Chapter 19 - Forensic Psychology & Behavioral Sciences

Question 1

Actus Reus

Answer 1

• Latin for “guilty act”
• The physical aspect of a crime
• Describes act, failure to act, state of affairs

Question 2

Adversarial Approach to Law

Answer 2

• When opposing sides of a legal issue present contrasting views
• Key evidence

Question 3

Brain Fingerprinting

Answer 3

• Used to identify/exonerate subjects
• Measures brain-wave responses of suspects to stimuli to determine if the particular memory exists
• Stimuli include crime-related pictures, words, sounds

Question 4

Brain Functinon & Impairment Test

Answer 4

Psychological test that tries to determine the type/extent of brain function,injury, impairment that is present in a subject

Question 5

Clinical Psychology

Answer 5

Branch of psychology that focuses upon the diagnosis and treatment of mental/behavioral disorders in people

Question 6

Competence to Stand Trial

Answer 6

**In order to stand trial, a defendant must have both “sufficient present ability
to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding” and a “rational as
well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.”

Question 7

Criminal Profiling

Answer 7

Accepted concepts from behavioral science are used to provide info about a criminal’s behavioral patterns/characteristics based past serial crimes

Question 8

Diminished Capacity

Answer 8

• Legal defense where the offender has a reduced ability to understand the crimes that they committed
• Still don’t fully meet the requirements of legal insanity

Question 9

Equivocal Deaths

Answer 9

Deaths where the reasons/intentions of the victim and/or the circumstances surrounding the death are unclear

Question 10

Forensic Psychology

Answer 10

Subdiscipline of psychology dealing with the application of psychological theories/practices to answer legal questions

Question 11

Hypnosis

Answer 11

Psychological state that is characterized by…
- Heightened awareness & concentration
- Deep relaxation
- Inner absorption & enhanced suggestibility

Question 12

Insane Suicide

Answer 12

• Strictly legal term
• A person’s reasoning is so impaired that they don’t comprehend the consequences of suicide
• Compelled by an insane impulse which they cannot resist

Question 13

Intelligence and Cognitive Function Test

Answer 13

Psychological test that measures a person’s intellectual & thought capacity in a variety of subareas including…
- verbal
- perceptual reasoning
- working memory
- processing speed

Question 14

Legal Competence

Answer 14

Possessing the necessary abilities/legal qualifications required to participate in a legal process

Question 15

Legal Insanity

Answer 15

A legal construct that is used as a defense only if the person either…
- did not know what they were doing
- couldn’t tell right from wrong at the time of the crime

Question 16

Linkage Analysis

Answer 16

• Process of trying to understand the behavior of an offender
• Sees if similar features can be found in different crimes in an attempt to link separate crimes together

Question 17

Malingering

Answer 17

The faking or exaggeration of symptoms

Question 18

Mens Rea

Answer 18

• Latin term for “guilty mind”
• Used to describe the criminal intent of an event

Question 19

Minimization

Answer 19

• Mental escape that allows criminals to reduce their involvement in & the seriousness of the crime
• Thereby reduces their moral responsibility for the crime

Question 20

Modus Operandi

Answer 20

• How the crime was committed
• Refers to the method, habits, and tendencies of the offender in committing the crime

Question 21

Neurobiological Psychology

Answer 21

• Subdiscipline of psychology
• Examines molecular/cellular components of the brain and nervous system to discover how…memory, emotion, perception, reasoning, etc are stored/processed at the microscopic level

Question 22

Personality Inventory

Answer 22

Standardized test used to determine a subject’s personality type and provide a personality profile of them

Question 23

Projection

Answer 23

Means in which the subject places blame for the crime on someone else by projecting blame (often onto the victim)

Question 24

Projective Test

Answer 24

• Tests that try to evaluate a subject’s personality and thought processes by exploring how they think about themselves and their world
• Performed by evaluating their responses to ambiguous images/new situations

Question 25

Psychological Autopsy

Answer 25

Post-mortem investigation requiring the assessment of suicide risk factors at the time of death

Question 26

Psychology

Answer 26

Field focused on understanding human behavior by examining peoples’ individual thought & mental processes

Question 27

Rationalization

Answer 27

Mental process in which criminals justify their actions with explanations that make them appear less responsible

Question 28

Sociology

Answer 28

• Field that examines how individuals and groups function/behave within the context of larger societies
• Studies how people form social networks that operate together as complex organizations

Question 29

Specific Disorder Test

Answer 29

Psychological test developed to evaluate subjects for specific mental disorders

Question 30

Victimology

Answer 30

• The study of crime scene victims and their relationship to the offender
• Examines the psychological effects of crimes on the victims, the relationships between victims and offenders, victim’s characteristics