Quiz I Flashcards
Chapter I and IV
What are the two primary ways of defining forensic psychology?
Narrow and broad
Narrow definitions
highlight certain aspects of the profession while ignoring other aspects
Broad definitions
are more inclusive
What is the broad definition of forensic psychology?
A research endeavor and/or a professional practice that examines human behaviour in relation to the legal system
What are the three different types of forensic psychologist?
Clinical, experimental and legal scholar
What is the role, focus and training of a clinical forensic psychologist?
Role: Research and practice
Focus: mental health and the law
Training: M.A. or Ph.D in clinical psychology and internships
What is the role, focus and training of an experimental forensic psychologist?
Role: Research
Focus: Human behaviour and the law
Training: Ph.D. in psychology
What is the role of a legal scholar in forensic psychology?
Role: Research and analysis
Focus: Mental health law and policy
Training: Ph.D. in psychology and training in law (e.g., LL.B)
What is involved with clinical forensic psychology?
Focus on mental health issues within the legal system
Most do “practice” work (but can include research too)
Different settings
What is involved with research forensic psychology?
Often solely research oriented
Can focus on any aspect of psychology that relates to the legal system (not only mental health)
Who are the three psychologists that played a role in early research of forensic psychology?
Cattel (1895)
- the accuracy of everyday observations
Binet (1900)
- suggestibility in children
Stern (1910)
- the eyewitness ‘reality experiment’
What were the early court cases in Europe that played a role in forensic psychology? And what conclusions were made?
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
What are the two primary functions of an expert witness?
- Aid in understanding a particular issues relevant to the case (tend to be professionals)
- Provide an opinion
How does a regular witness differ from an expert witness?
Regular witnesses who can only testify about what they have directly observed
What are the signs of deception?
- 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
The accuracy of professional lie catchers vary because of what?
- Have a truthfulness bias
- Tend to rely on wrong cues
The polygraph is based on what?
The polygraph test is based on the belief that deception is related to physiological chanfes
What does the polygraph test measure?
- Respiration
- Heart rate
- Blood pressure
- Sweating
When is the polygraph test used?
- It’s used in criminal investigations
- pre-employment screening for security agencies and police
- monitoring sexual offenders on probation (United States)
What are the two main types of polygraph test?
- Comparison Question Test (CQT)
- Concealed Information Test (CIT)
What are the 3 phases of the CQT?
- Pre-test interview
- Polygraph exam
- Post-test interview
What happens during the pre-test interview?
Interview with to develop the comparison questions
What happens during the polygraph exam?
Questions are asked while suspect’s physiological responses are measured (scoring after this)
What happens during the post-test interview?
If a suspect is judged deceptive they are pressured to confess (they only get to this phase if thought to be deceptive)
What is the purpose of irrelevant questions?
Used to obtain a baseline
What is the purpose of relevant questions?
Deal with the crime
What is the purpose of comparison questions?
Deal with prior antisocial behaviour
What is the assumption made related to relevant questions and comparison questions?
Assumes guilty people react more to relevant questions and innocent people react more to comparison questions
What is involved with the concealed information test?
- 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
Where is the polygraph test admissible as evidence?
Currently it is allowed in some U.S. states if agreed by both prosecution and defence. However, not admissible into evidence in Canadian courts
What is malingering?
Intentionally faking psychological or physical symptoms. Typically done for external gain (e.g. avoid criminal punishment, to obtain drugs, transfer of facility)
What is a somatoform disorder?
It’s when someone experiences a symptom, typically pain, but there’s no physical cause to explain the pain.
