Investigated the ability to deceive in participants with autism, mental retardation (MR), and normal development. Results indicated that participants with autism and those with MR did not differ in their ability to use a deceptive method, but participants with autism were significantly less able to understand that they manipulated the beliefs of…

Examines mock jurors processing testimony under impression-set and memory-set conditions to determine under which condition they rate a witness to be more deceptive. Finds that under impression-set objectives subjects formed stronger judgments of the witness's deceptiveness, while the pattern was reversed under memory-set conditions. (MS)

Twenty-one learning-disabled and 22 nondisabled junior high students heard a series of audiotaped stories describing interactions between 2 individuals, with each story containing a statement that was either sincere, deceptive, or sarcastic. Probes of students' interpretations of these statements found that learning-disabled students were less…

Suggests that educators need to let students know that sometimes messages are sent in the hopes of confusing or misleading readers or listeners. Notes that people sending such messages include politicians, marketers, educators, parents, entertainers, medical personnel, and in fact, anybody and everybody. Considers how modern media makes it easier…

We describe an obedience demonstration that introduces social psychology in a new and interesting way. After students came to believe that a confederate was the course instructor, they complied with his request to provide him with personal information. Subsequent lecture introduced students to several key concepts, including obedience,…

Deception is defined and explained as a value, not just as a behavior. This essay advocates truthfulness as a unit of instruction in the elementary and middle school grades, in secondary schools, as well as in college. Deception is shown to be ubiquitous in our culture and is defined as a corrosive cultural element in need of correcting. Deception…

This book would be of high interest for policymakers, managers, and theorists. While policymakers, university administrators, and business managers will appreciate good description of forms of cooperation of industries and universities as well as problems that such cooperation creates or exacerbates and some of the prescriptions, offered by the…

Corruption is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. Forms of corruption are multiple. Measuring corruption is necessary not only for getting ideas about the scale and scope of the problem, but for making simple comparisons between the countries and conducting comparative analysis of corruption. While the total impact of corruption is indeed…

Students at all educational levels are daily bombarded by others' attempts to influence them. Influence in the political, religious, social, educational, and advertising arenas pervade people's lives. It is vital to everyone to be aware of influence attempts; to be able to assess whether or not such attempts are useful, friendly, urgent, and in…

Professionals conclude that child molesters (CMs) hold offense-supportive beliefs (or cognitive distortions) from CMs' questionnaire responses. Because questionnaires are easily faked, we asked 32 CMs to complete a cognitive distortion scale under standard conditions (Time 1). A week later (Time 2), the same CMs completed the scale again. This…

Provides new examples of doublespeak (use of language with the intent to obscure or deceive) from the Canadian Sampler and suggests that language arts teachers and teachers of writing can help reduce instances of doublespeak by teaching students to see through doublespeak and to write clearly. (JC)

A report on for-profit trade schools said that many schools offer such poor-quality training that large numbers of their students drop out and default on their student loans when they cannot find jobs. Secretary Bennett calls on Congress to crack down on proprietary schools. (MLW)

America's public schools are making harmful, irreversible decisions based on test results that--in an increasing number of cases--can't be trusted, Arizona State University's Education Policy Research Laboratory has found. The pressure of high-stakes tests is forcing school districts and state Departments of Education to take inappropriate and at…

This document describes the accomplishments of the Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Department of Education from October 1, 2003 through March 31, 2004. During this period, 71 audit and inspection reports were issued and 94 investigations were closed. Congress was provided with an analysis of issues for consideration in its reauthorization…

Using a narrative reconstruction, presents the case of a young man who, without prior warning, kills himself. Using a psychic autopsy, posits that the man lacked ego strength, was overly narcissistic, and deeply troubled. Offers guiding remarks for such cases and notes that therapists must recognize patients' concealment of suicidal thoughts. (RJM)