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Can a Jury Believe What It Sees?
The New York Times: LAST week the F.B.I., the Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal law enforcement agencies instituted a policy of recording interrogations of criminal suspects held in custody. Only a minority of states and local governments have a similar requirement, but the new rule, which applies to nearly every federal interrogation, will most likely spur more jurisdictions to follow suit. It’s not far-fetched to think that such recordings may soon become standard police practice nationwide. Supporters of the practice present recordings as a solution for a host of problems, from police misconduct to false confessions.
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The Trouble With Brain Science
The New York Times: ARE we ever going to figure out how the brain works? After decades of research, diseases like schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s still resist treatment. Despite countless investigations into serotonin and other neurotransmitters, there is still no method to cure clinical depression. And for all the excitement about brain-imaging techniques, the limitations of fMRI studies are, as evidenced by popular books like “Brainwashed” and “Neuromania,” by now well known. In spite of the many remarkable advances in neuroscience, you might get the sinking feeling that we are not always going about brain science in the best possible way. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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Sleep Deprivation May Increase Susceptibility to False Memories
Not getting enough sleep may increase the likelihood of forming false memories, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. In a study conducted by psychological scientist Steven
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Would Motorcyclists Be Safer If There Were More of Them?
There’s no question that motorcycles pose a particularly potent hazard on the roadways. Bikers are up to 30 times more likely to experience a deadly accident on the road than drivers of passenger cars, according to US government statistics. And more than half of motorcyclist deaths involve at least one other vehicle. One of the primary reasons that motorcyclists are so vulnerable to traffic accidents may be their paucity, according to a recently published study. Psychological scientist Vanessa Beanland of Australian National University and her colleagues found evidence that car-and-truck drivers don’t notice bikes because they encounter relatively few of them on the road.
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What’s Going On In There? How Babies’ Brains Practice Speech
NPR: A baby's first words may seem spur of the moment, but really, the little ones have practiced their "Mamas" and "Dadas" for months in their minds. Using what looks like a hair dryer from Mars, researchers from the University of Washington have taken the most precise peeks yet into the fireworks display of neural activity that occurs when infants listen to people speak. They found that the motor area of the brain, which we use to produce speech, is very active in babies 7 to 12 months old when they listen to speech components.
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If you want to know if he loves you so, it’s in his gaze
Salon: I’m no songwriter, but I think most would agree it’s sexier to say that love is “in his kiss” as opposed to “in his automatic gaze patterns.” But, unfortunately for soul singer Betty Everett and lovers of “The Shoop Shoop Song,” the latter phrasing is actually more accurate when it comes to telling the difference between love and lust. According to the authors of a new study from the University of Chicago, where a person looks first at a romantic interest — the face, the body — provides a clear indication of that person’s immediate romantic judgements.