criminal Flashcards
evaluate brain injury as an explanation for crime and antisocial behavior
+ williams- 60% inmates recalled 1 or more brain injury in adolescence. those who recalled commited their crimes younger and had higher recidivism rates
+ fazel- abi correlated with violent crimes. out of those who experienced an ABI, 8.8% committed a violent crime compared to 3% in matched control group.
- not a casual relationship. those who have had head injury’s are more likely to experience mental illness . these factors create the predisposition to offend, rather than the brain injury itself.
- social explanation- SFP
evaluate the amygdala as an explanation for crime and antisocial behaviour
+ Rain- PET scans on NGRI inmates, found less activity in left side of amygdala and more on right side
+ pardini- neuroimaging scans on 26 year old men. divided based on normal/ small amygdala size. latter group 3X more likely to be involved in crime 3 years later
- OFC- not part of limbic system but influences amygdala. regulates self control, reduced function associated with aggressive outbursts.
- social, SFP
evaluate XYY syndrome as an explination for cime and antisocial behaviour
S. Jacob- men with XYY were over represented in prisons (15 in 1000 compared to 1 in 1000)
O. Birkhoff and re- considered 50 years of evidence - no link between XYY and offending behavior. Increase of prevalence in prisons may be due to factors such as it being harder to integrate into society e.g. getting a job
D. social explanations- SFP
A. punishment reduced as offender less responsible for their crime. screening for XYY gene
evaluate personality as an explanation for crime and antisocial behavior
+ Boduszek- investigated prevelance of eysnecks theory among recidivists. criminal thinking style correlated with high levels of p, e and n
+ Raine- took psychological measures from ppts age 15 and related it to later criminal status. those with criminal records 24 years later showed signs of under-arousal in their ns (lower hr)
- Diggman- adds a, c, and o to eysnecks reductionist theory. Low levels of a and c are related to offending.
- biological- XYY
evaluate the social explanation of antisocial and criminal behaviour
S. Jahoda- Monday (Quadwo- even tempered), Wednesday (Quadku- agressive and voletile). Quadku 3X more likely to be involved in violent crime than quadwo over a 5 year period.
O. Reductionist- without labelling crime wouldn’t exist. someone committing an offence that has not yet been labelled is not criminal. Complex crimes e.g. murderers are criminals weather they are labeled or not
D. Zebrowitz- boys with a baby face were more likely than their mature faced peers to be delinquent and involved in crime. overcompensating for the perseption that they may be weak or childlike rather than accepting the label
A. Rosenthal and jacobson- pygmalion effect. kids chosen at random to be bloomers or underachievers. At the end of the school year, bloomers improved their IQ. Teachers treated children differently based on label
1 strength and 1 weakness of attractivness as a factor affecting jury decision making
+ Abwender and Hough- female ppt’s were more lenient towards attractive female defendants than unattractive, males displayed the opposite tendency
- jurors who discuss the case were more likely to find an attractive defendant guilty where as those who discus the case less are more likely to find a plain defendant guilty. opposite to abwender and hough
1 strength’s and 1 weakness of race as a factor affecting jury decision making
+ pfiever and ogloff- ppt’s overwhelmingly rated black defendants guiltier than white defendants especially when the victim was white
- other factors may influence e.g. if the juror has a personal experience with the offence or characteristics of jurors match defendant (empathy)
1 strength and 1 weakness of accent as a factor affecting jury decision making
+ Dixon- recorded convo between suspect and policeman played to ppt’s. guilt ratings higher for birmingham
- other factors may influence e.g. wether the juror has a personal experience with the offence or characteristics of jurors match defendant (empathy)
Loftus and palmeer procedure
- 45 students shown clips of traffic accidents 5-30s long
- divided into 5 groups- smashed, collided, hit, contacted, bumped
- all asked how fast they thought the car was going when they ____ into eachover
- second procedure- ppt’s asked same question
after 1 week asked if they recall seeing broken glass
evaluate Loftus and palmers experiment
+ validity- lab experiment so high control of variables so less chance of confounding variables
+ reliability- standardised procedure as all asked the same question stem
- ecological validity- lacks mundane realism so demand characteristics
- generalisability- opportunity sample of 45 students
valentine and mesout procedure
- 56 ppts experienced scary events in London dungeon labrynth walking tour e.g. scary person
- completed a queationaire for reduced ticket price
- walked around for 7 minuets. rest took 45 minuets
- informed consent was obtained and given rtwd
- ppts asked to identify scary man from photo lineup matched for age and ethnicity
Evaluate Valentine and Mesouts experiment
+ ecological validity- London dungeons, no demand characteristics
- reliability- experienced the same actor but would have experienced different variations of experience as actor cannot perfectly repeat his script and the way he says his lines
- generalisability- volunteer sample. ppts preferred scary activities which may have influenced the anxiety they experienced during the visit
+ application- EWT are unreliable. anxiety affects recall
4 factors affecting EWT
post event info
leading questions
anxiety
weapons focus effect
evaluate post event info as a factor affecting EWT
+ Bartlet- memory is reconstrucive- canoe to boat
+ gabbort- pairs of ppts watched a video filmed from different perspecives. encouraged to discuss. recalled info they could not have known without overhearing the conversation
- bartlett- memory isn’t fully reconstructive- black came out his mouth
- anderson- facial recognision ability and WMM capacity had a significant influence on whether they were able to pick out a person they had seen earlier from a group
evaluate anxiety as a factor affecting EWT
S. valentine and mesout- high scores on the state anxiety inventory negatively correlated with the ability to correctly report the apearance of a person encountered under stress
O. yuille and cutshall- interviewed witnesses to a real life shooting in Canada. Interviewed by police and reinterviewed by researchers 4-5 months later, gave an accurate account of event despite the fact that their self reporting anxiety was more than 5 on a 7 point scale
D. andersen- facial recognition ability and WMM capacity had a significant influence on weather they were able to pick out a person they had seen earlier from a group
A. reducing false convictions- introducing ‘social framework evidence’ in legal cases. psychologists may be called apon to provide evidence to juries (relevent psychological evidence that demonstrates unreliability of EWT)
