The authors reexamined the factor structure of the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (D. E. Broadbent, P. F. Cooper, P. Fitzgerald, & K. R. Parkes, 1982) and its correlates. The Cognitive Failures Questionnaire was designed to assess a person's likelihood of committing an error in the completion of an everyday task. A principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded 4 internally consistent, interpretable factors. These factors were labeled Memory, Distractibility, Blunders, and (memory for) Names. This study lends partial support for the factor analytic solution proposed by L. K. Pollina, A. L. Greene, R. H. Tunick, and J. M. Puckett (1992). In addition, it extends previous findings by providing initial evidence for the construct validity of the factors established by correlating factor scores with measures of other related constructs (i.e., boredom proneness, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Type A behavior pattern).

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Faculty and assessment professionals rely on Bloom's taxonomy to guide them when they write measurable student learning outcomes and describe their goals for developing students' thinking skills. Over the past ten years, assessment offices and teaching and learning centers have compiled lists of measurable verbs aligned with the six categories that comprise Bloom's taxonomy. The author analyzed 30 compilations posted on web sites and evaluated how well these verbs aligned with categories in Bloom's taxonomy. The author discusses the value of Bloom's taxonomy as a heuristic for writing student learning outcomes and other factors faculty should consider when they articulate learning outcomes to describe levels of expertise attained by students who complete an associate's, bachelor's, or graduate degree.

Two experiments address the accuracy of citizen and police witnesses in recalling stressful events. Participants saw 2 training scenarios. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of active engagement and the presence of a simulated shooting on police officers' memory for details. Police officers recalled significantly fewer details from the scenario in which a shooting occurred. Active engagement did not influence recall. Experiment 2 compared the memory performance of police and citizen witnesses. Manipulation checks were added to assess the arousal produced by a shooting, and control procedures were added to evaluate the memorability of specific scenarios. Police and citizen witnesses did not differ reliably in accuracy. The perpetrator was remembered less well than the weapon when a simulated shooting occurred, and one scenario was significantly more difficult to remember than the other. The need to replicate eyewitness research with a variety of materials is discussed.

In a general psychology course, 126 undergraduate students read a syllabus from a male or a female instructor that contained basic course information alone, added restrictive course policy information (e.g., policies on accepting late work and email etiquette requirements), or additional course content information. The students rated the competence of the instructor who included restrictive course policy information highest, followed by the instructor who included additional course content. Instructor gender did not influence the students' competency ratings. (34 ref)-Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University.In 2011 and 2013 at a public university, the syllabi for all undergraduate courses were reviewed for evidence of student learning outcomes, descriptions of assignments and projects, and strategies to promote student learning. The most common syllabi content areas were descriptions of the instructor's policies for the course (rules about late work, permission to make up an examination, and rules about classroom behavior), class meeting times and location, the instructor's goals for the courses or description of the course's role in preparing the student for future courses, descriptions of software or required technology skills, and descriptions of specific projects. Only rarely did the syllabi refer to grading rubrics for assignments. Slightly over 70 percent of the syllabi showed evidence of high-impact pedagogical practices, the most frequent of which were graded classroom participation, applying learning to real-world problems, and making class presentations. (39 ref)-Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, University of West Florida. LEGAL ISSUES Brewer, Tyler. The Restatement (Third) of Torts: Combating Sexual Assaults on college Campuses by Recognizing the College-Student Relationship. Journal of Law and Education, 2015, 44 (Summer) pp. 345-391.Can a college or university be held liable for failing to prevent the sexual assault of a student? Foreseeability of harm is required to impose liability under a theory of negligence, but students are unable, in most cases, to meet the burden of proving the sexual assault was foreseeable. Without foreseeability, there can be no duty of care on the college's part. The problem is that the courts have erroneously turned "foreseeability" into the dispositive question in deciding whether a legal duty exists. Foreseeability is more appropriately an element of the breach, not part of any broader, context-free duty. What this means is that the fact finder must assess the foreseeable risk at the time of the alleged negligence to determine whether the college or university exercised reasonable care. Rather than basing the foreseeability of risk on whether past similar incidents have occurred, foreseeability should be determined by all relevant facts, including whether past crimes of a lesser degree have occurred on campus or close to campus. This proposed approach balance the likelihood of harm and the severity of harm against the college or ...