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The present research investigated the effects of stimulus omission on electrodermal orienting, dishabituation. and the allocation of processing resources as assessed by reaction time (RT) to a secondary probe stimulus. All experiments employed 33 tone‐light or light‐tone (S1‐S2) pairings, and for experimental groups, S2 was omitted on 4 trials, experiment 1 (N = 24) demonstrated reliable electrodermal responding when S2 was omitted for a trial, and subsequent dishabituation when S2 was then re‐presented after SI on the immediately following trial. Experiment 1 (N=96) employed probe RT as the dependent variable. White noise probe stimuli were presented 300 ms or 1300 ms following the omission of S2 and following its onset on re‐presentation trials. Reaction time to probes presented during S2 omission was slower in experimental groups than in control groups. Reaction time on S2 re‐presentation trials was also slower in experimental groups than in control groups, but only when S3 was a tone. Experiment 3 (N=48) employed auditory and visual probes presented 1300 ms following S2 omission and S2 re‐presentation, and measured both electrodermal activity and probe RT, Some evidence of electrodermal omission responding and dishabituation was obtained. Reaction time was again slowed during the omission and re‐presentation of S2. regardless of the modality of S2 and regardless of the modality of the probe. The results are interpreted as consistent with an information‐processing approach to orienting and habituation in that they indicate that both the omission and re‐presentation of an expected stimulus command processing resources.

In recent times, police policy makers have been encouraged to use public opinion surveys to identify, and target the allocation of resources to, activities that members of the public believe are important. However, these surveys have concentrated on the types of problems that the public would like addressed, and have not determined what types of activities they would prefer the police to be undertaking. In the present study, a comprehensive list of police activities formed the basis of a survey used to examine attitudes toward police priorities in Australia. Comparisons were made between police and public understanding of the police role, and between present and preferred priorities. The results suggest that the public has an understanding of policing which differs from that of police officers. However, the picture of what they want police to be doing is similar to that of the police, albeit giving higher priorities to almost all of the activities. Police managers may need to educate the public about the functions of the police service, emphasizing functions other than investigating crime and providing advice. At the same time, the police may need to alter their resource allocation and modify organizational structure and reward systems to encourage operational officers to be more involved in the activities that the public see as high priority. This should result in better ties with the community, a better understanding within the community of the police role, and more realistic expectations on both sides of the outcomes of policing. Public perceptions of the police roleTwo recent reviews of community attitude surveys highlighted the fact that very few studies of public perceptions of the police role are reported in the This research was supported by the police departments of Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Federal Attorney-General's Department. The authors would like to thank Carlene Wilson and two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions for earlier drafts of this paper.

The present research investigated the effects of stimulus miscuing on electrodermal responding, dishabituation, stimulus expectancy, and the allocation of processing resources as assessed by reaction time to a secondary task probe stimulus. In both experiments, a control group received 33 S1-S2 pairings intermixed with 33 S3-alone presentations. For the experimental group, S2 was miscued by its presentation following S3 on 4 trials. Experiment 1 (N = 24) demonstrated reliable electrodermal responding when S2 was miscued by S3 and subsequent dishabituation when S2 was re-presented following S1 on the next trial. A continuous measure of S2 expectancy revealed that S2 was not expected to follow S3 on miscuing trials. On re-presentation trials, S2 was not expected to follow S1. Experiment 2 (N = 24) employed probe reaction time as the dependent variable. White noise probe stimuli of 500-ms duration were presented 300 ms following the onset of S2 on miscued trials and on re-presentation trials. Reaction time to probes presented during miscued presentations of S2 was slower in the experimental group than in the control group. Reaction time on S2 re-presentation trials was also slower in the experimental group than in the control group. The results are interpreted to indicate that both the miscuing of S2 by S3 and its re-presentation following S1 on the next trial command processing resources. The results are discussed in terms of current theories of associative learning.

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