Crime Flashcards

Question

What were the Applications of Williams et al (2010) Findings which Supported Brain Injury as a Biological Explanation of Criminal and Anti-Social Behaviour?

Answer 1

* Lead to new ways to assess criminal culpability + ways to help people who have committed crimes * There needs to be an increased awareness of the effects of head injuries throughout the criminal justice system * In some cases and more rehabilitative approach might be more appropriate * Neural injury should be treated the same way as mental health in court + taken into account as part of the sentencing

Answer 2

* Carried out a review of many case studies that had investigated the link between frontal lobe damage + criminal behaviour * Concluded that frontal lobe injury is associated w/ increased impulsive aggression * But, they did not find clear evidence

Answer 3

Studied 2 cases of adults where there was an improvement in impulsive + anti-social behaviour after frontal lobe brain injury

Answer 4

* Used brain scanning techniques to study men that had sustained brain injuries whilst fighting in the Vietnam war * Found that those veterans with brain damage to the frontal lobe were more likely to be aggressive

Answer 5

* Testosterone -more aggression/fights = higher risk of a ABI * Evolutionary theory - males have evolved to compete w/ other males in order to impress females, they may be more likely to get a head injury since they’re showing off + compete in risk-taking to impress females

Answer 6

* Proposed status competition as a way of explaining the evolutionary advantage of male aggression and violence * Males will participate in risky activities - put them more at risk of brain injury * Males compete for higher status than other males, increasing the chances of winning a high value mate + successfully reproducing * This is because, females will be attracted to aggressive risk-takers

Answer 7

* Found that 20% of 74 patient had been arrested pre-injury and 10% post injury * Found that more arrests occurred after alcohol or drug use * Concluded that criminal behaviour might be a result of post injury changes + substance abuse, traumatic brain injury and crime were interconnected

Answer 8

* Brain injury as a result of an external force | * E.g. a blow to the head from an accident

Answer 9

* Brain injuries that result from illness | * E.g. brain tumours, stroke or meningitis

Answer 10

* In the limbic system * Responsible for processing emotions such as anxiety, fear and aggression * Amygdala itself doesn’t produce aggression, but it’s connected to parts which produce aggression * When exposed to threatening stimuli, amygdala is activated, resulting in an increase in arousal, emotions + fight/flight response

Answer 11

* Amygdala is responsible for producing aggressive responses - leads to criminal behaviour * Its linked to moral reasoning - supports idea that the dysfunction of the amygdala may be linked to criminal behaviour * Amygdala is malfunctioning so that anxiety + fear levels are low = leading to criminal/risk-taking behaviour * Damage to amygdala results in a person presenting as unemotional * If activation of amygdala is too low, sudden outburst of unprovoked aggression occurs - which could lead to an assault

Answer 12

* Served neural connections in the brains of cats * Limbic system separated from the cerebral cortex, so it couldn’t regulate the activity of the limbic system * When exposed to unthreatening stimuli, cats exhibited aggression - called ‘Sham Rage’ * This showed that hostile + angry behaviour was linked to the limbic system

Answer 13

* He had a brain tumour that impacted his amygdala, thalamus + hypothalamus, which had an impact upon his brain functioning * He murdered his wife * Then, he went to the University of Texas + killed 14 people and injured 32 others in a mass shooting

Answer 14

Discover, using PET scans, whether there are brain abnormalities in murderers who plead NGRI

Answer 15

* Ps perform a continuous performance task - stare at a screen + blurred images appear, they press a button when particular images appear which requires constant attention * Did a practice trial for 10 minutes * Then, radioactive glucose tracer injected into participant * After a further 32 minutes of the task, the brain was PET scanned to determine glucose metabolic rate in the brain + the level of activity in various regions of the brain

Answer 16

* Two groups of 41 people - murderers and non-murderers | * 39 males, 2 females

Answer 17

* Murderers showed higher activity in the right of the thalamus, right amygdala and right temporal lobe * Murderers showed lower activity in the corpus callosum, left amygdala, left temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex

Answer 18

* The brain differences have been associated with behavioural changes that could be related to violent behaviour * Dysfunction in pre-frontal cortex linked to impulsivity, lack of self control + inability to learn from the consequences * Hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala all related to learning - abnormal activity here could result in criminals being unable to modify their own behaviour by learning from the consequences of their actions

Answer 19

* Interested in the link between smaller volume of the amygdala and antisocial behaviour * Looked at 27 psychopathic people + compared them to 27 controls using a structural MRI scanner to measure the volume of the amygdala * Found that psychopaths had lower volume on amygdala (17.1% less volume in left, 18.9% less volume in right) * Concluded that problems with the functioning of the amygdala is involved in criminal + antisocial behaviour

Answer 20

* Conducted neuroimaging scans on a group of 26 year old men * 2 groups - normal sized amygdala or reduced sized amygdala * Found that the group with reduced volume amygdala was 3x more likely to be aggressive, violent + demonstrate psychopathic traits than the group with normal sized amygdala

Answer 21

* It’s reductionist * Oversimplifies the complexity of criminal behaviour down to 1 structure in the limbic system * Problematic as other areas of the brain can be damaged leading to violence + crime * Overlooks social factors that can contribute to criminal behaviour * Research suggests that the amygdala is heavily influenced by the orbitofrontal cortex which regulates self control + its reduced functioning is associated with aggression and violent outbursts

Answer 22

* Only occurs in males * Due to a random genetic abnormality where a human male has an extra Y-chromosome on the 23rd chromosome * Occurs in 1 in 1000 males * They have certain characteristics: lower intelligence, very physically active, behavioural + emotional difficulties, developmental delays in speech + language

Answer 23

Due to behavioural + emotional difficulties, they may be more antisocial and aggressive - so more likely to engage in criminal behaviour

Answer 24

* Suggested that men with XYY syndrome were more aggressive * Found that there was an over-representation of XYY men in the prison population, with 15 XYY men for every 1000 prisoner

Answer 25

* Took blood samples from over 30,000 males born in the 1940s * Found that those with XYY syndrome were found to have a low intelligence and were more aggressive * But aggression is not a sign of criminality, so there is no conclusive evidence of a criminal gene

Answer 26

* Carried out a review study * Concluded that there is no statistical evidence that an XYY man is predisposed to aggressive and deviant behaviour * So, XYY syndrome is not a credible explanation of crime

Answer 27

* Carried out a study in Denmark on 4591 men * Found that the difference between XYY and XY men were not significantly different when background variables were controlled for

Answer 28

* Some studies have shown slight evidence of a correlation * There is a lot of controversy about the accuracy of the argument linking XYY and aggression * Theilgaard attributed the aggression to lower levels of intelligence + slower learning, rather than being due to the presence of XYY syndrome

Answer 29

Research into the role of XYY syndrome of any genetic elements in crime, may seem to support and perpetuate gender stereotypes that are oversimplified + exaggerated

Answer 30

Stable characteristics that underlie consistencies in the way we behave - over time + in different situations

Answer 31

Hans Eysenck

Answer 32

* Extroversion - e.g. outgoing * Neuroticism - e.g. emotionally instability associated w/ fear * Introversion - e.g. reserved * Stability - e.g. emotionally calm * Psychoticism - e.g. lacks empathy

Answer 33

* The Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) * It was an objective quantitative measurement of personality * But, it lacked validity

Answer 34

* 75% biological influence | * 25% social influence

Answer 35

* Reductionist - complex human variable, personality, is reduced to a set of scores * Social desirability - people may prefer to be seen as an extrovert, rather than introvert and stable around others * Demand characteristics - the individual knows they’re being tested and may alter their responses or behaviour

Answer 36

* Psychoticism * Extroversion * Neuroticism

Answer 37

* Individuals are motivated to act in ways that maintain an optimum level of physiological arousal * When arousal levels fall below/above an individuals optimal level, individual will engage in behaviours to increase/decrease arousal * Personality was influenced by ARAS

Answer 38

A system that transmit messages to the limbic system, triggering the release of hormones and neurotransmitters

Answer 39

* Eysenck linked it to hormones, particularly testosterone + enzymes (e.g. MAO) * Psychoticism levels may relate to how much testosterone is released into the body * If it links to testosterone, then males score higher on psychoticism levels than females •This could increase the risk of criminal behaviour in males

Answer 40

* Eysenck explained it in terms of cortical arousal via the ARAS * Activity in ARAS stimulates the cerebral cortex leading to a higher cortical arousal * Extroverts characterised by an underactive ARAS, so require greater amount of external stimulation + don’t learn from mistakes * These traits could lead to greater risk taking + excitement seeking, increasing the risk of criminal behaviour

Answer 41

* Eysenck explained it in terms of activation thresholds in the sympathetic nervous system which is linked to the limbic system (amygdala) - where emotional states are regulated * Neurotic individuals have greater activation levels + lower thresholds in the limbic system so they’re easily upset * They have a rapid + strong response to stressful situations * So they’re moody + touchy, which could lead to criminal behaviour

Answer 42

An attempt to link certain criminal behaviour to personality traits

Answer 43

* 156 prisoners * Aged 18-38 years * Divided into 5 groups based off their crimes - violent crimes, property crimes, confidence crimes, inadequate + residuals

Answer 44

* All tested on the Eysenck personality questionnaire | * Tested on a variety of physiological measures

Answer 45

* Con men had very low psychoticism scores compared to the other groups * Violent + property offenders had low neuroticism scores, inadequate + residual offenders had high scores * Violent + property offenders had high extroversion scores, inadequate + residual offenders had low scores * Physiological differences found between property + inadequate offenders + the other groups

Answer 46

* Investigated the prevalence of Eysenck’s personality traits among repeat offenders * Found that a criminal thinking the style is correlated with high levels of psychoticism, extraversion + neuroticism * So, Eysenck’s theory had validity as the personality types he identified are associated with repeat offending

Answer 47

* Found little evidence that the EPI was an adequate measure for predicting offending in juveniles or adults * Suggesting that Eysenck’s original ideas about the nature of criminal personality lacks validity

Answer 48

* Theory suggests that criminal tendencies can be identified in early childhood * So that if intervention comes early enough, it would be possible to modify the socialisation experiences of high risk individuals

Answer 49

* Assessed the PEN personality in 37 countries * Found that woman scored higher on neuroticism in all the countries, men had higher psychoticism in 34 countries + men had higher extraversion in 30 countries * So, there are gender differences in personality

Answer 50

* There is evidence to support that brain injuries can affect peoples behaviour, putting them at risk of engaging in criminal behaviour * E.g. Williams (2010) found that out of 196 prisoners he studied, 60% of them had received some form of traumatic brain injury

Answer 51

* They’re usually only correlational, so we can’t say for certain that it was the injury itself which caused the criminal behaviour * E.g. Grafman (1996) found that Vietnam soldiers who had sustained a brain injury were more likely to demonstrate aggressive + violent behaviour - however there is no accurate record of aggression levels of participants before the study took place

Answer 52

* Supporting evidence which supports idea that the amygdala is linked to the inability to learn from consequences + risk-taking behaviour, which results in crimes * E.g. Raine (1997) Found that murderers showed a higher activity in right amygdala and lower activity in left compared to controls * Raine concluded that abnormal activity in amygdala could result in criminals being unable to modify their behaviour, leading to violent behaviour

Answer 53

* Reductionist - only looks at a small part of the brain structure to explain complex antisocial behaviour * Research suggests that amygdala doesn’t operate independently, but is influenced by the orbitofrontal cortex, which helps regulate self control * Suggesting that the influence of the amygdala on aggression + crime is difficult to disentangle

Answer 54

* Early research into XYY syndrome offered an explanation of why some males may be more likely to commit crime * E.g. Jacobs (1965) suggested men with XYY are more aggressive + found that there was an over-representation of them in the prison population, with 15 XYY men for every 1000 prisoners

Answer 55

* Lack of credible evidence * E.g. Re and Birkhoff (2015) found that there wasn’t any statistical evidence that an XYY man is predisposed + that the XYY theory isn’t a credible explanation of crime

Answer 56

* There is research evidence to support Eysenck’s theory * Boduszek (2013) found that a criminal thinking style is correlated with high levels of psychoticism, extraversion + neuroticism * Suggesting that Eysenck’s theory has validity as the personality types he identified are associated with repeat offending

Answer 57

* It isn’t conclusive * Farrington (1982) found little evidence that the EPI was an adequate measure for predicting offending * Farrington argued that it ignored social deprivation, poor education + dysfunctional role models - which are all shown to be contributing factors to crime

Answer 58

* Obtained useful evidence to support the role of nature in criminal behaviour, it’s more likely that an interaction between nature + nurture is involved * This is demonstrated in research that explores where the brain injuries can cause criminal behaviour * E.g. Raine’s (1997) study - The murderers in his sample had abnormal activity which could be seen as providing a biological explanation for the murders

Answer 59

* Raine (1997) used PET scans on 41 murderers + found that there was a reduced glucose metabolism in the prefrontal cortex + amygdala of these offenders who were pleading NGRI * Eysenck (1977) used psychometric personality tests on 156 prisoners to identify different personality traits of criminals - the tests provided him with objective, quantitative measures of personality allowing him to identify violent offenders as high in psychoticism

Answer 60

* This is seen in Williams 2010 who investigated whether there was any link between head injuries and criminal behaviour * Found that 60% of 196 prisoners investigated had received some sort of traumatic brain injury * They concluded that brain impairments could contribute towards the development of criminality * This is reductionist as it doesn’t take account of the upbringing + thinking patterns of prisoners which could’ve had an important impact on their criminal behaviour

Answer 61

* Criminals could be identified 1 day by their genetics or brain functioning alone - this puts people at risk as it suggests that people may be labelled if they’ve done nothing wrong * Raine (1997) used PET scans of 41 murderers to demonstrate that low activity in the prefrontal cortex + amygdala can be linked to impulsiveness + violence * However, Raine argues that it isn’t possible to use PET scans to identify potential offenders as there are too many other variables at work in criminal behaviour

Answer 62

* Social approach may prompt development of way of curbing criminal aggression by social interventions * E.g. censorship + probation orders that monitor violent offenders * E.g. Bandura (1961) concluded that children could learn aggressive behaviour through process of observational learning - modelling * So, children may see aggressive behaviour on TV or through their parents/siblings * So, it aided in the development of policies that effectively censor what children can watch

Answer 63

* Provides an explanation as to why criminal behaviour occurs using an external social cause * So, people around a person + their behaviour towards that person may cause criminal behaviour * So it relates to nurture

Answer 64

* Most research into social explanations has been carried out in western societies - e.g. Bandura, Besemer, Rosenthal + Jacobson * But, there are studies which have been carried out in non-western cultures * E.g. Jahoda (1954) suggested that cultural expectations about the behaviour of the boys based on their names led to them being treated differently

Answer 65

* Researchers must be wary of exaggerating/minimising differences between men + women * In the UK 2013 80% of offenders were male + 20% were female - so, men are more frequently charged w/ violent offences * Self-fulfilling prophecy - in criminal behaviour, boys are more likely to be labelled as aggressive due to gender stereotypes * E.g. Bandura (1961) - showed that boys copy same-sex model, so boys may be encouraged to imitate more risk-taking behaviour to be seen as an alpha male - leading to crime

Answer 66

* Biological vs social - social approach explains criminal in terms of nurture, biological explains crime in terms of nature * Individual vs situational - social approach focuses on the social situation of the criminal so it overlooks the individual factors (e.g. brain injury), but self fulfilling prophecy can explain differences in the development of criminality as some people are exposed to the type of labelling associated with criminal behaviour

Answer 67

* Crime is explained through the persons experience of the environment growing up * Through processes such as observing, imitation (SLT), behaviour being labelled as deviant (labelling theory), the person internalising a given label + acting according to the label (self-fulfilling prophecy) * Assuming that behaviour is shaped by the people around us - nurture

Answer 68

* When general + broad terms are used to describe members of a group * Often happens when a group of people is seen sharing an interest or characteristic * Often based on stereotypes * Proposes that what is ‘criminal’ is decided by powerful social groups

Answer 69

An over generalised belief about someone or something typically based on limited info

Answer 70

Dislike based on false or misguided opinions

Answer 71

* Influences the attitude of others , resulting in stigma + prejudice, leading to discrimination * The discriminatory behaviour leads to the label becoming the master status of the individual * This changes the self-concept of the individual which may influence their behaviour

Answer 72

The practice of treating 1 person or group differently from another in an unfair way

Answer 73

* Label is given based often based on stereotypes * The person/group is treated according to the label - due to discrimination * The label becomes the master status * Self concept changes as the person accepts the label * This may influence the persons behaviour

Answer 74

* Being given a negative label can be stigmatising - it affects the way people see that person + hard to disprove the label * Labels can be retrospective or projective * Different groups can be stigmatised - so, police may pay more attention to them + they end up getting into more trouble as a result

Answer 75

Where the past is reinterpreted

Answer 76

Where expectations about future behaviour are altered

Answer 77

* It can explain crime as it proposes that what is ‘criminal’ or ‘deviant’ is decided by powerful social groups * Behaviour only becomes a crime when someone in power in society labels it a crime * So, it’s the disadvantaged that are most likely to be labelled as criminals

Answer 78

* Investigated extent to which children of convicted parents had a higher risk of conviction due to official bias towards criminal families * Found that children from families labelled as ‘criminal’ are more likely to be convicted * But, this finding didn’t show that families transmit criminal behaviour to their children * So, families labelled as ‘criminal’ are paid more attention to + so, their children are more likely to be caught + found guilty

Answer 79

* Occurs where the criminal justice system focus on certain families w/ high levels of criminal behaviour + low income levels * It’s likely that a child in such a family is labelled as ‘criminal’ * Which could influence their future behaviour

Answer 80

* Found that juveniles who had previously been arrested were more likely to commit other crimes * Argued that this is due to labelling theory + how others treat them

Answer 81

* Observed 2 groups of high school boys - the Roughnecks + the Saints * Found that the Roughnecks were more likely to be labelled as deviant by the police + to have legal action taken against them

Answer 82

* Found that check forgers had been forging checks before they were caught * So, had been active in this crime before they had been labelled * Arguing that their self image was not affected by a label

Answer 83

It ignores the role of genetics or hormones which play in a persons behaviour, so it cannot explain all criminal behaviour

Answer 84

* Disadvantage people are more likely to be labelled as deviant * Powerful members of society decide what deviant behaviour is * Being labelled can affect the way people treat you + also how you then view yourself

Answer 85

* Process by which 1 persons expectations about another becomes reality by elicting behaviours that confirm the expectations * Our expectations of others affect the behaviour of these individuals - so, we end up living up or down to expectations others have of our behaviour

Answer 86

* Others beliefs about us cause others actions towards us * Which reinforce our beliefs about ourselves * Influencing our actions towards us

Answer 87

* From the way other people in society respond to us * Our self image then influences our actions * Our actions cause other peoples social reactions to change

Answer 88

* At the start of the year, the teachers were told that 20 pupils in the class were about to bloom * All pupils had an IQ test before the year * Researchers told the teachers that the predictions about these 20 pupils came from the results of the IQ test * But this was not true, the 20 pupils were actually chosen at random * At the end of the year, pupils were all IQ tested again + tested at the end of two years

Answer 89

The 20 pupils who had falsely been said to be bloomers did have improved IQ scores, both after 1 + after 2 years

Answer 90

* Teacher expectation, + the related behaviour, affects student performance * What someone expects of another person can come true through a self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 91

* Interested in the SFP in family settings * Sample - 115 children aged 12-13 years in the USA * Their parents were given a questionnaire + estimated how much alcohol the child regularly drank + would drink in the coming year * A year later, children were asked to say how much alcohol they actually consumed * A correlational analysis was carried out

Answer 92

* Children who drank the most alcohol - parents had predicted greater use of alcohol * The higher the negative belief by parents, the greater the risk of higher alcohol use

Answer 93

* Parents prediction of their child’s alcohol use is very accurate + can have a big influence on their child’s behaviour * This is a self-fulfilling prophecy because what the parent expected came true * However, it is a correlational analysis so it doesn’t prove cause + effect

Answer 94

* The Ashanti people studied * They were given ‘soul names’ when they are born * Names linked to the day of the week on which they were born + supposedly influence their characters * Boys named Kwadwo (Monday) are seen as calm + peaceful * Boys names Kwadku (Wednesday) are seen as aggressive + angry * 5 years of juvenile court records were analysed

Answer 95

* Kwadwo (Monday) name were responsible for 6.9% of violent crimes * Kwadku (Wednesday) name were responsible for 22% of violent crime

Answer 96

* Cultural expectations about the behaviour of the boys based on their names led to them being treated differently according to these labels * Boys with Wednesday names may have been treated more suspiciously, leading to them confirming their labels

Answer 97

* Supporting evidence * Evidence of the influence of labelling + SFP in real life settings - e.g. Rosenthal + Jacobson (1968) * It can explain gender differences if we assume that boys more likely to be labelled as aggressive due to stereotypes * It can explain individual differences * Good methodology- a lot of research is from real life settings, so the ecological validity of the findings is high * Many applications

Answer 98

* Led to society being more aware of the power of labels, how they can influence a person’s self concept + their behaviour * E.g. teachers are prepared to recognise how the SFP may negatively influence the views of their students

Answer 99

* It’s reductionist - ignores biological explanations * A lot of the evidence that exists is linked to educational outcomes, so it’s not relevant to crime * It’s impossible to use experiments to study the influence of SFP on crime due to ethical constraints, as it’s unethical to deliberately label people as criminals * It’s an incomplete explanation - as, it doesn’t explain how the individual learns the criminal behaviour * Practical issues are raised + low validity - the existence of -ve beliefs in those doing labelling are difficult to study as they aren’t directly observable - so, must use a self-report

Answer 100

* Doesn’t explain how the original deviant act first occurred * So, there is other explanations for criminal behaviour

Answer 101

* Lab based experiments * Natural experiments * Correlations

Answer 102

* Attention * Retention * Reproduction * Motivation

Answer 103

Person more likely to repeat behaviour if the consequences of behaviour are rewarded + pleasant

Answer 104

Person more likely to imitate behaviour of a model if they see that the consequences of behaviour are rewarded + praised

Answer 105

* Explains gender differences * It can explain cultural differences - as different cultures can provide different role models for children * Explains individual differences - as every individual has different role models, so a child exposed to violent role models will be more likely to be a violent criminal * High scientific credibility- evidence from lab experiments (Bandura) linking observation of role models to aggressive behaviour - cause + effect link can be established due to good control of confounding variables + IV * Supporting evidence from natural experiment + correlational studies of link between violence in media + aggression

Answer 106

* It predicts that punishment should make reoffending less likely, but there are high rates of recidivism which go against this prediction * Low ecological validity - Bandura’s lab experiments are conducted in artificial environment + don’t reflect real life situation - so, tell us a little about the role of social learning in the development of real life criminal behaviour * Impossible to use experiments to study the role of social learning in criminal behaviour in real life families - as it’s unethical * Field experiments + correlational studies have practical issues in the design - so, cause + effect links cannot be made

Answer 107

* Led society to be more aware of the power of role models + the fact that children learn from observation * Attempts have been made to control violence in the media by censorship - e.g. films + video games are subject to certification systems * However, they are easily overcome * Theory suggests that offenders need appropriate role models to aid in their rehabilitation * The media uses observational learning to promote pro-social role models

Answer 108

* Concerned with the acquisition of crime/anti-social behaviour + the socialisation in children * How the values of society/culture are internalised as a product of how someone is raised * Development of levels of reasoning + morality * As children develop, exposure to aggressive role models can affect how children internalise these behaviours * A persistent exposure to antisocial role models may have an accumulative effect

Answer 109

* Modelling - Children could learn aggressive behaviour through the process of observational learning * Children may see aggressive behaviour on TV or through their siblings + parents

Answer 110

* Media - observing filmed aggressive acts leads to children behaving aggressively * Children may see violent acts on TV, video games, films or celebrities

Answer 111

* Vicarious reinforcement - boys in particular showed more imitative responses - reinforcements administered to model influenced the observer’s behaviour * Children could learn crime/anti-social behaviour by seeing others rewarded or reinforced

Answer 112

* Studies usually take place in a naturalistic environment | * The independent variable isn’t manipulated by the experimenter, it occurs naturally

Answer 113

* Looked at the effects of TV on the behaviour of children in Canada, where TV hadn’t been available before * Found that the introduction of TV increased the children’s aggressive behaviours as rated by teachers + peers

Answer 114

* Longitudinal study * Found that there was a positive correlation between the amount of TV children in New York State watched + increased aggressive behaviour * Found that those who watched the most TV also committed the highest number of violent acts

Answer 115

* Males + female children are socialised differently * Boys encouraged to observe + imitate male role models + reinforced for risk taking behaviour + want to be seen as an alpha male * E.g. Bandura (1961) - showed that boys tended to copy the same sex model * This may lead to males getting involved in criminal activity, especially if they’re aggressive acts

Answer 116

Albert Bandura (1977)

Answer 117

* The idea emphasises the importance of upbringing, influence of parents + which group young people associate with * Behaviour is firstly observed, then modelled + imitated to reproduced

Answer 118

* Observe * Model * Imitate

Answer 119

Learning derived from indirect sources

Answer 120

Learning a 2 way process with environment + individual

Answer 121

* Behaviour has to be noticed + must concentrate on it to be able to imitate it * More likely to show an interest in the behaviour of models that are of higher status, distinctive to us + the same sex

Answer 122

Behaviour has to be remembered to be imitated

Answer 123

The person has to be capable of reproducing the behaviour

Answer 124

* Often an incentive present encouraging us to imitate the behaviour * Takes the form of vicarious or direct positive reinforcement

Answer 125

* Explains criminal behaviour as being a result of modelling such behaviour from observing it via the media or watching other people * Individual must be motivated to reproduce the observed behaviour, which occurs as a result of the vicarious or self-reinforcement * If an individual watches a criminal getting away with an offence, this may act as vicarious reinforcement for the observer * On TV, anti-social behaviour + criminality is often glamorised + violence can be committed by ‘good guys’

Answer 126

* A method of interviewing eyewitnesses | * Aim to help witnesses produce more accurate recall of a crime scene using techniques based on psychological research

Answer 127

* A method of interviewing * Acknowledges that suspects are human beings + more likely to cooperate w/ police if rapport is established + they are treated with respect

Answer 128

* Ability to relate to others in a way that creates a level of trust + understanding * Connection between 2 people - the spoken + unspoken connections between 2 people

Answer 129

* Crime reported to police by victim or witness * Police gain details about the crime + the offender may be * Police are able to identify suspects * Once suspects have been identified, an arrest can take place * After an arrest, suspect is taken to a police station and held in custody * Police carry out further interviews to confirm whether they have identified the correct suspect - the offender

Answer 130

* Establishes a balance between the powers of the police + the rights and freedom of the public * Covers police powers to search an individual or premises, handling of exhibits seized in searches, treatment of suspects in custody + how suspects should be interviewed

Answer 131

* Victims * Suspects * Witness * Complainants (those who report the crime)

Answer 132

* Gain an account of what the suspect and look | * Gain an account of what the suspect supposedly did - an accurate account of the crime

Answer 133

Identify as much information as possible about a crime which will go towards making a case

Answer 134

* Orientation * Listening * Questions + answers * Advice

Answer 135

* Purpose of interview is stated | * Legal requirements are fulfilled

Answer 136

Interviewee gives free recall of the events

Answer 137

* Interviewer asks specific questions to obtain additional information * The statement is then read through + signed

Answer 138

Interviewee is informed of any further action

Answer 139

* They were ineffective | * As, they were inappropriate + used leading questions, where the witnesses were often being interrupted

Answer 140

* Argued that police interviews used coercion + oppressive interviewing procedures * Leading to false confessions, wrongful convictions + miscarriages of justice

Answer 141

* Collaboration between enforcement agencies + psychologists * Based on the idea that suspects are more likely to cooperate with police + give a true account if they feel relaxed, secure + not threatened

Answer 142

* P - Planning and preparation * E - Engage and explain * A - Account (clarification, challenge) * C - Closure * E - Evaluate

Answer 143

Interviews should have clear objectives

Answer 144

* Establishing rapport is important * Where the purpose of interview is explained, so the interviewee knows their rights * Interviewee is encouraged to ask questions if they don’t understand anything

Answer 145

* Good questioning and listening skills are needed | * Use of open ended questions can be used to elicit information

Answer 146

* Interviewee needs to understand what has happened during the interview + what will happen next * Interviewee can ask any questions

Answer 147

* Reflection on the interviewers’ performance to learn from any mistakes * Reflection on the info gathered + whether the suspect was treated fairly

Answer 148

* Builds public confidence - ensures fewer miscarriages of justice * Evidence that it builds rapport + used more ethical techniques when compared to the non-PEACE interviews (Walsh + Milne,2010)

Answer 149

* Expensive to train police in this technique | * Not always used consistently - limiting its effectiveness

Answer 150

* Protection from harm - witnesses are likely to be distressed + nervous by the situation * Confidentiality - info given by witness will not remain confidential as interviews are recorded + many people work on a case

Answer 151

* Encoding specificity principle | * Schema memory

Answer 152

* When an event occurs it is first encoded, other important cues are stored alongside it * Such as sensory details of the context + the persons emotional state * Being reminded of these context cues may facilitate a more accurate recall

Answer 153

Our memory for events may be based on more of what we expect to happen, rather than what actually did happen

Answer 154

* Distortion * Rationalisation * Transformation * Simplification

Answer 155

* Context reinstatement/interview similarity * Report everything * Change the order in which the event is recalled * Change perspective

Answer 156

•Based on the encoding specificity hypothesis •Reinstating the context increases the accessibility of the information stated in the memory •Requires witness to mentally reconstruct the physical + personal context •Encouraging them to recall specific sensory cues, to help put them back in time to the incident mentally

Answer 157

* Gave deep sea divers list of words to remember * Some remembered it on the beach + some underwater * Found that recall was best when the divers had recalled the words in the same environment as they had learnt it

Answer 158

* Witness freely recalls a narrative of the situation to gain an initial account, without interruption * Later on, interviewer can ask further questions to clarify moments as the witness may exclude details they feel were irrelevant * Unimportant detail can account for key information about the event

Answer 159

* We are more likely to reconstruct a story + draw on existing schemas * As a result, this can be inaccurate * Recording events in reverse order can help a person to avoid skipping over information, as it interrupts schema activation

Answer 160

* Trying to adopt the viewpoint of a different witness * Witnesses will use different retrieval cues + are able to recall new information from memory * This is because the witness only reports what they know, + not what they think the other person would have seen

Answer 161

* Compared 3 different interview techniques for optimising eyewitness memory performance * Used 89 undergraduate students * Randomly assigned them to 1 of the 3 interview methods - standard police interview, hypnosis interview + cognitive interview * Ps watched a violent film + asked a set of questions about it

Answer 162

* Significant increase in the number of correct items recalled using the cognitive interview * Difference in the interviews of the number of confabulated items was not statistically significant * Hypnosis interview - 38 correct items recalled, 5.90 incorrect items * Cognitive interview - 41.15 correct items recalled, 7.30 incorrect items * Standard interview - 29.56 correct items recalled, 6.10 incorrect items

Answer 163

* The increased retrieval using the cognitive interview was due to the guided approach to interviewing, which encouraged participants to remember the crime * But, it wasn’t more accurate than the standard police interview * Cognitive + hypnosis procedures elicited a significantly greater number of correct items of information

Answer 164

* Found that Miami police department detectives produced a 46% increase in recall over standard interviews with 90% accuracy * Increasing the ecological validity as it was effective in real life situations

Answer 165

* Reviewed 27 studies into the effectiveness of the cognitive interview schedule * Found that the cognitive interview provided more accurate information than other interview techniques

Answer 166

* It uses framework which others can follow | * Which enables others to be training in this technique to administer onto others

Answer 167

* Showed children aged 5-9 a video of a child’s birthday party * Interviewed them the next day using cognitive + standard interview * Found that the cognitive interview yielded more correct details * Showing that it can be useful when interviewing children

Answer 168

Found that when used in combination, cognitive reinstatement + report everything were particularly effective for eliciting information

Answer 169

* With children under 6, accuracy of recall went down using cognitive interview * So, it should only be used on children aged 8 and over * Young children find the instructions confusing, which produces less reliable recall

Answer 170

* Recorded an 81% increase in correct information using cognitive interview techniques * But, this was offset by a 61% increase in incorrect information * So, it can produce more false information

Answer 171

* Lab based research with eyewitness testimony is commonly used - creating an artificial situation, where participants undertake artificial tasks to determine their ability to recall - low ecological validity * Lab setting is controlled to minimise extraneous variables * Ps may generate different results if they were to observe a real crime + be affected by the additional variables present in a real-life situation that are controlled in a lab setting

Answer 172

* Research into this has provided positive results of the recall of accurate testimony * So, cognitive interviews are now an important part of police interview strategies * This has created a change in the way officers interview witnesses * The enhanced cognitive interview now includes additional memory enhancing interview techniques + questions that validate the knowledge elicited by the witness

Answer 173

Account a bystander/victim gives in the court room, describing what that person observed that occurred during the specific incident under investigation

Answer 174

They are viewed as trustworthy, reliable + convincing as they saw the crime with their own eyes

Answer 175

* Post event information | * Arousal + anxiety

Answer 176

* 343 exonerations have occurred | * 71% of these cases involved eyewitness misidentification

Answer 177

* Describes any wrongful conviction | * A situation in which someone is punished by the law courts for a crime that they have not committed

Answer 178

* Concluded that 300 out of 500 (60%) wrongful convictions were due to false eyewitness testimony * Psychological research on the complex cognitive processes supports this conclusion

Answer 179

* This reliance by the criminal justice system on EWT is based on the assumption that our memories are trustworthy * But, cognitive psychologists have challenged this assumption * Highlighting a range of mental processes which may reduce the reliability of the memory + recall of eyewitnesses to crimes

Answer 180

* Memory is an active cognitive process * We attempt to make sense of what happens to us in the context of a pre-existing knowledge of events + awareness of cultural + social norms * Schema theory proposes that this knowledge is stored in memory in the form of schemas * They are built on our experiences of events * But, this process can distort our memories

Answer 181

* When eyewitnesses store their memory of the crime, they’re storing what happened in a way that makes sense to them * The memories of the crime are reconstructed on the basis of what they saw + heard at the time, what usually happens

Answer 182

* Generalised mental representations of everything an individual understands about any given object or event * They’re built on our experiences in the world + are constantly changing to take account of new information

Answer 183

* People will have similar info in different schemas * But, these are heavily influenced by experience * So, there will be some differences in how people remember objects + events * How we perceive an object/event is based on individual interpretation - where perception is unique to every person

Answer 184

* Any information that arrives after an event that may affect/distort an eyewitness memory of what actually happened * It will have an impact on the storage + retrieval of a witnesses memory of a crime, which reduces the reliability of testimony

Answer 185

* EWT is influenced by subtle differences in the wording of questions when eyewitnesses are interviewed * Leading questions may be an important factor that affects the reliability of EWT

Answer 186

A question that suggests what answer is desired or leads to the desired answer

Answer 187

* Explore how information provided after an event, in the form of leading questions, might affect peoples memories * The study consists of 2 separate lab experiments

Answer 188

45 students from the University of Washington

Answer 189

* Ps shown 7 videos of car crashes, ranging from 4-30 secs in a random order * Ps given standardised questionnaire asking them to give an account of the film * Filler questions were used in the questionnaire * Ps asked a critical question - ‘how fast were the cars going when they smashed, collided, bumped, hit or contacted into each other’ * Ps split into 5 conditions - the only thing that changed was the verb used in the critical question

Answer 190

The verb used in the critical question which indicated a different level of crash operationalised by the different type of verb: smashed, collided, bumped, hit or contacted

Answer 191

The estimated speed of the car in the video of the car crash operationalised by how fast the participants thought the car was going in mph

Answer 192

* Independent groups * As, different participants were used in each of the 5 conditions * This was used to make sure order affects + demand characteristics aren’t a problem

Answer 193

They are irrelevant questions to hide/distract from the main purpose of the questionnaire, which will help reduce demand characteristics

Answer 194

* To control order effects | * So, the order wouldn’t influence the answers of the Ps

Answer 195

* Speeds estimated incorrectly - the mean speed estimate of the crash was 37.7mph, when it was actually 20mph * So, Ps may be influenced by demand characteristics when estimating the speed * The mean speed estimates for the ‘lowest’ verb (contacted) 31.8 mph + the ‘highest’ verb (smashed) 40.8 mph

Answer 196

* A change of the verb in the critical question could significantly affect the Ps estimate of how fast the car was going * Distortion of memory has occurred as it has been reconstructed - the verbal label led to the Ps to cognitively amend their memory * Response bias - Ps weren’t sure about the speed of the car to start with + adjust the answer to fit with expectations of researcher * So, post event information can distort our memories

Answer 197

Show more conclusively that information provided after an event is capable of distorting memories

Answer 198

150 students from the University of Washington

Answer 199

* Ps Shown a film of multiple car crashes lasting one minute * Ps split into 3 conditions + given a questionnaire: * 1st group asked ‘how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other’ * 2nd group asked ‘how fast were the cars going when they hit each other’ * 3rd group were not asked about the speeds * Ps recalled to the lab one week later + asked a series of questions * Critical question was ‘did you see any broken glass?’ - there wasn’t actually glass in the film

Answer 200

* Mean speed estimate of the cars when asked how fast they had ‘smashed’ into each other were significantly higher (10.5 mph) than those who are asked how fast they ‘hit’ each other (8 mph) * So, wording of the question had a significant effect on the estimates of speed * Significantly higher proportion of Ps in the ‘smashed’ condition reported seeing broken glass (16, 32%) compared to the ‘hit’ condition (7, 14%)

Answer 201

* The results support the hypothesis that memory is actually reconstructed by post event information * The labels attached to the car crash affected the memories of the participants - altering their perception of events

Answer 202

* Eyewitness testimony may be unreliable * Leading questions can influence the memory of eyewitnesses * Eyewitnesses to car crashes aren’t good at estimating the speeds * Reconstructive memory hypothesis is supported - info gathered at the time of an event is modelled by data gathered afterwards, producing new memory

Answer 203

Opportunity sampling

Answer 204

* Highly controlled lab experiment - so, high in reliability + validity * Hypotheses can be generated + tested * Sample can be randomly allocated into conditions * Data collected is quantitative - so, it was objective + can be statistically analysed to make direct comparisons between different conditions * But, low ecological validity as the setting was artificial

Answer 205

* Devlin report (1976) used evidence from Loftus’ research to instruct courts that defendants of serious offences couldn’t be convicted on the evidence of a single eye-witness, due to its unreliability * Police + legal professionals are instructed not to use leading questions, to ensure accurate info is obtained - this can be seen in the PEACE model + cognitive interviewing techniques

Answer 206

* Ps are only students, so don’t generalise to older population * Not representative to other cultures + countries as the study was conducted only in America, so it doesn’t account for cultural differences * Students have limited experience in estimating speeds, resulting in them being more influenced by the verb used in the question - this would be a different case with more experienced drivers, so findings only represent the view of this specific population

Answer 207

* Lab experiment - used a high level of controls - e.g. critical question, questionnaire + film clips were consistent * Standardised procedures were used - so it’s easy to replicate - e.g. 7 film clips in part 1 * Critical question produced quantitative data - findings are objective + the results are less likely to be the result of research of bias * This experiment has been recreated establishing test-retest reliability

Answer 208

* The study has applications within courts + criminal justice * Memory can be reconstructive through leading questions + post info - EWT shouldn’t be relied on as much at court + should have guidelines in order to avoid engaging recollection * Devlin report (1976) - judge stated to jury that they can’t convict based on 1 EWT

Answer 209

* Lab experiment * Lack of emotional connection which would be present in reality - this could affect the findings * Artificial tasks cannot be generalised to real life situations as the film clip of a car crash isn’t a real event which may be too distressing to someone in reality

Answer 210

* Quantitative data - so, results could be statistically tested * Study carried out in controlled settings - so, extraneous variables are easier to control * The filler questions in the standardised questionnaire distracted from demand characteristics

Answer 211

* No psychological harm done to any participants * Participants were protected as they were only watching film clips of an event + not the real thing * Informed consent given * Participants were fully debriefed - so, they weren’t deceived + they knew they were going to watch car accident clips * However, the filler questions may be seen as deception

Answer 212

* Quantitative data gathered * E.g. the use of estimates of speed in both experiments + yes/no question in 2nd experiment * So, there was no subjective interpretation of the data

Answer 213

* There was high reliability * As, the study was done in a lab with control over extraneous variables * So, it was high in scientific credibility

Answer 214

* Eyewitnesses to crimes report feeling a great deal of anxiety * Threatening situations trigger an automatic fight/flight response * This involves high levels of physiological arousal * Which, can influence human cognition + behaviour

Answer 215

* An increase in physiological arousal improves performance a task, but only up to a point * Once arousal has passed a the optimum point, performance tends to decline

Answer 216

* Arousal has an affect on memory * The ability to recall an event, such as a crime, is affected by the amount of attention paid when an event is witnessed * High levels of arousal reduce the effectiveness of the attention paid to the event + memory is negatively influenced * So, if we witness a crime + become so anxious/aroused, this will impact our memory + the reliability of EWT is diminished

Answer 217

* Anxiety is an important cognitive element in response to a threatening situation * In stressful situations high levels of physiological arousal are accompanied by anxiety * Feelings of anxiety become so intense that a sudden, catastrophic drop off in performance occurs * Witnessing certain crimes can produce too much anxiety, which causes a dramatic drop in memory performance

Answer 218

Unpleasant cognitive state where we fear something bad is about to happen

Answer 219

Feelings of anxiety that are temporary + relating to this situation a person is in

Answer 220

* A person witnessing a crime will have a fight/flight response to the dangerous situation * This is shown in physiological reactions + feelings of fear * Which, may be detrimental to accurate memories of the crime

Answer 221

* People who are anxious by nature - easily feel stressed | * A form of anxiety which is part of a persons personality

Answer 222

If a person is already anxious + witnessed a crime, their levels of anxiety may become so high that they recall very little of what they witnessed

Answer 223

* Refers to an eyewitness’s concentration on the weapon to the exclusion of other details of a crime * It happens during the attention + encoding stage of memory at the time when the crime is actually witnessed

Answer 224

* Example of how the arousal/anxiety levels of eyewitnesses could influence their attention to the details of the crime * Which, would impair their memory of a crime, making their testimony unreliable * If a witness sees the perpetrator with a weapon, they will remember details of the weapon but be less accurate on other aspects of the scene

Answer 225

The tendency to focus attention on the weapon present

Answer 226

* 36 Ps watched a slide show of 18 scenes in a fast food restaurant - each slide shown for 1.5 secs * 2 conditions - control + experimental * Control - slides showed the customer presenting a cheque to the cashier * Experimental - slides showed the customer taking out a gun at the cash register * Ps eye movements monitored by EOG to measure how long they looked at either the gun or cheque * Ps had to identify, from a photo, the person pulling out the cheque or gun

Answer 227

* Control group (cheque) - 38.9% chose the correct photo * Experimental group (gun) - 11.1% chose the correct photo * Eye fixation showed an average fixation time of 3.72 secs on the gun compared to 2.44 secs on the cheque * No difference in confidence levels of the 2 groups

Answer 228

* The gun is more arousing | * So, we pay more attention to it •Indicating that EWT can be unreliable

Answer 229

* Used a video consisting of a scene from a hair salon * Man walked to receptionist and she handed him money * 5 conditions where a man help either : nothing, scissors, handgun, wallet or raw chicken * Ps completed 10 min filler exercise before completing a questionnaire asking them to recall details of what they saw, what the man held + what he was doing

Answer 230

* The presence of a handgun or raw chicken resulted in the poorest recall of the man, while the wallet + scissors had less affect * This could be interpreted as high threat items producing low recall * But, handgun + scissors are high threat items, but scissors didn’t affect recall of the man * Suggesting that threat alone cannot result in poor memory

Answer 231

* It occurs because the presence of a weapon is unusual | * It is the unusualness of a weapon that makes us focus on it during a crime

Answer 232

* The presence of a weapon consistently demonstrated a negative effect on the EWT under controlled + real life situations * Supporting that EWT can be affected by the presence of a weapon, making testimony unreliable

Answer 233

* Interviewed 13 witnesses to a real life shooting in Canada - after the event + 5 months later * The researchers deliberately included 2 leading questions in the second interview

Answer 234

* Witnesses were highly anxious at the time of the incident - their self-reported anxiety was more than 5 on the 7 point scale * Suggesting that the effect of leading questions + weapon focus may be less pronounced when applied to real life events

Answer 235

* Coded police interviews from witnesses/victims of various crimes * Interviews compared against a police description of the primary suspect at the time of the arrest * Found no evidence of weapon effect on the accuracy of EWT

Answer 236

* Using experiments to isolate issues around EWT, such as weapons effect, is reductionist * EWT in reality is influenced by many variables at the same time

Answer 237

* Research on weapon focus usually uses lab experiments with artificial situation * As, real life situations with weapons involved is ethically questionable * There’re difficulties in acquiring representative samples of all of the people who could potentially be eyewitnesses * Students are often used in research in this field

Answer 238

* To test a prediction, derived from the catastrophe model of anxiety that used a situation which induces cognitive anxiety + high physiological arousal can cause a marked impairment in eyewitness recall * To test the ability of eyewitnesses to correctly identify and describe the person in real life situation that poses a personal threat

Answer 239

* Confirm that the experience of the scary person resulted in higher levels of arousal/anxiety * Validate the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) by Spielberger (1983) - by testing whether the scores on the STAI correlated with the participants heart rate

Answer 240

* Correlation between the scores of the Ps on the STAI + the average change in heart rate measurement * Confirm that the STAI questionnaire could accurately measure their stress/anxiety

Answer 241

18 employees from a London Department store

Answer 242

* Took place in the London Dungeons * Informed consent obtained * Wireless heart rate monitor strapped around Ps chest * Average baseline heart rate measured with Ps walking slowly for 7 minutes * In Labyrinth exhibit, the actor blocked the pathway of Ps + their average heart rate was recorded while they walked slowly for 7 mins * 45 minutes after leaving the Labyrinth exhibit, Ps reported how they had felt whilst in the Labyrinth using the state anxiety inventory

Answer 243

* Mean heart rate significantly higher in the Labyrinth at 86.9 bpm, compared to the baseline at 74.7 bpm * Change in heart rate scores with the state anxiety scores showed a strong positive correlation * Mean SAI score in Labyrinth was 49, which was significantly higher than mean trait anxiety score of 36.8 - showing that Ps found Labyrinth to be a stressful experience

Answer 244

* The Labyrinth + the scary person were successful in inducing physiological arousal * The SAI is a valid measure of state anxiety

Answer 245

A field experiment with correlational elements

Answer 246

* State anxiety score * Trait anxiety score * Sex of participant

Answer 247

Identification of scary person actor measured by: •Free recall + cued recall of appearance of actor •Correct identification of actor in 9 person ‘culprit present’ photograph lineup

Answer 248

* 56 people volunteered - 27 females + 29 males | * The visitors were offered a reduction in the admission price to take part

Answer 249

* Took place in the London Dungeons * Walk slowly for 7 mins around Labyrinth exhibit + encountered scary person * After leaving the Labyrinth, purpose of the experiment was explained, informed consent was obtained + the right to withdraw * Ps completed STAI in relation to how they felt in the Labyrinth, a questionnaire on the memory of the scary person including free + cued recall * Asked to identify the scary person from a nine person photograph lineup * After choosing from the lineup, Ps rated their confidence of their decision on a scale of 0-100% confident

Answer 250

* Mean state anxiety score of 49 was higher than the state anxiety norms for working adults * Mean trait anxiety score was 36.8 which is around the trait anxiety norms for working adults * Mean state anxiety score significantly higher for females (52.8) than males (45.3) - females more stressed during the Labyrinth * Males made more correct identifications (19/29 males) than females (7/27 females) * Ps who reported lower state anxiety levels could describe the scary person better

Answer 251

* Supports catastrophe theory * In a situation that provokes anxiety/stress, there is a sudden drop in memory performance * Experience of stress in a naturalistic context had a negative influence on the accuracy of EWT - which had similar findings to lab studies, supporting validity of lab studies * Eyewitness identification may be move vulnerable to the effects of stress in female witnesses/victims of a crime

Answer 252

* Same actor for each set of visitors, acting in the same manner, on the same tour * All Ps walked slowly for 7 minutes around the Labyrinth exhibit, so they were all exposed for the same amount of time •Which, reduces demand characteristics

Answer 253

* Biased atypical opportunity sample * People chose to visit a scary tourist attraction, so they may be more inclined to scary experiences - which, may influence their anxiety + results * Small sample - only 56 visitors

Answer 254

* Sample was made up of males + females | * So, generalisable to both genders + can see if there’s any gender differences

Answer 255

* Standardised procedures used * E.g. Same act used, acting the same manner, on the same tour + Ps given the same questionnaire * Good controls minimise extraneous variables + demand characteristics

Answer 256

* Supports catastrophe theory * Shows how stress/anxiety negatively effects EWT * Too much stress when witnessing an event means that info is less accurate in EWT

Answer 257

* So, results on anxiety + memory may be more generalisable to real EWT’s * Researchers took additional measures to validate the questionnaires used, to make sure they were measuring state anxiety

Answer 258

* Field experiment, so it’s in a natural setting | * So, findings are more representative of real-life eyewitnesses than lab experiments

Answer 259

At the end of the study the Ps given the right to withdraw their results + informed consent was given

Answer 260

* Qualitative data gathered * E.g. Ps did a questionnaire on their memory of the scary person * So, their findings are open to interpretation

Answer 261

* Quantitative data * E.g. gathered from the heart rate monitor + Ps had to self rate their confidence from 1-100% on their decision * Standardised procedures used

Answer 262

•Standardised procedures used, so high reliability

Answer 263

Field experiment makes it hard to control extraneous variables, which could influence the results

Answer 264

* No informed consent * No right to withdraw * So, the participants didn’t know they were in an experiment

Answer 265

* A lot of scientific evidence to support this idea that high levels of arousal/anxiety can impact negatively on the memory of eyewitnesses * Most evidence comes from well controlled, lab based + field experiments - allowing cause + effect to be established * E.g. Loftus, in a lab experiment, found Ps found it harder to identify someone carrying a knife compared to a pen + objective eye gaze tracking measurement showed Ps looked longer at knife than the pen

Answer 266

* Important applications in the criminal justice system suggesting that reliability of eyewitnesses ability to describe suspect is impaired in anxious situations * So, their testimony may not be relied on as a main evidence in court * E.g. Valentine and Mesout found that increased anxiety can affect the reliability of EWT

Answer 267

* In experiments, Ps cannot be exposed to the same level of stress that a victim/witness of a crime experience * As, protection of participants is important * So, the ethical constraints mean that some studies don’t reflect real-life crimes

Answer 268

* Using lab + field experiments to isolate issues around EWT, such as anxiety, is reductionist * As, EWT is influenced by many variables * Which, reduces validity of the research, as it may not give an accurate picture of what influences factors influence the memory of witnesses to crimes

Answer 269

* Compared older adults to younger adults * Ps taken through relaxation techniques - massage + breathing exercises * Few weeks later, they were given misleading info about what had happened to the * Which, distorted the memory of the older adults more than the younger adults * However, some psychologists argue that elders appearing to be unreliable eyewitness could be due to other factors rather than just age

Answer 270

* Older brother convinced his 14-year-old sibling that he had been lost in a shopping mall as a child * Older brother was talking about real events + mentioned the false shopping mall incident * After two weeks, 14-year-old could recall the incident, including giving false detail * So, false memories had been implanted - false memory syndrome

Answer 271

* Asked students, policemen + teachers to watch a video and tested their recall * Policemen had the best recall * He suggested that this was because their existing schemas for storing info was more relevant to giving EWT * So, more useful in helping them recall info

Answer 272

* Psychologists found evidence that cognitive abilities develop with age * Very young children’s cognitive abilities aren’t well developed * So, there are limitations in their memory processing attention

Answer 273

Whether the participants saw broken glass

Answer 274

The verb used - either smashed or hit

Answer 275

* Controlled setting * Artificial environment * High control over extraneous variables - e.g. the presence of another witness is controlled so they don’t influence the outcome * The DV is the recall of detail about the crime - measured quantitatively * The IV is manipulated to investigate the influence of certain factor on the memory + testimony of eyewitnesses - e.g. the presence or not of weapons

Answer 276

* Classic study - Loftus and Palmer (1974) | * Pickel (1998)

Answer 277

* Real eyewitnesses to real life crimes cannot be used in research as their testimony may become biased * Leading to difficulties in obtaining samples who are representative - low generalisability * There is an ethical constraint as participants must be protected from harm

Answer 278

Investigated weapon focus within the context of a hairdressing salon + used the video consisting of a scene from the hairdressers salon

Answer 279

The object the man held - scissors, handgun, wallet, raw chicken or nothing

Answer 280

What the participants recalled

Answer 281

Participants completed 10 minute filler exercise - this reduces demand characteristics

Answer 282

* High reliability - as, standardised procedures are used + extraneous variables controlled * Very ethical * High objectivity * High credibility

Answer 283

* Low generalisability - findings only represent the view of a specific population * Low ecological validity - artificiality in setting may produce unnatural behaviour + lack of emotional connection which could be present in reality

Answer 284

* Conducted in a natural setting * Has an IV and DV * Difficult to control

Answer 285

* Morgan et al (2094) | * Contemporary study - Valentine and Mesout (2008)

Answer 286

Investigate the accuracy eyewitness memory for persons encountered during exposure to highly stressful conditions

Answer 287

* Condition 1 - high stress interrogation involving physical confrontation * Condition 2 - low stress interrogation without physical confrontation

Answer 288

Accuracy of their recall for a person present during the interrogation

Answer 289

* Used a group of soldiers * Who, experience interrogation techniques used on prisoners of war * The soldiers concerned were detained for 12 hours in a mock prisoner of war camp

Answer 290

* The design was repeated measures - this controls for participant variables * One group experienced high stress then low stress conditions, whilst the other group experienced the conditions in the reverse order * This was done to control for order effects + to reduce demand characteristics

Answer 291

* Soldiers were less accurate in recalling details of their interrogator in the high stress interrogation * High stress caused impairment of memory

Answer 292

* High generalisability - findings can be generalised to the wider population * High validity - conducted in natural environment, so findings relate to real-life situations * High credibility

Answer 293

* Low reliability - its difficult to replicate, as it’s harder to control all aspects of the environment - e.g. manipulation of IV * High subjectivity - researchers may be too involved + may influence the findings * Unethical - e.g. deception, lack of informed consent, invasion of privacy + no right to withdraw

Answer 294

* Studies 1 person or a small group with a unique characteristic * Gather qualitative + quantitative data * Extraneous variables aren’t controlled

Answer 295

Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

Answer 296

To examine, using a case study, eyewitness accounts of a real event

Answer 297

* An armed robbery of a gun shop in Canada, resulting shootout with the owner * Witnesses saw the scene from different locations * Witnesses were interviewed around 4 months after the police had interviewed them - the 2 sets of info were compared through content analysis

Answer 298

* No cause-and-effect links as extraneous variables weren’t controlled * Witness had accurate recall * Misleading questions had little effect * Ps who rated themselves as most anxious tended to recall more details * Flashbulb memory may be involved where lots of details about certain specific event is remembered, perhaps because it was a traumatic event

Answer 299

* High validity - sample being studied focuses on real life events + is low in demand characteristics * High in applications - Ps investigated have unique characteristics/experiences, so an in-depth analysis of qualitative data allows for further research to be conducted

Answer 300

* Low generalisability - the studies are very unique + only use a small number of people * Low reliability - no standardised procedures used + no control of extraneous variables * Unethical - study involves diving into personal lives of Ps, resulting in invasion of privacy * Low objectivity + high subjectivity - researchers opinions may effect findings

Answer 301

* When conducting research with real situations, careful consideration is required to minimise any distress * Lab experiments have a greater protection for Ps, as the event is artificial * Ps should be allowed to withdraw from the experiment when they start to feel distressed * Eyewitnesses who see real life crimes can become distressed + it would be unethical to expose someone to this for an experiment

Answer 302

* Deception is used to minimise demand characteristics * But, if it’s used then there is a lack of informed consent * It’s important to debrief Ps once research is complete * Lab experiments + case studies are more likely to require consent - as the person will know they’re involved in a study

Answer 303

* Less of an issue in field experiments * Lab experiments + case studies should always offer the right to withdraw - to comply with guidance regarding protection of Ps * Ps should be debriefed if there are issues relating to their right to withdraw

Answer 304

* Law enforcement * Courts system * Corrections system

Answer 305

Police patrol communities to help prevent crimes to investigate incidences of crime + to arrest people

Answer 306

* Consists of attorneys, judges and juries | * The guilt or innocence of a suspect is determined in court

Answer 307

* Incorporates all forms of sentencing and punishment | * Includes incarceration and probation

Answer 308

* Local Magistrates Court | * Magistrates to the Crown Court

Answer 309

* Deals with minor cases - hears ‘summary’ offences | * E.g. minor criminal damage, motoring offences, some drug offences, etc

Answer 310

* Deals with more serious offences - known as ‘solemn’ procedure * E.g. murder, rape, armed robbery, etc * Juries only used in this court

Answer 311

* Adversarial system | * Where 2 sides argue the case in front of a magistrate or judge and jury

Answer 312

* 12 people | * Who listen to evidence and render an impartial verdict of guilty or not guilty

Answer 313

From the electoral register - randomly done by the computer at the central office

Answer 314

* Registered citizen in the UK * Registered to vote in Parliamentary * Person between ages of 18 and 70 years

Answer 315

Someone convicted by the court in the UK + sentenced to 5 years or more in prison

Answer 316

* It’s useful - as, it warns about the bias that may be present in jury decision-making * Decisions by juries have far reaching effects on the lives of many individuals * It is in the interest of the defendant + wider society that a trial is carried out fairly * So, research on this topic could help judges and juries to reach fair decisions

Answer 317

* It’s very socially sensitive * As, findings may impact negatively on people * Research suggesting that jury decision-making is biased + unreliable may impact on individuals who have contact with the criminal justice system

Answer 318

* Major problem - juries are sworn to secrecy about their deliberations * They are prohibited by law from discussing the trial during and after the event * So, it becomes difficult to design realistic research on juries * So, researchers have to rely on mock trials + simulations to investigate the factors that influence their decisions

Answer 319

* 12 members of the public * They’re randomly allocated to cases * After they’ve listened to all evidence, they give a verdict of guilty or not guilty * They have no communication with anyone outside of the private room

Answer 320

There are many influences on the jury’s final decision as they’re not as objective in reaching their verdict

Answer 321

* Pre-trial factors | * Factors during the trial

Answer 322

Pre-trial publicity

Answer 323

* Characteristics of the defendant * Attractiveness * Race * Accent * Gender

Answer 324

* Jurors can be aware of a case before they are elected to be on the jury * Internet, TV + social media allow members of the public access to huge amounts of info before and during a trial * A criminal case could be well documented before it goes to trial, so jury members may have already formed an opinion of the suspects or defendants

Answer 325

* Factual information | * Emotional information

Answer 326

* Includes incriminating info about the defendant or the case * Such as what happened during the crime

Answer 327

* Presents info that could arouse negative emotions - info about the defendant or victims past * Considered to have a longer lasting influence on jury members than factual info * Because, factual info can be revisited during the trial with more/correct info being given

Answer 328

* Exposure to pre-trial info may mean that juros already have schemas about the criminal case they’re involved in * So, jury members schemas can alter their perception of the evidence they’re presented with in court

Answer 329

* Jurors more likely to say guilty if they had access to pre-trial publicity publicity * As, 80% of mock jurors said guilty given pre-trial publicity * Only 45% voted guilty if race was mentioned, as they didn’t want to be labelled as racist * Ps understand they’re not on the real jury and may not give a realistic verdict

Answer 330

* Jurors remembered media coverage 70% of the time if it was a high profile case * But, only 11% for jurors serving in low profile case

Answer 331

Jurors exposed to negative pre-trial publicity were significantly more likely to judge the defendant guilty

Answer 332

* Potential jurors expressed negative bias in the face of negative publicity * TV has a significant influence on jurors decision-making, increasing the potential for bias to occur

Answer 333

* Psychology as a science - a lot of evidence from well controlled lab experiments that support the idea that pre-trial publicity biases the decisions of juries * The use of psychological knowledge within society - researchers raise evidence-based concerns about the increasing potential for jury bias to occur in the current era of 24/7 TV news and constant access to online

Answer 334

* Unethical to research in this field - real jurors cannot be exposed to real pre-trial publicity before they serve on a jury as a biases may be formed, leading to miscarriages of justice * Practical issues - psychologists attempt to design realistic research on jury decision-making trial (e.g. simulations + mock juries) * Low ecological validity - due to artificial situations, verdict from the mock jurors may not reflect the influence of real pre-trial publicity of real jurors - difficult to generalise to real juries * Reductionist

Answer 335

* Oversimplifies the way in which juries make their decisions on guilt * In reality, it involves the influence of many factors - including factors during the trial + afterwards in the area decision-making room

Answer 336

* Characteristics are a feature or quality belonging typically to a person + serving to identify them * Juries influenced by the characteristics of the defendant can be linked to the psychological processes involved in how people from their first impressions of others

Answer 337

* If the defendant looks a certain way, they may be stereotyped as a criminal * E.g. Becker (1963) suggests that labelling theory can explain crime - a behaviour only becomes a crime when someone in power in society labels it a crime

Answer 338

* Schemas are stored info about a specific event/object * Jurors will already have existing schemas about a defendant in a trial * Leading to them making judgements according to certain defendant characteristics

Answer 339

* Attractive defendants are treated more leniently than unattractive defendants * Attractive people are considered less likely to have committed a crime, so the decision of the jury is less likely to be guilty * As, attractive defendants don’t fit the stereotype of a criminal * Within our society, physical attractiveness is prized highly in both sexes * Halo effect - If the defendant is attractive, then they’re associated with other positive characteristics, so jury may find them not guilty

Answer 340

* More attractive defendants received shorter sentences for burglary, but longer for fraud * Due to stereotypes that people hold about the appearance of criminals

Answer 341

* Guilty judgement was most likely when a female secretary was attractive + the male was an attractive * Attractive defendants were found guilty 56% of the time * Unattractive defendants were found guilty 76% of the time * So, attractive defendants are less likely to be found guilty

Answer 342

* Female Ps were more lenient towards an attractive female defendant + less lenient towards an unattractive defendant * Male defendants displayed the opposite tendency

Answer 343

* Physically attractive people were assumed to have other positive characteristics * They were perceived to be good, earn more money, be more intelligent + lead more successful lives

Answer 344

* Form of stereotyping * Our perception of someone is influenced by a positive characteristic that makes us think about them positively * If the defendant is attractive or has a positive characteristic, then the jury may find the defendant not guilty

Answer 345

* Main method used is lab experiment in the form of mock trials * So, psychologists can manipulate + control variables - allowing them to isolate the variable which has a large impact on persuading the jury * It’s a very scientific approach as it allows cause-and-effect conclusions to be drawn from the data

Answer 346

* There is racial bias in jury decision-making * In the USA, African American defendants are more likely to be found guilty + revive the death penalty * In-group and out-group bias may effect the decision making of jurors - jurors may have empathy with a defendant whom they see as similar to themselves

Answer 347

White uni students were more likely to say that a black defendant was guilty than a white defendant for the same crime

Answer 348

* Juries compromised of predominantly white + Hispanic juros were more likely to convict black defendants * Juries comprising of higher % of black jurors were less likely to convict black defendants * Due to in-group and out-group bias

Answer 349

* Black defendant received fewer guilty verdicts overall | * White defendant received more guilty verdicts from black generous

Answer 350

* Jurors of different races may be thinking in the same way | * Jurors might have empathy with the defendant whom they see as similar to themselves

Answer 351

* Found black mock jurors showed leniency to defendants of their own race * Hispanic jurors were less lenient to defendants of their own race * White Ps had no ethnic bias

Answer 352

* They may give verdicts which they think the researcher wants to hear * They don’t want to be labelled as racist * The juror participant knows that they’re being studied as it’s a lab experiment

Answer 353

* The defendants accent affects jury decision-making | * A strong or broad accent may negatively impact the decision-making of the jury

Answer 354

* Australian with a standard accent was thought of guilty for white-collar crimes * Australian with a broad accent was seen as more guilty for blue collar crimes (crimes of a lower social class)

Answer 355

The Birmingham accent was perceived as guilty significantly more often than the non- Birmingham accent

Answer 356

Male defendants labelled as psychopaths were more likely to be found guilty than female defendants labelled psychopathic

Answer 357

* When Ps were told that the man knifed the woman, 43% of jurors found him guilty * When Ps were told that the woman knifed the man, 69% of jurors found him guilty

Answer 358

* An authoritarian personality type may influence jury decisions * As, they are very narrow minded, against change + holds strict conservative views

Answer 359

* A lot of evidence from well controlled lab experiments to support the idea * High reliability + credibility of research in the field - use of lab-based experiments means that standardise procedures are used * Use of psychological knowledge within society - useful applications * Psychology as a Science - most evidence is from lab based experiments w/ high scientific credibility - variables are directly observable + tested - quantitative data is analysed in an objective manner

Answer 360

* It can be applied to how the defendant presents themselves in court * Defendants can be instructed to dress in a smart + tidy manner to help reduce negative stereotypes that some jurors may have + it shows respect for the process * This can influence the jury’s decision as to whether the defendant is found guilty

Answer 361

* Low mundane realism - reduce accuracy of findings * Low internal validity - use of lab experiments is problematic as there may be demand characteristics in mock trial - mock jurors may give socially desirable answers * Low ecological validity - evidence comes from studies of mock juries where Ps know that their decision won’t have any real consequences - removing the seriousness of the situation * Low generalisability- Ps aren’t real jurors, they’re mainly students who are very different from juries from wider population * Cultural issues - ethnocentric bias * Reductionist

Answer 362

* Most research in this area was conducted by researchers in the USA and UK - so, there’s ethnocentric bias * Limiting the reliability of the findings * Some countries/cultures have different legal systems, so some findings from research may not be applied here * E.g. Taylor (2002) didn’t find attractiveness of defendant as an important influence on jury verdicts in the UK

Answer 363

* It doesn’t take into account all of the other variables * Such as individual differences in jurors themselves - as, they all have different schemas * Also doesn’t take into account the characteristics of the witness presented to the jury which can influence their decision

Answer 364

* It’s difficult to isolate variables in order to find out which factors are most important * Juries are influenced by a number of complex interacting factors * So, controlled mock jury studies may be accused of taking a reductionist approach as they focus on 1 main variable

Answer 365

* To test if an attractive defendant is less likely to be seen as guilty * To test if the more attractive the victim is, the more likely that the defendant is to be seen as guilty * To test if there are gender differences in these effects

Answer 366

Attractive victim/defendant or unattractive

Answer 367

Ps answer to the question ‘do you think Mr Radford is guilty of sexual harassment?’

Answer 368

* Lab experiment using the mock trial format * Used independent measures design * 71 male, 74 female students

Answer 369

* Ps read a sexual harassment case + saw pictures of the defendant + victim (either attractive or unattractive) * Photos had previously been categorised on a scale of 1-9 attractiveness * Ps asked if he was guilty * Ps rated the defendant + victim on 11 personality scales - e.g. dull-exciting, nervous-calm, etc

Answer 370

* Punish offenders * Protect the public * Change an offenders behaviour * Ensure offenders do something to make up for their crime * Reduce the risk of crime in the future

Answer 371

* Type of crime committed * How serious the crime is * Law + sentencing guidelines * If the offender admits their guilt * Offenders criminal history * Offenders personal + financial circumstances

Answer 372

* Discharge * Fines * Community sentence * Prison sentence

Answer 373

Court decides someone is guilty, but decides not to punish them further at this time

Answer 374

* An absolute discharge - no more action will be taken | * A conditional discharge - offender won’t be punished unless they commit another offence within a set time period

Answer 375

* Most common criminal sentence | * They’re given to punish an offender financially, limiting the amount of money offenders have to spend

Answer 376

* Offender doesn’t go to prison - but there are specific things they can + can’t do * Designed to make sure the reasons for the offence are addressed + prevent more offences in the future

Answer 377

Offenders have to do unpaid work in the community, to repay their neighbourhood for their crimes

Answer 378

* Carry out between 40 to 300 hours unpaid work * Get training to find a job * Complete a treatment programme * Avoid specific activities - e.g. visiting pubs * Live within a curfew restricting times they can leave home - wearing an electronic tag * Live at a specific place * Have regular meetings with a probation officer to check their progress * Get mental health treatment

Answer 379

* Offender doesn’t directly go to prison | * But they have to meet conditions in the community set by the court

Answer 380

Court fixes the length of a prison sentence

Answer 381

* Court can give a minimum time the offender must spend in prison, but not an end point * This includes life sentences

Answer 382

* Suspended sentences * Determinate sentences * Indeterminate sentences

Answer 383

* Minor offences | * E.g. minor theft

Answer 384

* Speeding * Minor offences of theft * Not having a TV licence

Answer 385

* Damaging property * Assault * Benefit fraud * Minor arson * Common assault * Repeated drug possession * It’s the 1st time you’ve committed a crime * The court thinks you’re more likely to stop committing crime than if you go to prison * You have a mental health condition that affects your behaviour

Answer 386

* Manslaughter * Rape * Murder * GBH * Fraud * Dangerous driving * Major arson * Dealing/supplying drugs

Answer 387

* To provide offenders with an opportunity to learn new skills or change their behaviour * So, there is less chance of them in reoffending * In turn this protect the public from future crimes