Three experiments were performed to determine if the use of an organizational strategy influenced free-recall performance more than did the degree of semantic elaboration. The organizational strategy used was either the story mnemonic or the alphabetic mnemonic. The degree of semantic elaboration was varied by requesting the subjects to make up sentences of different lengths for each presented word or by requesting subjects to give a definition or not give a definition of each word. Increased organization led to better recall, whereas increases in semantic processing did not. Analysis of the recall protocols in Experiment 3 showed that the words recalled by the mnemonic and non-mnemonic groups were organized differently.
Virginia has abolished parole and adopted truth-in-sentencing guidelines for persons convicted of felonies. As part of this reform, the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission developed a method for diverting 25% of nonviolent, prison-bound offenders into alternative sanction programs using risk assessment to identify the lowest risk offenders. This article describes an evaluation of the effectiveness of this instrument, used by judges at the time of sentencing. It serves to advance an understanding of the factors associated with recidivism and the policy implications of using risk assessment to divert offenders from incarceration at a time when states are facing fiscal challenges.
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