L'auteur analyse les effets de variables methodologiques (type et complexite du stimulus, intervalle de presentation, temps d'exposition) et de variables subjectives (âge d'exposition, personnalite) sur la sensibilite du sujet aux stimulus de toutes sortes. Il conclut sur l'interet methodologique de sa recherche, ainsi que sur ses apports pratiques (publicite, traitement de la phobie)

Exposure and affect: Overview and meta-analysis of research 1968-1987

Age-of-acquisition norms for 220 picturable nouns

http://people.umass.edu/pater/moreton.pdf

Structural constraints in the perception of English stop-sonorant clusters

Pattern jury instructions have been criticized for being less than understandable to the average juror and thus for causing arbitrary juridic decisions. Two studies were conducted to establish whether these criticisms are justified and to find solutions to these problems. Both studies established the validity of the criticisms by demonstrating that the presentation of presently used Michigan negligence instructions is about as effective in helping jurors understand the laws as the presentation of no instructions at all. It was found that by rewriting these instructions in accordance with empirical knowledge of what elements affect perception, memory, and comprehension of language, their effectiveness was significantly improved. Furthermore, it was found that the presentation of instructions both at the beginning and at the end of a case would allow jurors a greater opportunity to focus their attention on relevant evidence and to remember it. The studies demonstrate the urgent need for jurisdictions around the country to improve the way jury instructions are written and delivered, Jf they expect jurors to reach verdicts in light of the law rather than in ignorance of it.

In Ignorance of the Law or in Light of It

Pattern jury instructions have been criticized for being less than understandable to the average juror and thus for causing arbitrary juridic decisions. Two studies were conducted to establish whether these criticisms are justified and to find solutions to these problems. Both studies established the validity of the criticisms by demonstrating that the presentation of presently used Michigan negligence instructions is about as effective in helping jurors understand the laws as the presentation of no instructions at all. It was found that by rewriting these instructions in accordance with empirical knowledge of what elements affect perception, memory, and comprehension of language, their effectiveness was significantly improved. Furthermore, it was found that the presentation of instructions both at the beginning and at the end of a case would allow jurors a greater opportunity to focus their attention on relevant evidence and to remember it. The studies demonstrate the urgent need for jurisdictions around the country to improve the way jury instructions are written and delivered, if they expect jurors to reach verdicts in light of the law rather than in ignorance of it.

Roger C. Smith

Papers

Frequency and the judged familiarity of meaningful words.

Effects of exposure: Does frequency determine the evaluative connotations of words?

Preconditioning, Conditioning, and Extinction Response Variability under a Complex Reinforcement Contingency

Impression value, instructional set, and methods of stimulus presentation as factors influencing control subjects in verbal conditioning.

Instructional Set and the Presentation of Response Alternatives as Factors Influencing Sentence Generation.