Masters of Science / Sometimes, dental impressions need to be transported to distant laboratories. It has been reported that the temperature in a vehicle can reach up to 66C when the outdoor temperature is 38C. These temperatures may be reached during South African summers. The objective of this in vitro study was to investigate the effect of temperature and time on the dimensional stability of two elastomeric impression materials. Methodology: Specimens consisted of impressions made of an ISO-specified test-block featuring a pattern of grooves. Materials used were polyether (Impregum Penta) and polyvinylsiloxane (Affinis Precious regular body). Using an SLR camera and standardized technique, the specimens were photographed at 2 different temperatures (21°C and 66°C) and 3 time intervals (30min, 8hrs and 14 days). This resulted in a total of 12 groups (n=10) to be compared. Digital images of the impressions were calibrated and measured using digital analyzing software. These distances were used to evaluate the mean % dimensional change (%DC) for each group. VEPAC module of Statistica 10 was used for the statistical analysis. To analyze exactly where the differences lied, a Fisher LSD correction was applied to correct for multiple pair wise comparisons. Results: Comparing polyether with silicone, there was no difference in the mean %DC for specimens kept at 21°C for 8hrs (polyether=0.364; silicone=0.237). Neither was there a difference between polyether and silicone when heated to 66°C, cooled off, and measured after 8hrs (polyether=0.306; silicone=0.297) or after 14 days (polyether=-0.272; silicone=-0.093). For both polyether and silicone, the mean %DC of the groups exposed to 66°C, cooled off and measured after 8hrs (polyether=0.306; silicone=0.297) differed significantly when compared to the group measured after 14 days (polyether=-0.2723; silicone=-0.092) (P<0.0001 and P=0.0029 resp). For both polyether and silicone, the mean %DC of the groups exposed to 66°C, cooled off and measured after 8hrs (polyether=0.306; silicone=0.297) did not differ when compared to the 21°C (polyether=0.364; silicone=0.237). Conclusions: Within limitations of this study, both materials were heat-sensitive. It is recommended that materials return to 21°C before casting. Despite statistical differences, all results were within ISO specifications of maximum 1.5%DC.

Risk assessments for offenders often combine past records with current clinical findings from observations, interviews, and test data. Conclusions based on these risk assessments are highly consequential, sometimes resulting in increased criminal sentences or prolonged hospitalization. Offenders are therefore motivated to intentionally minimize their risk scores. Intentional minimization is especially likely to occur in offenders with high psychopathic traits because goal-directed deception is reflected in many of the core traits of the disorder, such as manipulativeness, glibness, and superficial charm. However, this connection appears to be based on the conceptual understanding of psychopathy, and it has rarely been examined empirically for either frequency or success. The current study examined the connection between psychopathic traits and the intentional minimization of risk factors using a sentenced jail sample. In general, offenders were able to effectively minimize risk on the HCR-20 and SAQ, while the PICTS, as a measure of cognitive styles, was more resistant to such minimization. Psychopathic traits, especially high interpersonal facet scores, led to greater minimization using a repeated measure, simulation design. Important differences in the willingness and ability to use deception were found based on (a) the content of subscales, and (b) the mode of administration (i.e., interview vs. self-report). The important implications of this research are discussed for risk assessment procedures regarding likely areas of deception and its detection. It also informs the growing literature on the connection between psychopathic traits and deception.

Providing performance feedback in a way that leads to improved performance is an integral aspect to the success of an organization. Past research shows the feedback does not always improve employee performance. Characteristics of feedback can direct attention away from improved performance and toward attention to the self. This study examined the impact of characteristics of feedback delivery on individuals’ tendency to use impression management strategies (exemplification, self-promotion, ingratiation, supplication). The results indicate that participants did not use impression management differently when feedback was delivered publicly versus privately. However, participants reported a higher likelihood to use ingratiation and self-promotion strategies after receiving negative than positive feedback. Discussion of results, along with limitations and directions for future research, are discussed.

: Social anxiety can have severe negative consequences for individuals, from lack of crucial social interaction to lower quality of life. A self-presentation theory of social anxiety posits that social anxiety results from outcome expectancies of social interactions (impression efficacy) and how motivated the individual is to create a good impression (impression motivation). There is also a proposed interaction effect, theorizing that as impression efficacy increases, the association between impression motivation and social anxiety weakens. In a lab study (N=125), measures of impression motivation and impression efficacy were measured situationally (e.g., “I believe I will make the impression that I want to achieve”). These measures were collected both prior to a social interaction with a confederate and after, with the belief that another interaction would take place. Conversely, an online survey (N=301) collected the two measures from a dispositional viewpoint (e.g., “In social interactions, other people probably see me as I like them to see me”). Both pre and post interaction moderation analyses in the lab study failed to find a significant interaction effect. However, a significant interaction was found in the online survey data. This inconsistency may point to differences between the variables, depending on whether they are observed from a situational or dispositional perspective. Analysis of this discrepancy could have implications for further understanding the mechanisms of social anxiousness, as well as potential alleviation techniques and/or treatments.

Footwear impression evidence is often recovered at a crime scene and is either in the form of a two dimensional and/or a three-dimensional impression. Two-dimensional impressions occur when a shoe coated with a substance such as dust, blood, or ink, leaves behind a silhouette of the sole on a surface. Three-dimensional impressions contain depth information of the sole patterns that include three-dimensional characteristics that are transferred into a substrate such as dirt, mud, or sand. From these impressions, a sufficient number of identifying characteristics can be identified and used to individualize an impression to a particular footwear on the premise that it is a practical impossibility to have two shoes with the same set of randomly acquired features. This requires the capture of unknown impressions with both photography and casting; however, there are a variety of three-dimensional capture methods that can be employed. By evaluating different materials and techniques on the basis of their permanency, elasticity, and statistical ability to acquire defined identifying characteristics, a more significant comparison of successful methods can be made based on the likelihood ratios of the average occurrence of individualizing characteristics. This provides a powerful description of resolution of one particular method and can rationalize the difference between methods through statistical analysis. This research addresses a conservative statistical model of random occurrence of individual characteristics in a defined area (sole of footwear) by using binomial coefficients to evaluate possible performance discrepancies between field collection techniques and laboratory analysis of alternate materials and methods (alginate, moulage, silicone, thixotropic plastic, polyurethane foam, polymer gypsum mix) in terms of their ability to capture identifying characteristics from impressions made by a reference footwear, and allows a comparison to contemporary forensic methods utilized in the field and laboratory analysis.

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There exists an extensive body of literature focusing on impression management, with numerous studies addressing the effects of gender performance on members of the GLBT community. Despite a growing body of literature that centers on the differences between the genders, there exists a lack of research regarding the transgender community‟s ability to use impression management. This exploratory study addresses subjective experiences regarding transgender identity, and concentrates on self-definition and impression management in everyday life. It was found through interviews that “transition” is a temporary state that relies heavily on “passing” through impression management to create a new gender status. Once the new gender status is achieved, passing is no longer an issue and impression management is once again implemented in a more routine way similar to that of those who are not transgender.

Individuals at the DFW Church publicly confess intensely personal information, such as drug and alcohol addiction, spousal and child abuse, stripping, and sexual abuse. Using communication privacy management theory (CPM), I examined the way individuals at the DFW Church manage their private information, how they make disclosure decisions, and how they manage boundaries around their private information. I interviewed 13 individuals who participated in public confession, and coded their responses to identify the common themes and tactics for making disclosure decisions. Through this process, I pioneer the application of CPM to examine public disclosure events, rather than dyadic or small group disclosures. I also expand our current understanding of motivations for disclosure; rather than focusing on selfish or therapeutic motivations, participants want to encourage others through their disclosure. In terms of boundary management, individuals at the DFW Church believe that God owns part, or all, of their information; thus, disclosing their pasts is "not about them." Participants construct a new identity through their testimony narrative, effectively putting the old person in the past and presenting a new, Christian identity to the church body for group approval. In this context, confessing a negative behavior becomes a way to build a positive image by showing the drastic reformation that has taken place in that person's life. Lastly, I propose the public disclosure model—which involves boundary testing, audience analysis, and choice of disclosure path—to be tested for use in future research.

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