The verbal facilitation effect: re-reading person descriptions as a system variable to improve identification performance.

When witnesses report a crime, police usually ask for a description of the perpetrator. Several studies suggested that verbalising faces leads to a detriment in identification performance (verbal overshadowing effect [VOE]) but the effect has been difficult to replicate. Here, we sought to reverse the VOE by inducing context reinstatement as a system variable through re-reading one's own description before an identification task. Participants (N = 208) watched a video film and were then dismissed (control group), only described the perpetrator, or described and later re-read their own descriptions before identification in either target-present or target-absent lineups after a 2-day or a 5-week delay. Identification accuracy was significantly higher after re-reading (85.0%) than in the no description control group (62.5%) irrespective of target presence. Data were internally replicated using a second target and corroborated by several small meta-analyses. Identification accuracy was related to description quality. Moreover, there was a tendency towards a verbal facilitation effect (VFE) rather than a VOE. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses confirm that our findings are not due to a shift in response bias but truly reflect improvement of recognition performance. Differences in the ecological validity of study paradigms are discussed.

Discriminating between correct and incorrect eyewitness identifications: The use of appropriate cues.

To explain fact finders' judgment accuracy when evaluating the accuracy of an identification decision we applied the Brunswikian lens model. Guided by this model we examined (a) which cues observers use to evaluate an identification decision and how they interpret them ("subjective utilities"); and (b) if these cues as perceived by observers are indeed related to identification accuracy ("ecological validities"). Ninety-six participant-observers were presented with 48 videotaped positive identification decisions. For half of the participants, a think-aloud method was employed to make discriminating cues more salient to observers; the other half retrospectively provided reasons for their decisions. As expected, discriminating cues were visible only when think-aloud protocols were used. However, observers' use of these cues as indicators of identification accuracy was independent of type of decision protocol. Thus, only in the think-aloud condition was a high correspondence between subjective utilities and ecological validities observed. Advantages of think-aloud methods and videotapes to increase fact finders' judgment accuracy when evaluating identification decisions are discussed. Additional data from a follow-up experiment replicating these findings with transcripts are presented in online supplementary material. (PsycINFO Database Record

The ciaR/ciaH regulatory network of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

New mechanisms for beta-lactam resistance independent on the target penicillin-binding proteins were detected in beta-lactam-resistant laboratory mutants of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The link between mutations in the histidine protein kinase CiaH and phenotypic expression of cefotaxime resistance suggests that the cell is able to monitor the integrity of the cell wall and in emergency cases such as during the action of beta-lactams can counteract such danger. At least one ciaH mutation Thr230 > Pro is likely to affect its phosphatase activity resulting in elevated phosphorylation of CiaR, the cognate response regulator, but other CiaH-independent signaling pathways may also result in CiaR phosphorylation. Mutants in CiaH, either alone or in combination with a mutated penicillin-binding protein 2x(PBP2x) fail to develop genetic competence. In all cases complementation of this phenotype was observed upon addition of the competence inducing pheromone peptide CSP, the processed product of the comC gene. This indicates that the cia system is part of a regulatory network that includes another two component system comDE. The DNA binding property of CiaR and ComE were exploited to isolate specifically interacting DNA fragments as a first step to identify genes targeted by individual response regulators.