Exam 2 chapter 6

Question 1

Encoding

Answer 1

involves gathering information and putting it in a form that can be held in memory

Question 2

Storage

Answer 2

refers to holding the encoded information in the brain over time

Question 3

Retrieval

Answer 3

refers to accessing and pulling out the stored information at a later time

Question 4

Memory Traces

Answer 4

: the biochemical representations of experiences in the brain — appear to deteriorate with time

Question 5

eyewitnesses are far more________ than is commonly supposed. Indeed, research on people who have been convicted of crimes but are later proven innocent has revealed that mistaken eyewitness identification leads to more______ convictions than any other type of evidence.

Answer 5

1) fallible
2) wrongful

Question 6

The manson criteria cases

Answer 6

neil vs biggers (72) and Manson vs Braithwaite (77)

Question 7

the manson criteria

Answer 7

 Five factors that should be taken into account when eval eyewitness
* (1) the witness’s opportunity to view the perpetrator, (2) the witness’s level of attention, (3) the accuracy of the witness’s previous description of the offender, (4) the witness’s degree of certainty, and (5) the amount of time between witnessing the crime and making the identification.

Question 8

the manson criteria is described as

Answer 8

difficult to apply and can be misleading

Question 9

voir dire

Answer 9

the questioning of potential jurors during jury selection

Question 10

 its _____ to expose mistaken eyewitnesses as liars bc theyre not lying, theyre _____ what they are saying

Answer 10

1) impossible
2) believing

Question 11

o Some courts believe that the manson rules ____ provide reliability; its ____

Answer 11

1) dont
2) outdated

Question 12

cross-race effect

Answer 12

 Cross-race accuracy is worse than within-race accuracy. That is, it is harder for people to recognize the faces of people outside their group than it is for people to recognize the faces of people within their group

Question 13

weapon focus effect

Answer 13

if eyewitnesses see the perp holding a gun/knife, their ability to recognize the assailant is impaired

Question 14

 unconscious transference

Answer 14

A face that is familiar from some other context is transferred in memory to the scene of a crime

Question 15

 scripts

Answer 15

widely held beliefs about which sequences of actions will typically occur in particular situations.

Question 16

retrieval inhibition

Answer 16

 Selectively retrieving only some aspects of a scene “inhibits” recall of other aspects, a phenomenon called (smashed into vs bumped into)

Question 17

the postidentification feedback effect

Answer 17

 tendency for biased feedback to distort the memory of eyewitnesses is called

Question 18

 Dissonance theory

Answer 18

predicts that once you commit yourself to a particular course of action, you will become motivated to justify that course of action.

Question 19

Children as eyewitnesses

Answer 19

children have greater suggestibility, they provide less info and less accurate info

Question 20

estimator variables

Answer 20

o The justice system cannot control who witnesses a crime, how carefully that person observes the crime, or whether the race of the victim is different from the race of the criminal. Such factors, which are outside the control of the legal system, are called estimator variables because they are helpful in estimating the accuracy of an identification.

Question 21

o system variables

Answer 21

those factors that are under the control of the justice system

Question 22

nine recommendations to improve lineups

Answer 22

prelineup interview, evidence based grounds for putting suspects in, double blind lineups, appropriate lineup fillers, prelineup instructs to the eyewitness, obtain an immediate postlineup confidence statement, video recording, avoid repeated ID with same witness and suspect, avoiding the use of showups

Question 23

evidence based grounds for putting suspects in lineups

Answer 23

• Someone should have evidence against them to make sure they may be guilty before the lineup

Question 24

) double-blind lineups

Answer 24

• The administrator and the witness shouldn’t know who the suspect is

Question 25

appropriate lineup fillers

Answer 25

• Making the suspect not stand out in the lineup
• fillers — the nonsuspects in the lineup

Question 26

prelineup instructions to the eyewitness

Answer 26

• Let them know that the perp might not be there at all, if they cant make a decision they can say they don’t know
• bias-reducing instructions remove the presumption that the witness is obliged to choose someone from the available options

Question 27

obtaining an immediate postlineup confidence statement

Answer 27

• Asking them how confident they are after the lineup b/c confidence gets better over time

Question 28

• showup

Answer 28

• showup refers to presenting a single suspect to an eyewitness and asking the eyewitness whether or not that person is the one who committed the crime

Question 29

refreshing the memory of a witness

Answer 29

hypnosis and the cognitive interview

Question 30

hypnosis

Answer 30

highly susceptible to suggestion, can contain much fantasy and imagination

Question 31

the cognitive interview

Answer 31

a subtle step by step procedure designed to relax the witness to mentally reenact the context surrounding the crime. to improve the accuracy of info without suggestibility