Reporters appear to fall into three types according to the way in which they evaluate the credibility of their sources. All types demand corroboration, but they differ on the significance of intuition. (RL)

Assesses the relative effectiveness of praise and derogation in persuading receivers and enhancing the speaker's credibility. Comparisons are made by sex of the persuader as well as the receiver. (JMF)

Discusses the probative potential of evidence in argument, and evaluates the importance of evidence in predicting belief change. Predicts adherence to argument claims and confirms the traditionally recognized importance of evidence to persuasion. (JMF)

Recounts a study designed to isolate the speech evaluation traits resulting from a satirical speech and concludes that a speaker who chooses a satirical approach over a direct approach will more likely receive higher ratings on speaker adjustment, subject, and analysis and lower ratings on organization. (MH)

Three presenters varying on two dimensions (young-mature, straight-hip) were used in a documentary on forest fires. The high school audience was tested for learning acquisition, as well as attitudes toward the presenter and the subject matter. (BD)

Examines how the sex of mock jurors (N=330) affected their perception of child victim witnesses. Results indicate that males tended to rate the child's testimony as less believable, less important, assigned more blame to the victim, and yielded fewer guilty verdicts than did females. No main effect for victim age was found. (RJM)

Examined the effects of juror gender and victim gender on two types of sexual abuse cases. Subjects were 323 university students. Findings suggest a relationship between juror gender, victim gender, and case types. Male jurors made fine-tuned discriminations based on variables such as case type and victim gender. (RJM)

Investigated whether source-monitoring training would decrease 3- to 4-year-olds' suggestibility. After observing live or video target-events, children received source-monitoring or recognition (control) training. Found that children given source-monitoring training were more accurate than control group children in response to misleading and…

While mega-goal fund raising campaigns are an increasingly popular strategy, the nature of the comprehensive campaign can be confusing to constituents. Trustees must be able to explain the goal, or the campaign might lose credibility. (Author/MSE)

Surveyed 172 social workers to determine prevalence of history of childhood abuse and extent to which background and personal characteristics affect clinical judgments about sexual abuse. Twenty-one percent of women and 22% of men reported sexual abuse history. Major factors that predicted credibility ratings of sexual abuse vignettes included…

Discusses two distinct views on what a quote is: the exact words of a speaker, or a journalist's rewritten or fabricated version of the speaker's words. Argues that paraphrasing allows writers to taint the evidence and causes the loss of the speaker's voice and the loss of credibility and independent corroboration. (SR)

Discusses characteristics that attract parents to family day care providers. These characteristics include the caregiver's reliability, credibility, appearance, responsiveness, and ability to be empathetic. (BB)

Investigates variables drawn from the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) that might be manipulated to enhance the persuasiveness of a psychoeducational report. Results showed teachers in training were more persuaded by reports with high message quality. Findings are discussed in terms of the ELM and professional school psychology practice. (RJM)