Psychology and the Law

Question 1

What is the most common cause of wrongful convictions?

Answer 1

-faulty eyewitness testimony

Question 2

Define own-race bias.

Answer 2

-tendency to be better at recognizing faces within own race than other

Question 3

Define reconstructive memory.

Answer 3

-memories of an event become distorted by information encountered after the event occurred.

Question 4

Define recovered memories.

Answer 4

-recollections of an event that have been forgotten or repressed

Question 5

Define false memory syndrome

Answer 5

-Remembering a past traumatic experience that is objectively false but nevertheless accepted as true.

Question 6

What does the story model of decision making propose?

Answer 6

-proposes that as jurors hear evidence, they decide on one story that best explains what they are hearing.

Question 7

What two ways do lawyers present evidence?

Answer 7

-story order or witness order

Question 8

The ______ can influence the _______ not so much in terms of verdict, but in degree of guilt.

Answer 8

-minority; majority