Chapter 19

Question 1

actuarial prediction methods

Answer 1

estimate risk levels and forecast the probability of events.

Question 2

American Psychological Association Division

Answer 2

the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States,

Question 3

base rate

Answer 3

the proportion of a population that has a certain characteristic, such as a symptom, sign, or disorder

Question 4

child custody

Answer 4

decisions made based on a legal principle known as the “best interest of the child doctrine” and which fraught with challenges due to the importance of the decision and the competing interests of the parents

Question 5

evaluations

Answer 5

looking at the strengths and weaknesses of research

Question 6

civil commitment

Answer 6

a process by which a person is involuntarily hospitalized by civil authorities for the welfare of the person and others

Question 7

clinical prediction methods

Answer 7

assessors use psychological tests, clinical interviews, clinical experience, and their personal judgments to make determinations of future dangerousness

Question 8

competent to stand trial

Answer 8

the defendant’s present or current ability to understand the criminal process and function within it, established in Dusky v. United States (1960)

Question 9

Duabert standards

Answer 9

the admissibility of evidence or testimony in court is based on its reliability and validity rather than its general acceptance in the field

Question 10

expert witness

Answer 10

professionals that give their professional opinions in a court of law and is approved for the court via voir dire

Question 11

fitness-for-duty evaluations

Answer 11

assessments usually requested after an extremely stressful experience by an officer or are used to assess whether an officer is able to continue working while receiving treatment for psychological problems

Question 12

forensic psychology

Answer 12

the application of psychological methods and principles within the legal system that is best understood as a specialty area within clinical psychology that requires particular training that only a subset of clinical psychologists obtain

Question 13

guardian ad litem

Answer 13

a court-appointed investigator who represents a client’s best interests in a guardianship proceeding

Question 14

guilty but mentally ill

Answer 14

a middle ground for jurors contemplating whether to assign criminal responsibility to defendants whose mental status is in question

Question 15

M’Naughten test

Answer 15

the first legal standard for the insanity defense in the history of the American legal system, which focuses on the cognitive ability of the defendant

Question 16

Hugo Munsterberg

Answer 16

one of the first major promoters of the use of psychology in the legal arena (On the Witness Stand)

Question 17

not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)

Answer 17

if an individual was unable to control their actions due to a mental disorder—even if such actions were criminal—the individual would not be held responsible for the crime

Question 18

On the Witness stand

Answer 18

Published by Hugo Münsterberg, a collection of magazine articles previously published by him where he discusses the many different psychological factors that can change a trial’s outcome

Question 19

prediction dangerousness

Answer 19

psychologist’s assessment of the likelihood that an individual will behave violently or dangerously again in the future, often employed in sentencing or parole

Question 20

pre-employment evaluations

Answer 20

varying assessments that usually include objective personality tests to assess psychopathology, a measure of cognitive or problem-solving ability, and a clinical interview

Question 21

statistical prediction methods

Answer 21

assessors predict dangerousness according to a statistical or actuarial formula compiled from a comparison of an individual’s characteristics with known correlations to future dangerousness

Question 22

voir dire

Answer 22

a process in which an expert witness is vetted by examining their education, training, and professional experiences