Quiz I

Question 1

What are the two primary ways of defining forensic psychology?

Answer 1

Narrow and broad

Question 2

Narrow definitions

Answer 2

highlight certain aspects of the profession while ignoring other aspects

Question 3

Broad definitions

Answer 3

are more inclusive

Question 4

What is the broad definition of forensic psychology?

Answer 4

A research endeavor and/or a professional practice that examines human behaviour in relation to the legal system

Question 5

What are the three different types of forensic psychologist?

Answer 5

Clinical, experimental and legal scholar

Question 6

What is the role, focus and training of a clinical forensic psychologist?

Answer 6

Role: Research and practice
Focus: mental health and the law
Training: M.A. or Ph.D in clinical psychology and internships

Question 7

What is the role, focus and training of an experimental forensic psychologist?

Answer 7

Role: Research
Focus: Human behaviour and the law
Training: Ph.D. in psychology

Question 8

What is the role of a legal scholar in forensic psychology?

Answer 8

Role: Research and analysis
Focus: Mental health law and policy
Training: Ph.D. in psychology and training in law (e.g., LL.B)

Question 9

What is involved with clinical forensic psychology?

Answer 9

Focus on mental health issues within the legal system
Most do “practice” work (but can include research too)
Different settings

Question 10

What is involved with research forensic psychology?

Answer 10

Often solely research oriented
Can focus on any aspect of psychology that relates to the legal system (not only mental health)

Question 11

Who are the three psychologists that played a role in early research of forensic psychology?

Answer 11

Cattel (1895)
- the accuracy of everyday observations
Binet (1900)
- suggestibility in children
Stern (1910)
- the eyewitness ‘reality experiment’

Question 12

What were the early court cases in Europe that played a role in forensic psychology? And what conclusions were made?

Answer 12

Von Schrenck-Notzing (1896)
- Pre-trial press can result in retroactive memory falsification (what was observed versus what was heard)
Varendonck (1911)
- children can provide inaccurate testimony due to suggestive questioning techniques

Question 13

What are the two primary functions of an expert witness?

Answer 13

• Aid in understanding a particular issues relevant to the case (tend to be professionals)
• Provide an opinion

Question 14

How does a regular witness differ from an expert witness?

Answer 14

Regular witnesses who can only testify about what they have directly observed

Question 15

What are the signs of deception?

Answer 15

• Emotional arousal
• Facial expression –> microexpressions = very short leakage of emotion
• emotional leakage = can’t hold back true feelings and some slip out
• blink rate
• eye contact = too much eye contact
  speech = slowed speech rate, long pauses, more hesitations, more errors
• behaviours = controlled and rigid, decreased hand gestures
  verbal = less detail, stories out of order and make less sense, voice pitch is higher

Question 16

The accuracy of professional lie catchers vary because of what?

Answer 16

• Have a truthfulness bias
• Tend to rely on wrong cues

Question 17

The polygraph is based on what?

Answer 17

The polygraph test is based on the belief that deception is related to physiological chanfes

Question 18

What does the polygraph test measure?

Answer 18

• Respiration
• Heart rate
• Blood pressure
• Sweating

Question 19

When is the polygraph test used?

Answer 19

• It’s used in criminal investigations
• pre-employment screening for security agencies and police
• monitoring sexual offenders on probation (United States)

Question 20

What are the two main types of polygraph test?

Answer 20

• Comparison Question Test (CQT)
• Concealed Information Test (CIT)

Question 21

What are the 3 phases of the CQT?

Answer 21

1. Pre-test interview
2. Polygraph exam
3. Post-test interview

Question 22

What happens during the pre-test interview?

Answer 22

Interview with to develop the comparison questions

Question 23

What happens during the polygraph exam?

Answer 23

Questions are asked while suspect’s physiological responses are measured (scoring after this)

Question 24

What happens during the post-test interview?

Answer 24

If a suspect is judged deceptive they are pressured to confess (they only get to this phase if thought to be deceptive)

Question 25

What is the purpose of irrelevant questions?

Answer 25

Used to obtain a baseline

Question 26

What is the purpose of relevant questions?

Answer 26

Deal with the crime

Question 27

What is the purpose of comparison questions?

Answer 27

Deal with prior antisocial behaviour

Question 28

What is the assumption made related to relevant questions and comparison questions?

Answer 28

Assumes guilty people react more to relevant questions and innocent people react more to comparison questions

Question 29

What is involved with the concealed information test?

Answer 29

• Assesses if suspect has information that only the criminal would know
• Asks multiple-choice questions, in which only one option is correct
• Assumes if the suspect is guilty they will react strongly to correct information

Question 30

Where is the polygraph test admissible as evidence?

Answer 30

Currently it is allowed in some U.S. states if agreed by both prosecution and defence. However, not admissible into evidence in Canadian courts

Question 31

What is malingering?

Answer 31

Intentionally faking psychological or physical symptoms. Typically done for external gain (e.g. avoid criminal punishment, to obtain drugs, transfer of facility)

Question 32

What is a somatoform disorder?

Answer 32

It’s when someone experiences a symptom, typically pain, but there’s no physical cause to explain the pain.