memory levels. Second, a sizeable proportion of EMDR practitioners endorse the controversial idea of repressed memories and discuss the topic of repressed memory in therapy. Third, in the Dutch EMDR protocol, patients are instructed to select the target image by using flawed metaphors of memory (e.g., memory works as a video). Such instructions may create demand characteristics to the effect that people over-interpret imagery during therapy as veridical memories. Collectively, the corpus of research suggests that several components of EMDR therapy (i.e., performing eye movements, therapist beliefs and therapeutic instructions) may undermine the accuracy of memory, which can be risky if patients, later on, serve as witnesses in legal proceedings.

Reducing the feature positive effect by alerting people to its existence.

The feature-positive effect (FPE) is the phenomenon that learning organisms are better at detecting the association between two present stimuli than between the absence of one stimulus and the presence of the other. Although the FPE was first described 40 years ago, it remains an ill-studied and ill-understood bias. The aim of the present study was to test whether the FPE can be remedied by simply alerting individuals to the possibility that the solution to a given problem may lie in the diagnosticity of a stimulus being absent. The results indicated that the instructions given to participants can indeed reduce the FPE.

Dark personality traits and deception, and the short dark tetrad (SD4) as integrity screening instrument.

Dark personality traits (Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Sadism) have been associated with aversive, unethical, and criminal conduct. Concise measurement tools such as the Short Dark Tetrad (SD4) are popular, because they lend themselves as screening instruments. As such, the scores on these scales are used in various decision-making contexts, and they can have considerable effects on the lives of people who display an unfortunate scoring pattern. The present study explored to what extent high SD4 scores are actually predictive of deceptive behaviour in a matrix puzzle task, in a general community sample (N = 751). Results indicated that 9.9% of participants lied, that is, exaggerated their performance on the matrix task, hoping to increase their likelihood of financial reward. These cheating participants scored higher on all four dark traits. Nonetheless, the overlap between SD4 distributions made it impossible to determine cut-off scores in an attempt to consider scores as actual predictors of deception proneness. When framed in likelihoods, some scores can be diagnostic of deception proneness. Particularly in the context of statement validity assessment, characterized by tools with modest to poor accuracy, SD4 scores may add to diagnostic accuracy.

Dark Tetrad personality traits, paraphilic interests, and the role of impulsivity: an EEG-study using a Go/No-Go paradigm.

Maladaptive personality traits, such as 'dark personalities' are found to result in a diverse set of negative outcomes, including paraphilic interests and associated (illegal) behaviors. It is however unclear how these are exactly related, and if related, if then only those individuals higher on dark personality traits and higher impulsivity engage in paraphilic behaviors. In the current study, 50 participants were recruited to investigate the relationship between Dark Tetrad personality traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism and everyday sadism), paraphilic interests (arousal and behavior) and the moderating role of impulsivity. Personality and paraphilic interests were investigated through self-report questionnaires. Impulsivity was measured both through self-reported dysfunctional impulsivity and the P3 event related potential using electroencephalography during the Go/No-Go task (i.e. response inhibition). The results showed that there was a positive association between psychopathy, sadism and paraphilic interests. Whereas everyday sadism was associated with paraphilic (self-reported) arousal, psychopathy was associated with paraphilic behavior. Although P3 amplitude was not associated with paraphilic interests, self-reported dysfunctional impulsivity was associated with paraphilic behavior specifically. However, there was no moderating role of dysfunctional impulsivity and response inhibition (P3) in the relationship between psychopathy and paraphilic behavior. Findings indicate that the relation between specific dark personalities and paraphilic interests may be more complex than initially thought. Nevertheless, risk assessment and intervention approaches for paraphilia and related behavior both may benefit from incorporating Dark Tetrad and impulsivity measurements.

#StudentsToo. prevalence of sexual assault reports among students of three European universities and their actions post-assault.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has indicated high rates of sexual assault (SA) among US students (> 25%). Yet this type of investigation has been less frequent at European universities. METHODS: We conducted an investigation at three universities, two Dutch universities (N = 95 and N = 305) and one university in Belgium (N = 307). Students were asked to estimate the prevalence of SA, and to report about their personal experience. We defined SA as any situation in which students were inappropriately touched, forced to a sexual act without their consent, or were (sexually) verbally intimidated. RESULTS: 56% of students (Location 1: n = 54/95; Location 2: n = 172/305; Location 3: n = 172/307) across all three samples reported experiencing SA. The disclosed assaults were mostly unwanted sexual contact (i.e., groping) by male strangers aged 18-35 years. One-third of the sample reported to have done nothing post-assault, and among those who took actions, the majority disclosed the assault to friends, but rarely to family members. Also, 3-5% of students (Location 1: n = 3; Location 2: n = 11; Location 3: n = 11) (falsely) denied the assault. Seeking justice and needing support were important motivators of action, whereas psychological factors (i.e., memory distrust) were antagonists of this. Finally, besides psychological factors, fear of interpersonal consequences (e.g., being labelled as a "drama queen") was a strong influence to either deny or try to forget the assault. CONCLUSION: SA appears to be frequent among European students and further investigation including other European universities is warranted.

The effect of HD-tDCS on brain oscillations and frontal synchronicity during resting-state EEG in violent offenders with a substance dependence.

Violence is a major problem in our society and therefore research into the neural underpinnings of aggression has grown exponentially. Although in the past decade the biological underpinnings of aggressive behavior have been examined, research on neural oscillations in violent offenders during resting-state electroencephalography (rsEEG) remains scarce. In this study we aimed to investigate the effect of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) on frontal theta, alpha and beta frequency power, asymmetrical frontal activity, and frontal synchronicity in violent offenders. Fifty male violent forensic patients diagnosed with a substance dependence were included in a double-blind sham-controlled randomized study. The patients received 20 minutes of HD-tDCS two times a day on five consecutive days. Before and after the intervention, the patients underwent a rsEEG task. Results showed no effect of HD-tDCS on the power in the different frequency bands. Also, no increase in asymmetrical activity was found. However, we found increased synchronicity in frontal regions in the alpha and beta frequency bands indicating enhanced connectivity in frontal brain regions as a result of the HD-tDCS-intervention. This study has enhanced our understanding of the neural underpinnings of aggression and violence, pointing to the importance of alpha and beta frequency bands and their connectivity in frontal brain regions. Although future studies should further investigate the complex neural underpinnings of aggression in different populations and using whole-brain connectivity, it can be suggested with caution, that HD-tDCS could be an innovative method to regain frontal synchronicity in neurorehabilitation.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Targeting the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Reduces Reactive Aggression and Modulates Electrophysiological Responses in a Forensic Population.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that impairments in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex play a crucial role in violent behavior in forensic patients who also abuse cocaine and alcohol. Moreover, interventions that aimed to reduce violence risk in those patients are found not to be optimal. A promising intervention might be to modulate the ventromedial prefrontal cortex by high-definition (HD) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). The current study aimed to examine HD-tDCS as an intervention to increase empathic abilities and reduce violent behavior in forensic substance dependent offenders. In addition, using electroencephalography, we examined the effects on the P3 and the late positive potential of the event-related potentials in reaction to situations that depict victims of aggression. METHODS: Fifty male forensic patients with a substance dependence were tested in a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized study. The patients received HD-tDCS 2 times a day for 20 minutes for 5 consecutive days. Before and after the intervention, the patients completed self-reports and performed the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm, and electroencephalography was recorded while patients performed an empathy task. RESULTS: Results showed a decrease in aggressive responses on the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm and in self-reported reactive aggression in the active tDCS group. Additionally, we found a general increase in late positive potential amplitude after active tDCS. No effects on trait empathy and the P3 were found. CONCLUSIONS: Current findings are the first to find positive effects of HD-tDCS in reducing aggression and modulating electrophysiological responses in forensic patients, showing the potential of using tDCS as an intervention to reduce aggression in forensic mental health care.

The feature-positive effect and hypochondriacal concerns.

There is evidence to suggest that people have more problems with processing information that is absent (negative information) than with present (positive) information. This bias of overweighing positive and underweighing negative information has been termed the "feature-positive effect" (FPE). Typically, hypochondriasis is characterized by excessive focusing on bodily complaints (cf. positive information), and at the same time discarding negative medical test results (cf. negative information). It was explored whether the FPE is involved in this pattern. Fifty-three undergraduates completed a measure of hypochondriacal concerns and a general, domain-free test of the FPE. As expected, a positive correlation between the FPE and hypochondriacal concerns was observed. Implications for cognitive-behavioural theory are discussed.

Disgust sensitivity and psychopathological symptoms in non-clinical children.

There is clear evidence in the adult literature that disgust sensitivity is implicated in various psychopathological syndromes. The current study examined the link between disgust sensitivity and psychopathological symptoms in youths. In a sample of non-clinical children aged 9-13 years, disgust sensitivity was assessed by two self-report questionnaires (i.e., the Disgust Scale and the Disgust Sensitivity Questionnaire) and a behavioural test. Furthermore, children completed scales for measuring the personality trait of neuroticism and various types of psychopathological symptoms. Results showed that disgust measures had sufficient to good convergent validity. Further, significant positive correlations were found between disgust sensitivity and symptoms of specific phobias (i.e., spider phobia, blood-injection phobia, small-animal phobia), social phobia, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and eating problems, and these links were not attenuated when controlling for neuroticism. The possible role of disgust sensitivity in the aetiology of child psychopathology is discussed.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Diminished Criminal Responsibility as "New Evidence" in Criminal Revision Procedures.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may affect victims of crime, but may also be reported by offenders. In the postappeal phase, offenders may claim to suffer from chronic PTSD and argue that this indicates diminished criminal responsibility at the time the index crime was committed. As members of a Dutch criminal cases review commission, we recently encountered two cases in which PTSD was presented as new evidence that would justify a reopening of the case. In this article, we argue that such claims are problematic in that clinical decision making resulting in a PTSD diagnosis adheres to quite different standards than those dictating forensic fact-finding. The two cases illustrate the difference between criminal and clinical fact-finding.

The assessment of anhedonia in clinical and non-clinical populations: further validation of the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS).

BACKGROUND: Anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure, is a major endophenotype of depression. In addition to this, it is an important clinical feature of schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders. Valid instruments to measure anhedonia are sparse. METHODS: In the present study, a short, 14-item instrument, the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) to measure anhedonia in normal and clinical samples was further validated. Various aspects of the reliability and validity of the SHAPS that have not been addressed before, were examined in three separate studies. First, we assessed the internal consistency, convergent and discriminative validity of the SHAPS in a non-clinical sample. Second, the test-retest reliability of the SHAPS was investigated in another sample. In the third study, the internal consistency, convergent and discriminative validity of the SHAPS was tested by administering the scale in three clinical samples of psychiatric inpatients. RESULTS: The SHAPS was found to be highly reliable in terms of internal consistency and test-retest stability. Further, the SHAPS correlated in a theoretically meaningful way with other measures of affect and personality. Patients with a depression, psychosis or substance dependence scored significantly higher on the SHAPS than non-patient controls. Patients with a depression displayed the highest SHAPS-score. LIMITATIONS: The absence of structured assessment data to validate the clinical diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: The current study shows that the SHAPS is a reliable and valid questionnaire to assess hedonic tone in patient and non-patient populations. Because it is a brief scale it seems to be a very useful instrument for measuring anhedonia in clinical and research settings.

Abnormal and normal obsessions: a reconsideration.

Contemporary cognitive approaches to obsession assume that the content of clinical obsessions does not differ from non-clinical obsessive intrusions. This assumption goes back to a classic study by Rachman and De Silva [(1978). Abnormal and normal obsessions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 16, 233-248]. In the present paper, it is argued that Rachman and De Silva did not postulate a complete indifference between clinical and non-clinical obsessions. Study 1 is a simple statistical analysis of data presented by Rachman and De Silva. This analysis suggested that psychologists are able to discriminate clinical and non-clinical obsessions beyond chance level, merely by looking at the content of obsessions. In study 2, a list of 23 clinical and 47 non-clinical obsessions was presented to 11 psychotherapists and 90 psychology undergraduates. Both therapists and students were able to distinguish clinical and non-clinical obsession beyond chance level. It is concluded that some clinical obsessions can be identified as being evidently abnormal, and that additional theory and research is needed to identify the causes of these recognisable obsessions.

Content difference between normal and abnormal obsessions.

Although it has long been thought that experiencing an obsession is a psychiatric symptom, more recent literature, has seen the normalisation of obsessions and other presumably clinical phenomena. That is, not only people suffering from psychiatric disorders experience obsessions but non-clinical individuals also do so. Furthermore, it has been argued that such normal obsessions are very similar to abnormal ones, in terms of content. However, in the present study, evidence was obtained indicating that normal and abnormal obsessions do differ in content. A sample of 133 healthy undergraduates was given a list of 70 obsessions, with some originating from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and others stemming from healthy volunteers. Participants were asked to indicate whether they had ever experienced these obsessions. Participants endorsed significantly more normal than abnormal obsessions, suggesting that the two kinds of obsessions do differ from each other. In addition, the experience of clinical obsessions was more strongly associated with scores on a measure of OCD symptoms, than was the experience of normal obsessions.

From dissociation to trauma? Individual differences in dissociation as predictor of 'trauma' perception.

In clinical literature, dissociative complaints are generally considered to be the result of traumatic experiences. However, it has been argued that dissociative complaints, in turn, may indulge over-reporting of traumatic experiences. Hence, correlations between dissociation and self-reported trauma may not only reflect the causal path from trauma to dissociation, but possibly also an increased trauma-item endorsement due to dissociation. To test the idea that dissociation fosters a positive response bias on trauma self-reports, participants completed a dissociation scale, and subsequently rated the perceived trauma of ambiguous stimuli. Results indicated that some dissociative complaints indeed predicted increased scores on the trauma ratings, while other manifestations of dissociation were negatively correlated with perceived trauma ratings. Hence, there is reason to argue that people differ in their readiness to perceive a situation as traumatic. However, the association between self-reported dissociation and the perception of 'trauma' is not quite clear-cut.

Nazi cruelties: Are they literally hard to imagine?

In four experiments, the characteristics of participants' mental imagery of World War II were investigated. In the first experiment, mental images of WWII were found to lack clarity compared to mental images of a Medieval war. In a second experiment, the association between the lack of clarity of WWII mental images, and the underestimation of Nazi cruelties was explored. In line with the expectation based on source monitoring theory, participants whose mental imagery was less clear more readily endorsed an item modelling denial of Nazi cruelties. In a third experiment, these findings were replicated. In experiment 4, participants' WWII mental images were manipulated by means of film footage. Ultimately, it is argued that viewing film footage of poor quality results in unclear mental images of WWII, and that lack of clarity of WWII imagery is associated with a tendency to Nazi cruelties.

Characteristics of true versus false allegations of sexual offences.

The goal of the study was to establish whether false allegations of sexual offences with an unknown perpetrator can be distinguished from accurate allegations. Case files of 27 true allegations of sexual offences with an unknown perpetrator were compared to those of 14 false allegations. The comparison was guided by a list of 43 criteria that are hypothesized to differentiate between true and false allegations of sexual assault. Analyses indicated the employed criteria differentiated true from false allegations to a certain extent. However, the discriminative strength of some criteria appeared to be stronger than that of others. Research is required to assess further the discriminative power of these criteria.

Cognitive self-consciousness and meta-worry and their relations to symptoms of worry and obsessional thoughts.

The relation between cognitive self-consciousness and meta-worry, and their association with symptoms of worry and obsessional thoughts were examined. 53 undergraduate students completed the expanded version of the Cognitive Self-consciousness Scale, the Meta-worry subscale of the Anxious Thoughts Inventory, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and the Padua Inventory-Revised. Analysis showed that cognitive self-consciousness and meta-worry were moderately correlated (r =.57). Further, both constructs were positively associated with symptoms of worry and obsessional thoughts. When controlling for cognitive self-consciousness, metaworry remained significantly correlated to both types of symptoms. Yet, when controlling for meta-worry, correlations between cognitive self-consciousness and symptoms of worry and obsessional thoughts clearly attuned and were no longer significant. These findings suggest that meta-worry is more important for understanding excessive, intrusive thought patterns than the mere tendency to monitor one's thoughts.