Lecture_15_Forensic Psychology Flashcards
Bystander Effect
People are less likely to help in an emergency when other bystanders are present
Diffusion of Responsibility
The diminished sense of responsibility a person feels when he or she believes that others would or should intervene
- More likely to occur when a bystander can remain anonymous
Deindividuation
a diminished sense of self-awareness , people under the cover of anonymity in which their identities are concealed
- May deliberately choose to engage in behavior about which they might otherwise be inhibited, including aggression
Social Facilitation
A person’s performance on a well learned task will be enhanced by the heightened arousal caused by the presence of others
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
Assumes that frustration – that is, blockage of a goal-directed activity – increases the likelihood of aggressive behaviour
Aggressive Cues
Situational cues with an aggressive meaning that increase the accessibility of aggressive cognitions
Displaced Aggression
Tendency to react to frustration with an aggressive response directed not at the original source of the frustration but at an UNRELATED, more easily accessible TARGET
Factors Related to Criminal Behavior
- Proximal variables
- Distal variables
Proximal Variables
Those occurring in time to the event
- Deindividuation
- Social facilitation
Distal Variables
Those occurring in the distant past relative to the event
- Individual differences
The Origins of Criminal Behavior
- Biological theories
- Testosterone - Sociological theories
- Social inequality, poverty - Social Psychological Theories
- Social learning theory
Personality of Criminal Behavior
- An early age of onset for antisocial behavior
- Temperamental and personal characteristics that are conducive to criminal activity
An early age of onset for antisocial behavior
- Negative parenting and family experiences
- Harsh and abusive discipline, low family cohesion, parental criminality
Temperamental and personal characteristics that are conducive to criminal activity
- Impulsivity, aggressive energy, weak problem-solving abilities
- Low levels of school or vocational achievement
- Association with pro-criminal peers and isolation from
noncriminal associates - Antisocial attitudes, values, and beliefs
Antisocial Pattern of Attitudes (Includes Values and Belief)
- High tolerance for deviance in general
- Rejection of the validity of legal authority and institutions
- Use of cognitive distortions (e.g., rationalization, denial) to make one’s antisocial behavior acceptable
- Interpretation of a wide range of environmental stimuli as a reason for anger
- The style of thinking that is generally antisocial
2 Types of Criminals
- Adolescense-limited individuals
- Life-course-persistent group
Psychopathy
- Lack of empathy
- Pathological lying
- Impulsivity
Why are eyewitnesses often wrong?
- Process of memory
- Environment of the crime scene (e.g. dark, happening very fast, etc.)
- Emotions at the crime scene (anxious, fear, arousal, etc.)
- Weapons that attackers used
- False memory
Why are eyewitnesses often wrong? Process of memory
- Acquisition = “the process by which people notice and pay attention to information in their environment”
- Storage = “the process by which people maintain in memory information they have acquired from the environment”
- Retrieval = “the process by which people recall information stored in their memories”
Own-Race Bias or Cross-Race Effect
The tendency for people to be better at recognizing faces of their own race than those of other races
Reconstructive Memory
The process whereby memories of an event become distorted by information encountered after the event occurred
Misinformation Effect
A memory error caused by exposure to incorrect information between
- the original event (e.g., a crime)
- and later memory test (e.g., an interview, lineup, or day in court)
Source Monitoring
The process whereby people try to identify the source of their memories
Recovered Memories
Recollections of a past event, such as sexual abuse, that have been forgotten or repressed
False Memory Syndrome
Remembering a past traumatic experience that is objectively false but is nevertheless accepted by the person as true
Forensic Psychology
A branch of applied psychology which applies psychological principles to an important real-life setting: the criminal and civil justice system
Common Errors in Interviewing
- Too many close-ended questions
- Too few open-ended questions
- Interrupting witnesses in the middle of their narratives
- Asking leading questions
- Asking questions in a fixed and inflexible order
Interrogative Suggestibility Scale
To measure how individuals surrender to leading questions
Treatment Program & Intervention
- Multisytematic treatment program
- Rehabilitation Over Punishment
- Therapeutic Community
Multisytematic treatment program
Efforts to prevent the onset of antisocial and delinquent behavior may begin during early childhood
Rehabilitation Over Punishment
Favoring humane treatment of prisoners
Therapeutic Community
A holistic residential environment that is designed to promote the personal growth and development of the residents
