provide limited information about accuracy. At worst,
the criteria provide misleading information, suggest-
ing that triers of fact rely on variables that have tenu-
ous relationships with accuracy.Amy Bradfield DouglassSee alsoConfidence in Identifications, Malleability;
Estimator and System Variables in Eyewitness
Identification; Expert Psychological Testimony on
Eyewitness Identification; Eyewitness Memory; Juries and
Eyewitnesses; Showups; U.S. Supreme Court; Wrongful
ConvictionFurther Readings
Bradfield, A. L., & Wells, G. L. (2000). The perceived
validity of eyewitness identification testimony: A test of
the five Biggerscriteria. Law and Human Behavior,
24 (5), 581–594.
Douglass, A. B., & Steblay, N. (2006). Memory distortion in
eyewitnesses: A meta-analysis of the post-identification
feedback effect. Applied Cognitive Psychology,
20,859–869.
Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 114 (1977).
Neil v. Biggers,409 U.S. 188 (1972).
Stovall v. Denno,388 U.S. 293 (1967).
Wells, G. L. (1978). Applied eyewitness-testimony research:
System variables and estimator variables. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 36(12), 1546–1557.
Wells, G. L., & Murray, D. M. (1983). What can psychology
say about the Neil v. Biggers criteria for judging
eyewitness accuracy? Journal of Applied Psychology,
68 (3), 347–362.NOVACOANGERSCALE
The Novaco Anger Scale (NAS) is a self-report ques-
tionnaire with Cognitive, Arousal, and Behavioral
subscales that constitute a 48-item NAS Total score. It
has a separate 12-item Anger Regulation subscale.
This questionnaire is designed to index a person’s dis-
position for anger, which is a risk factor for violence
and a dynamic variable amenable to treatment. The
NAS was developed in conjunction with the violence
risk project of the MacArthur Foundation Research
Network on Mental Health and Law. It was later
revised, along with its companion scale, the 25-itemProvocation Inventory (PI), in conjunction with its
publication by Western Psychological Services
(WPS). The NAS subscales pertain to anger disposi-
tion domains, as linked to an environmental context.
The PI assesses self-reported anger intensity in
response to provoking situations. Both instruments
were developed and validated for use with mentally
disordered and normal populations.Description and Development
The NAS was first constructed in 1990 as a two-part
instrument, which entailed the PI as “NAS Part B.” In
its formal publication in 2003, the NAS and PI were
designated as separate instruments, and the Anger
Regulation subscale was added. In the 2003 revision,
a subset of four “attentional focus” items within the
NAS Cognitive subscale was replaced by a subset of 4
items concerning “justification.” Some item-wording
changes were also made across the instrument.
Scale norms, reliability, and validity were first
established for clinical populations in studies with 300
male and female patients, both civil commitment and
forensic, at three California State hospitals; 119 male
forensic patients in Scotland; 129 male intellectual
disability forensic patients in England; and 143
Vietnam combat veterans with posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). The WPS standardization sample of
1,546 participants was age stratified (9–84 years) and
was obtained from various nonclinical settings across
the United States; also added were 171 male offenders
in various correctional settings.Scale Components
NNAASS CCooggnniittiivvee
The arousal of anger is cognitively mediated, being
a function of perception and information processing.
A schematic network of memories and meanings cen-
trally influence the experience of anger and its expres-
sion. The NAS Cognitive subscale is composed of
items operationalizing justification, rumination, hos-
tile attitude, and suspicion.NNAASS AArroouussaall
Anger arousal is marked by physiological activa-
tion in the cardiovascular, endocrine, and limbic526 ———Novaco Anger ScaleN-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 526