Novel Sequential-presentation-only (SPO) Line-up Effects

Novel Sequential-presentation-only (SPO) Line-up Effects Simultaneous, Sequential and Sequential Presentation Only line-ups in mediating Hit False alarm rates   Valerie Lim Abstract Exculpating individuals due to mistaken identifications in simultaneous line-ups have stirred questions of trust to the procedure. Researchers proposed a sequential presentation line-up to reduce the false identifications more than they reduce hits as a superior procedure. This study investigated if a novel sequential-presentation-only (SPO) line-up could draw the benefits of both procedure by hypothesizing (a) a sequential line-up will yield fewer hits and false alarms than a simultaneous line-up and (b) a sequential presentation only line-up will yield fewer false alarms than a simultaneous line-up without a significant reduction of hits. 713 participants assessed a set of images to an image of the perpetrator in different line-up conditions. The first hypothesis was partially supported while the second hypothesis was not. This study suggests that simple manipulations have potential to make the simultaneous line-up more reliable and a novel SPO line-up does not redeem the effects. Eyewitness identifications are among the most persuasive, and sometimes only, juncture in the apprehension of criminals. This typically involves a simultaneous line-up(SIM) where the suspect(target) is placed among known innocents(foils) who resemble the witness’s description of the perpetrator (Wells Olson, 2003). The selection or lack of selection from the witness is given significant legal weighting. However, 75% of convictions involved exculpation through DNA testing where eyewitness misidentification was at fault. Furthermore, in 38% of these cases, multiple witnesses have misidentified the same innocent person (Project, 2009), which brings to question the accuracy of the procedure. Lindsay and Wells (1985) devised the sequential line-up (SEQ) procedure as a better alternative. Each line-up member is presented one at a time and witnesses must decide if the line-up member matches the perpetrator before moving on to the next. Witnesses are unaware of the number of members shown, similar to real world cases, where each member is shown once. The â€Å"superiority effect† stems from the enhanced overall accuracy as SEQ reduces false identifications(false alarms) when the target is absent(target-absent conditions), more than it reduces correct identifications (hits) when the target is present (target-present conditions) (N. Steblay, Dysart, Fulero, Lindsay, 2001). The differences in line-up performance can be attributed to witness’s decision strategies (Gronlund, 2004). In SIMs, witnesses employ a relative judgement strategy where they evaluate the similarity of line-up members to their recollection of the culprit relative to one another, even when the resemblance Is vague (McQuiston-Surrett, Malpass, Tredoux, 2006; N. K. Steblay Phillips, 2011). In target-present conditions, the perpetrator is the closest match, resulting in more hits (N. Steblay et al., 2001). In comparison, target-absent conditions risk foils with the closest resemblance to be picked, in effect producing more false alarms. This flaw is further enhanced when the dissimilarity of appearance in line-up members increases (Charman, Wells, Joy, 2011). Accordingly, presenting a line-up sequentially is said to eliminate relative judgements and to allow absolute comparisons to each line-up member exclusively to memory (Lindsay Wells, 1985; N. K. Steblay Phillips, 2011). However, in target-present conditions, sequential line-ups produce lower hit rates compared to simultaneous line-ups (McQuiston-Surrett et al., 2006). The reduction in hit rate is better understood with signal detection theory (SDT) (Meisser, Parker, Parker, MacLin, 2005). SDT posits that our ability to recognise and differentiate between familiar and novel stimuli rests on our response criterion and discrimination accuracy. Discrimination accuracy is the ability of an individual to correctly detect a signal (hits) vs. correctly reject its absence (correct rejections), while response criterion is the strength of evidence required before a signal (hit) is registered. In line-ups, the response criterion is familiarity-based and if a line-up member exceeds the familiarity threshold and corresponds to the witness’s memory of the perpetrator, it produces a hit, or otherwise it is rejected (Gronlund, 2004). It is important to note that witnesses lack awareness of the number of line-up members they will be shown in sequential line-ups. This raises the criterion threshold, which means more hits will be unlikely and more misses are produced. Furthermore, since witnesses cannot revise their previous decisions on a line-up member, they are subjected to a conservative response bias (McQuiston-Surrett et al., 2006). In effect, this reduces the hit and false alarm rates. Ideally, a line-up procedure that employed absolute judgement without a criterion shift would confer the best of both simultaneous and sequential procedures. This maximises hit rates while minimises false alarms, optimising the discrimination accuracy. This study examines a novel type of sequential procedure, named sequential presentation only (SPO), which theoretically can do so. The SPO involves line-up members being shown one at a time, while leaving the decision making until after all line-up members have been shown. This retains absolute judgement in the decision making process while decreasing response bias. As a result, the hit rates should be comparable to those of a simultaneous line-up. It follows that this study hypothesises in target-present manipulations (a) a sequential line-up will yield fewer hits and false alarms than the simultaneous line-up and (b) a sequential presentation only line-up will yield fewer false alarms than the simultaneous line-up without a significant reduction in hits. Method Participants The participants were 713 PSYC20007 Cognitive Psychology students who completed the task in groups as part of a laboratory experiment. Students were randomly assigned to conditions with 240 in the Simultaneous presentation condition, 229 in the Sequential presentation condition and 218 in the Sequential Presentation Only condition. 26 Participants were removed for having incomplete data files. Stimuli and Apparatus Participants were group tested in a computer lab. The experiment was completed in an internet browser running an experiment programmed using HTML and Javascript. The stimuli were black and white head shots of males taken from Kayser (1985); each photo was presented on a white background. Procedure On each trial, the words â€Å"Get Ready† were presented for 1000 ms followed by the presentation of a target face (the perpetrator), which was presented for 500 ms and was immediately backward masked by a scrambled image of that face presented for 1000 ms. The line-up was then presented, and the participants response recorded. In the simultaneous presentation condition, all five faces were presented simultaneously in a row across the centre of the screen with a small gap between each face along with identifying numbers 1 to 5. The number of remaining trials was displayed on the screen at this stage. Participants were instructed to respond with 1 to 5 indicating the line-up member that they thought was the target or to respond 6 if the target was not present in the line-up. The experiment then advanced to the next trial. In the sequential condition, the five line-up members were presented one at a time for until a response was made. For each line-up member, the participant made a response (yes or no). There was a 1000 ms blank interval between each face. Once all of the five line-up members were completed, the participants were informed of the number of remaining trials for 1500 ms, and the experiment advanced to the next trial. In the Sequential Presentation Only condition, the five line-up members were presented one at a time for 1000 ms each. There was a blank interval of 1000 ms between each line-up member. After the final line-up member, the response scale was presented until a response was made. The number of remaining trials was displayed on the screen at this stage. Participants were instructed to respond with 1 to 5 indicating the line-up 7 member that they thought was the target or to respond 6 if the target was not present in the line-up. The experiment then advanced to the next trial. In each condition, the line-up was constructed from a set of five faces drawn from a set of 54 possible faces. On target present trials, the target was drawn randomly from the set of line-up faces. On target absent trials, the target was drawn from the remaining 49 faces. There were 50 trials in the experiment. Results The mean ratings for the Simultaneous, Sequential and SPO condition as a function of Hit rates and False alarms are shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Mean hit rates and false alarms as a function of line-up condition A one-way ANOVA showed a significant difference in the hit rate, F(2,684) = 12.62, p ÃŽ ·2 = .04. A post-hoc analysis using the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons showed significant difference in the hit rate between the SIM condition and the SEQ condition (Mean Difference = 0.08, p Mean Difference = 0.05, p = .02), but not between the SEQ and the SPO condition (Mean Difference = 0.04, p = .10). A one-way ANOVA showed a significant difference in the false alarms, F(2, 684) = 9.28, p ÃŽ ·2 =.03. A post-hoc analysis with the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons showed significant difference in the false alarm rate between the SIM and SPO condition (Mean Difference=0.69, p Mean Difference= 0.01, p=1.00) as well as the SEQ and the SPO condition (Mean Difference= 0.06, p= .004). According to Cohen (1988), both hit rate and false alarms demonstrated a small to medium effect of line-up procedure. Discussion This study investigated if a novel SPO line-up could attain optimal discrimination accuracy. In target-present conditions, it was hypothesized that (a) sequential line-up will yield fewer hits and false alarms than the simultaneous line-up and (b) the SPO line-up will yield fewer false alarms than the simultaneous line-up without a significant reduction in hits. The first hypothesis was partially supported as there were fewer hit rates but not false alarms in the SEQ condition. Our second hypothesis was not supported. Results showed that the sequential condition produced less hits compared to the simultaneous condition, this was consistent with previous research (Lindsay Wells, 1985). However, false alarm rates were comparable. As for the SPO condition, a significantly lower mean hit rate was produced, as well as a higher false alarm rate compared to both the other conditions. Simultaneous line-ups induce a relative judgement decision approach (Gronlund, 2004). In a target-present condition such as ours, the line-up member that most resembles witness’s memory of the culprit will induce a higher mean hit rate (N. Steblay et al., 2001). This was supported in our results. In a simultaneous target-absent line-up, the foil with most resemblance should be picked with similar reasoning, producing more false alarms. However, our results showed that false alarm rates were higher in the sequential line-up instead. Sequential line-ups cause a criterion shift, influencing a conservative â€Å"no† or â€Å"unsure† response in witnesses which reduces hits and false alarm rates (McQuiston-Surrett et al., 2006). A possible explanation our results did not replicate this is the use of instructions which states explicitly the target may be absent or present. Instructions may prompt witnesses in realising that a criminal’s absence was a genuine possibility (N. Steblay et al., 2001), and thus will consider each person in succession (absolute judgement strategy) (Dysart Lindsay, 2001). Since simultaneous line-ups do not induce a criterion shift, witnesses have less of a conservative bias and will refrain from guessing more (Palmer Brewer, 2011). This accounts for the high rate in the simultaneous line-up and low false alarm rates compared to the sequential condition. However, since the same instructions were given to both conditions, it does not explain the unexpected results in the sequential condition. Perhaps showing all the line-up members in one sitting works at ease to witnesses’ memory and hence decisions (Smith et al., 2014). Further investigations need to verify this result. Participants in the sequential condition refrain from making an identification as a result of the criterion shift (Palmer Brewer, 2011). This reduces the overall hit rate. To negate this effect, all decision making is reserved to the end of the line-up procedure in the SPO condition. However, it still produced a significantly lower mean hit rate compared to the simultaneous condition, suggesting a criterion shift is unaffected by when participants report their decisions. Furthermore, the results indicate that the difference between the simultaneous and SPO line-ups were not significant in regards to false alarms. The SPO condition was created to retain the low false alarm rates by appealing an absolute judgement framework. It appeals to memory in the sense of match-making, instead of a relative judgement among line-up members (Gronlund, 2004). By theory, this would discourage false alarms from occurring. Nonetheless, our results were comparable between the simultaneous and SPO procedures. This could also be explained in terms of the effect of imposing instructions. The caution that it gives participants makes it more likely in minimizing false alarm rates in the simultaneous condition, but may not be as dominant in a sequential set-up. This study included presenting photographs of suspects as opposed to actual human entities in line-up conditions. The photographs only contained the suspect’s neck to facial features, excluding their physical build-up. This means that our line-ups may not include ecological validity (McQuiston-Surrett et al., 2006) and should be validated in similar trials and psychological concepts before being used in practice. In conclusion, this study found that the simultaneous condition have potential in possessing optimal discrimination accuracy in regards to more hits and fewer false alarms. This is a contradiction to previous research as the superiority effect of the sequential condition may not hold even under target-absent settings. This finding followed when validating a novel SPO procedure was ineffective. A lower hit rate and higher false alarm rate resulted, becoming the worst performer of all conditions. However, it should be taken into consideration photographs cannot replicate real world ecology and may affect response criterion. Further research should focus on binding the findings to psychological concepts related to memory and decision making in line-up procedures. References Charman, S., Wells, G., Joy, S. (2011). The Dud Effect: Adding Highly Dissimilar Fillers Increases Confidence in Lineup Identifications. Law Human Behavior (Springer Science Business Media B.V.). 35(6), 479-500. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Dysart, J. E., Lindsay, R. C. L. (2001). A Preidentification Questioning Effect: Serendipitously Increaseing Correct Rejections Law and Human Behaviour, 25(2). Gronlund, S. D. (2004). Sequential line-ups: Shift in criterion or decision strategy? Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(2), 362-368. Lindsay, R. C., Wells, G. L. (1985). Improving eyewitness identifications from lineups: Simultaneous versus sequential lineup presentation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70(3), 556-564. McQuiston-Surrett, D., Malpass, S. R., Tredoux, C. G. (2006). Sequential vs. Simultaneous lineups: A review of methods, data, and theory. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 12(2), 137-169. Meisser, C. A., Parker, C. G., Parker, J. F., MacLin, O. H. (2005). Eyewitness decisions in simultaneous and sequential lineups: A dual-process signal detection theory analysis. Memory Cognition, 33(5), 783-792. Palmer, M. A., Brewer, N. (2011). Sequential lineup presentation promotes less-biased criterion setting but does not improve discriminability. Law Human Behavior, 36(3), 247-255. Project, T. I. (2009). Reevaluating Lineups: Why witnesses make mistakes and how to reduce the chance of a misidentification. . Smith, A. M., Bertrand, M., Lindsay, R. C. L., Kalmet, N., Grossman, D., Provenzano, D. (2014). The Impact of Multiple Show-Ups on Eyewitness Decision-Making and Innocence Risk. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 20(3), 247-259. Steblay, N., Dysart, J., Fulero, S., Lindsay, R. C. L. (2001). Eyewitness accuracy rates in sequential and simultaneous lineup presentations: A meta-analytic comparison. Law and Human Behaviour, 25(5), 459-473. Steblay, N. K., Phillips, J. D. (2011). The not-sure response option in sequential lineup practice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(768-774). Wells, G. L., Olson, E. A. (2003). Eyewitness testimony. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 277-295.

The Horrifying Details of Mad Cow Disease Essay -- Mad Cow Disease Hea

The Horrifying Details of Mad Cow Disease   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mad Cow Disease, scientifically referred to as (BSE) Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, is a disease that affects those humans who eat the meat from infected cows. Mad Cow Disease is one of several fatal brain diseases called (TSE) Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy. (USDA) There was evidence of a new illness resembling the sheep disease scrapie. It was technically named BSE but quickly acquired the mad cow tag because of the way infected cattle behave. (CNN) In 1997, there was an award given to Stanley Prusiner, for concluding that a distorted protein called a prion was responsible for Mad Cow Disease, noted the long incubation period made it difficult to distinguish (Bryant). Another name for Mad Cow Disease is the new variant Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), similar to the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, which is a deadly brain illness that strikes about one per million per year (USDA) due to genetic or unknown causes while the vCJD is contracted from eating in fected cows (USDA). Both CJD and vCJD are so similarly named because of the similar effects from the illness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This case study shows the effect of CJD. The story has been said to be on the natural occurring CJD but is still in the family with the same kind of effects as vCJD. It is just contracted differently. According to Rocky Mountain News in an article written by Lou Kilzer, Tracie Mcewen noticed something wrong for the first time on Mother’s Day of 1998 (Kilzer). Doug, her husband, always made her homemade cards for Mother’s Day, but he did not this year. Although Tracie thought Doug was mad at her or just being forgetful, he died ten months later from a rare brain ravaging disease (Kilzer). After his death an autopsy showed that it was not Mad Cow Disease. Some scientists wondered if his and four other deaths were somehow connected to a related disease in deer and elk called (CWD) Chronic Wasting Disease, considering that Doug was an avid hunter (Kilzer). Before losing Doug, Tracie wrote the following accounts of the ravages for a support group, serving families of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease victims (Kilzer). Tracie’s letter was written in January of 1999.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tracie was twenty-eight years old at the time, and Doug was thirty years old. They have two girls, Sharon who is eight years old and Rilee who is three years old. They li... ...ases that are just as bad like CWD, but people have known about them. Mad Cow, BSE, vCJD--it is here and real and will kill anyone who gives it a chance. It does not pick an individual. It does not pick innocent or guilty. The people choose it. Mad Cow will either stop a person in his train of thought or fly past like a busy bee. This disease is not as well-known as some but is just as deadly. BSE has many terms all under the same definition. Whether a person sees this brain ravaging disease as a threat or a joke, it is up to each individual. Works Cited â€Å"A Beef With Beef.† USDA. 8 Feb. 1999. Ask Jeeves. 29 Aug. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bryant, Gerry, Dr., and Monk, Philip, Dr.â€Å"The Queniborough Report† 26 Aug. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Cannibals to Cows the Path of a Deadly Disease† Newsweek. 12 March 2001 â€Å"Fear and Mystery Of Cross Species Killer.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CNN 26 Oct. 2000. Yahoo. 26 Aug. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kilzer, Lou. â€Å"A Family Grieves: Young Utah Hunter’s Untimely Death Attributed To CJD   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But Survivors Want Closer Look At Venison Connection.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rocky Mountain News 1 June 2002. Google. 29 Aug. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Mad Cow Update.† Consumer Freedom. 20 March 2000. Ask Jeeves. 29 Aug. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Parental and Child Relationships in Great Expectations Essay

Discuss Dickens’ presentation of relationships between children and their parents/parental figures in ‘Great Expectations’. Dickens uses the relationships between children and their parental figures to explore the themes of belonging, as well as status and identity. Pip, the protagonist of the novel, has been identified as an orphan and never saw either of his parents. Instantly, this gives the reader an idea that Pip did not belong to a typical and perfect family and never had his actual parents look after him or contribute to his upbringing. We are told that instead, his sister brought him up ‘by hand’. This phrase has been used by Dickens repetitively in the novel in linking the two siblings together; the idea that it is emphasised may imply that Pip should in fact be grateful to his sister as she provided him with all that he needed, and that she has a certain power over him. Although they live in the same house and belong to the same family, Pip was aware that his sister was hugely superior to him and he ‘had no hope of deliverance through his (my) all powerful sister’. It is evident that although she acts as a motherly figure towards him, she possesses all the attributes of a scornful mother and does not allow Pip to forget that he owes his existence to her. It is also evident that she herself did not wish to bring him and ‘repulsed him (me) at every turn’. The description of Mrs.Joe as having a ‘hard and heavy hand’ and ‘laying it on her husband as well as upon me’, along with Pip’s description of her spreading butter on the bread in an ‘apothecary kind of way’ with aggressive verbs such as ‘slapping dexterity, sawed, and hewed’ tells the reader a great deal about her nature; in the household, she played the role of a man and an aggressive figure. The word choices also makes it clear that Pip thought of her as an almost intimidating figure in his life, despite Mrs.Joe being his sister and playing the role of his mother. Simply by the fact that he calls his own sister ‘Mrs.Joe’, it is clear that their relationship is very formal and is not built on any emotional basis. All these factors contribute to the understanding that Pip has a very disjointed family life and never belonged to an ideal household or had a much needed motherly figure as such present in his life. However, despite Pip’s relationship with his sister which was solely based on responsibility, he had a very positive relation with his brother-in-law, who consequently acted as a father to him. Dickens has uses juxtaposition of Joe to his wife to emphasise the difference in their characters and the way in which Pip views them. He describes Joe as a ‘mild, good natured, sweet-tempered, easy going, foolish dear fellow’, accentuating the good qualities Joe has and how well he thinks of him as opposed to his sister. Joe fulfils the role of a father for Pip in several ways and during the entirety of his life. In the first stages of Pip’s childhood, Joe protected him as much as he could from the wrath of his wife and tried to aid him in becoming a well mannered and respected young gentleman. Despite how Pip has treated him in his later life, Joe still remained with him and respected him as much; even after he had ‘turned to the worst point of his (my) illness, he (I) began to notice that while all its other features changed, this one consistent feature did not change’. Pip also describes Joe’s ‘tenderness’, despite his job as a blacksmith, ‘was so beautifully proportioned to his (my) needs, that he (I) was like a child in his hands’. This proves that Joe fully recognised his responsibility as a parental figure in Pip’s life and did everything he could to fulfil it, in comparison to his wife who felt that Pip was simply a burden in her life. Joe is also a character that Pip loves greatly. In chapter six, Pip says â€Å"But I loved Joe†¦ because the dear fellow let me love him†. This shows that in Pip’s early childhood, Joe is seen as an equal. This is most likely because both Joe and Pip suffer through the pain inflicted by Mrs Joe, and Joe is the only character in the book that shows love and affection for Pip. This can be observed in chapter seven, when Pip reveals â€Å"I had a new sensation of feeling conscious that I was looking up to Joe in my heart.† These quotations suggest that maybe Pip looks up to Joe and that Joe is Pip’s comrade and confidant. Pip also ‘treated him as a larger species of child, and as no more than my equal’; although this shows that they were both equal, it can be implied that Pip showed no respect for Joe in his fatherly figure. Pip had another fatherly figure in his life, through Magwitch. Upon discovering that Magwitch is his secret benefactor, Pip feels far from ecstatic. He had tried to forget the acts he committed as a young boy by aiding the convict in the marshes, and his conscience almost seems clear, before Magwitch re-enters Pip’s life. Although Pip’s becoming a gentleman may never have been possible without Magwitch’s generosity, he almost appears offended by the behaviour of his benefactor. Magwitch, on the other hand, is delighted to reveal himself to Pip, and states himself to be his ‘second father’; the way he ‘put away money, only for Pip (you) to spend’ and spent a very long time in attempting to ensure Pip’s position as a gentleman. The way Magwitch addresses Pip maked it obvious that he considers Pip to be his son, the son he never had; he has worked hard and escaped, risking his life to better that of Pip. However, Pip seems frustrated by this act Magwitch has committed. Most of his frustration seems to be because ‘it was for the convict,[†¦], that i had deserted Joe’. At this point he realises that he abandoned Joe in order to achieve his own selfish dreams of living amongst the upper classes and improving his position in society. Due to this abandonment, Magwitch begins to fill the void of a fatherly figure in Pip’s life, although he did so against Pip’s will in the beginning. It may also be implied that although Magwitch did become like a father to Pip due to being his benefactor, he did so for his own benefit and for the satisfaction of ‘owning’ someone who had achieved so much in life. There are several other children and parent relationships in the novel, but the relationships Pip has with people in his life are the most interesting in the way Dickens has presented them. It is clear that Dickens has tried to portray the themes of true belonging and love by using these relationships as they would not be what one would typically expect. Pip, who has a blood relationship with Mrs.Joe, only shares a very formal and minimal relationship with her. She does not like having the responsibility of Pip, and Pip is left to deal with her anger. Joe and Magwitch on the other hand, protect and help Pip in his life due to the love and respect they have for him, despite not being related to him directly. Joe is also the only character who stays faithful to Pip the entire time, despite not sharing a birth relationship with him. This emphasises the theme of belonging and goes to show that through these relationships, Dickens has put across the idea that relationships built on love, respect and commitment are worth more than blood relationships in general.

Cannabinoid As A Treatment For Social Anxiety Disorder - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2441 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/04/01 Category Psychology Essay Level High school Tags: Anxiety Essay Did you like this example? 2Over the past few years, marijuana and its many compounds have been becoming increasing popular around the world. One compound in particular, cannabinoid (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has been of great interest as a potential treatment for numerous medical diseases. As recent as 2018, cannabinoid has been approved as an alternative anticonvulsant medications for treatment refractory seizures (Epidiolex, 2018). The success of using this drug as a treatment for this neurological disorder has lead to further research of this product for other symptoms and disorders from pain and nausea/vomiting, to a variety of psychiatric disorders. New research on CBD being an effective treatment for anxiety, particularly social anxiety disorder (SAD) is promising. SAD is characterized by excessive fears of scrutiny, embarrassment, and humiliation in social or performance situations, leading to significant distress or impairment in functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2018). This condition is estimated to affect between 3-7% of the US adult population and, if untreated, can be associated with the development of major depression, substance abuse, along with extensive functional impairment, and reduced quality of life (Ruscio et al., 2008). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Cannabinoid As A Treatment For Social Anxiety Disorder" essay for you Create order As the popularity of this drug increases, more patients may be tempted to try this easily accessible supplement for their mental health problems. For future medical providers, who will no doubt receive inquiries for this drug, it would be good to be able to reply with scientific, evidence-based responsed. In this literature review, we will discuss the latest research surrounding CBD and develop a better understanding if CBD is as a safe and effective for treating adults age 18-65 with SAD. These next few studies examine the effect of CBD on experimentally induced anxiety. As SAD anxiety is often acute and induced by stressful social situations, acute anxiety induced by experimental situations is a good equivalent. These studies all measure CBDs effect on acute anxiety induced from stressful experimental situations. This first study investigates the action of CBD on participants undergoing a stress-inducing neuroimaging procedure. The single-photon emission computed tomography, or SPECT, measures the limbic and paralimbic brain, areas that are known to be associated with anxiety (Crippa et al., 2011). In a double-blind placebo, 10 participants diagnosed SAD were given either CBD or a placebo and then underwent the procedure. In the next session, the same procedure was performed, with patients who received CBD in the first trial now receiving a placebo and vice versa. Participants anxiety was also measured throughout using subjective questionnaires. The results of the trials showed a significant decrease in participants subjective anxiety (p0.001) and reduced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in overlapping but distinct limbic and paralimbic areas (p†°Ã¢â‚¬ °0.001). Because the rCBF was overlapping and not exactly consistent with areas associated with anxiety, this study failed to find a correlation between the anxiolytic effects of CBD on neuroimaging. However, this study did demonstrate a reduction in presumed anticipatory anxiety associated with undergoing SPECT procedures. The next study examined the effects of CBD on healthy participants and participants with SAD undergoing a simulated public speaking test (SPST) (Bergamaschi et al., 2011). A previous 2008 study found that during a SPST, participants with SAD have higher anxiety levels, greater cognitive impairment, discomfort, and decreased alertness compared with the control group (Crippa et al.). During the study, participant with SAD or healthy controls received either CBD or a placebo in a double-blind randomized design. The participants then performed a SPST. Subjective and physiological measurements of anxiety were measured throughout the study Based on the measurements of subjective anxiety, the group with SAD who did not receive CBD had higher anxiety, cognitive impairment, discomfort, and diminished alert levels than the SAD CBD group. The study concluded that in participants with SAD, CBD reduced subjective anxiety symptoms resulting in a similar response to the SPST as healthy controls, yet no significant differences were noted among the physiological measures of anxiety. In another 2013 study, a Pavlovian fear and learning mechanism was used to induce conditioned fear on participants by shocking them with a colored box and electric shocks ((Das et al., 2013). This study sought to examine CBD on Pavlovian fear and learning mechanisms as they are an important component to anxiety disorders (Watson Rayner, 1920). Once participants established fear of the box, the researchers tested how long it took to un-condition that fear or for that fear to go through extinction. The participants were divided into three groups, one group receiving CBD before fear extinction, one receiving CBD after fear extinction, and one not receiving CBD at all. Throughout the study, anxiety, current mood, and physical symptoms were assessed with various subjective questionnaires, skin conductance response, and shock expectancy following extinction. The results of this study found that CBD had no acute effects on fear extinction. However, CBD given to the post-extinction group enhanced consolidation of extinction as measured by shock expectancy. The study also found that CBD given either pre or post-extinction reduced restoration of autonomic contextual responding. These preliminary findings show promising evidence that CBD may be an effective adjunct to extinction-based therapies for anxiety disorders. Now that we have examined studies that that show a positive correlation between CBD and reduced anxiety in SAD and healthy volunteers, we will now look at some studies that come to different conclusions. Some studies have concluded that CBD has no effect on baseline anxiety in healthy volunteers. A 2012, double blind, crossover, placebo-controlled trial looked at the effects CBD compared to THC and a placebo on 16 healt hy volunteers (Martin-Santos et al.). The drugs and placebo were administered in consecutive sessions in a one-month interval. Symptoms of anxiety were measured using physiological measurements and symptoms ratings at the 1, 2, and 3-hour intervals. The data was analyzed and the researches concluded that there were no differences between the CBD and placebo on any symptomatic or physiological variables. However, unlike previous studies discussed, participants were not placed in simulated anxiety-inducing situations. Though the study may have found no effect of CBD on baseline anxiety, had these volunteers been placed in acutely stressful situations, maybe CBD would have had an anxiolytic effect. Another more recent study found similar results. This study was looking into the effects of THC and CBD, both alone and combined on subjects ability to process emotional affects deficits in which are characteristic of mood disorders like depression or anxiety (Hindocha et al. 2015). Partici pants involved varied in at-home cannabis use and had various types of schizotypy. In a 4-way, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, participants inhaled either THC, CBD, both THC and CBD, or a placebo and completed an emotional facial affect recognition task and a visual analogue scale of how stoned participants felt, was completed. The study concluded that CBD did not influence feelings of being stoned and improved recognition of emotional facial affects and weakens the impairment induced by THC. However, the study also investigated the correlation between self-report measures with performance on the emotional processing task across CBD administration, to see whether baseline psychological wellbeing was associated with performance accuracy. However, no statistically significant correlation was found, with ps 0.05 after analysis. This demonstrates an opposite correlation from the earlier study where CBD improved cognitive impairment, discomfort, and diminished alert levels all associated with diminished performance accuracy (Bergamaschi et al., 2011). Again, CBDs effect was only tested on these participants baseline anxiety, and not its effect on participants in anxiety augmented scenarios. Though CBD may not show as promising evidence as a treatment for long-term anxiety like generalize anxiety disorder, it does show efficacy as treatment for acute anxiety like in social anxiety disorder. Various studies have established clinical evidence for CBDs efficacy for SAD. We will now examine how CBD compares to other treatments for SAD. Current medical therapies for this disorder include drugs like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI), and benzodiazepines (Stein, 2018). These medications are not without side effects and adverse health outcomes. Also, unlike CBD, in the case of many of these medications (ex: SSRIs) a patient may have to take the medication for several weeks before they feel the effect of the medication (Taylor et al. 2006). A systemic review analyzed recent studies on CBD, both preclinical animal studies and clinical studies on humans (Blessing et al., 2015). The study noted that there was substantial evidence that CBD showed comparable efficacy to ipsapirone (a 5-HT1AR agonist) or diazepam (a benzodiazepine), other treatments for SAD. The downside to all of these studies include small sample size, sample bias, and lack of serum CBD levels to correlate with subjective and physiologic measures of anxiety. Though there are many pre-clinical animal studies confirming its effectiveness for treating many mental health disorders, there are few clinical trials that have concluded its efficacy and many of which demonstrate mixed results (Blessing et. al., 2015). Unfortunately with todays regulatory and sociopolitical climate, research on marijuana and its many components is significantly limited (Farach et al., 2012). Until it becomes easier for research on CBD to be performed, including recruiting large enough sample sizes to sufficiently identify comprehensive treatment effects, there may not be adequate evidence to support CBD as an effective treatment for anxiety. Though it may be hard in the current climate to definitely prove that CBD is effective for SAD, CBD is still a product that is currently available over the counter to everyone. For people who have heard about the proposed power of the drug and want to try it, are there any risks in taking it? In this next portion of the paper, the safety profile and side effects of CBD will be discussed. A 2011 literature review examines the safety and side effect profile of CBD and concluded that based on recent advances in CBD administration, controlled CBD may be safe in humans and animals (Bergamaschi et al.). The study looked at the effect of CBD on in vitro studies animals find CBD to have no effect on embryonic development, increased food intake, development of catalepsy, and no effect on motor changes.  Additionally, in animal models, the review found that CBD had no effect on many physiological parameters including blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, glucose levels and did not induce ataxia, tremors, vomiting, and many other negative physical effects. In human studies, even at a wide range of doses, CBD was not found to cause adverse side effects in acute or chronic studies. CBD does not interfere with heart rate, blood pressure, or performance in a verbal paired associated learning test (Zuardi et al., 1982). Chronic studies even found it may be an effective treatment for refractory cases of schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, Parkinsons disease, and cannabis addiction (Bergamaschi et al.). The systemic review did note that in several in vitro and in vivo studies CBD had to the potential to interact with hepatic drug metabolism, decreased capacity of fertilization, and decrease activity of some drug transporters. The review concluded with a statement that CBD, even at relatively high doses and with chronic use, is well tolerated in humans. The review does admit that further research is needed to determine accuracy of the reported side effects and that constant monitoring of the drug is required when used for clinical use. As previously mentioned, CBD is FDA approved as prescription as adjuvant therapy for seizure disorder (Epidiolex, 2018). Clinical trials of the drug found that potential side effects of this drug include central nervous system depression (drowsiness, lethargy, sedation, etc.), skin rash, weight loss, decreased appetite, anemia, increase serum alanine aminotransferase and transaminases, infection, and asthenia. Though the only contraindication to this medication involves a hypersensitivity reaction to CBD, there are other warnings that patients must be aware of before taking this medication. For example, CBD may cause CNS depression, which may be hazardous if driving or operating heavy machinery. Also, the increase in liver transaminases have caused a few patients to become hospitalized. Though patients who are most often have a significant increase in hepatic transaminases have a high baseline transaminase, use other seizure medication that are hepatotoxic, and take a high dose of CB D. Though there is evidence that CBD in general has a good safety profile, people should still be cautious when taking it, even when the CBD they are taking is prescribed from a doctor and FDA approved. Unfortunately, the popularity of this miracle cure is not affected by the lack of solid scientific confirmation and largely unknown safety profile. There are abundant of producers and sellers of CBD that are active in the market distributing CBD as a supplement without regulation (Hazekamp, 2018). There are growing concerns over the legality, quality, and safety of this new over the counter drug. A 2017 study investigated the content of 46 different samples of CBD (Hazekamp). The samples came from various sources, some home-made and some were purchased from an online webstore, some had labels describing the contents, some did not. The researchers then analyzed the components of the CBD oil and compared it, when possible, to the contents advertised on the label. The study found that not only did the CBD content widely vary from the advertised about, 15% of the samples contained no CBD at all while 57% of the samples also contained 1% THC. Though many of the samples, analyzed advertised a high THC content, the researchers where unclear whether CBD consumers were always aware of this. Additionally, the study found there was a high level of non-decarboxylated cannabinoids, a precursor to CBD, in many samples. These non-carboxylated cannabinoids are converted to CBD after proper heating, yet research on the efficacy and safety of these precursors is significantly limited. This is not an isolated stud, many other studies have developed similar conclusions about questionable CBD content of many products on the market. Since 2015, the FDA has issued an annual warning letter about CBD drugs on the market that do not contain the levels of CBD they claimed (2015/2016 warning letters and test results for cannabidiol-related products). CBD therefore may be an effective therapy for SAD, if CBD truly does have the assumed anxiolytic properties confirmed in animal trials and the few clinical trials. If the side effect profile of the drug is indeed safe, it may be a good alternative to current medications used for this drug. However, current clinical evidence for this medication is mixed, and while many case reports and animal studies show positive evidence of CBDs efficacy, providers should still be cautious recommending CBD to patients.  Additionally, CBD is not without side effects and risks even when the product is FDA approved. Current products available to consumers have unknown CBD content that is not subjected to any regulatory body. Before this new medication can be recommended to patients for SAD, more research must be done.