Social Psychology & Law

Question 1

Decision to shoot (Planet, 2011)

Answer 1

Results: Quickest to shoot black men over black women as well as white men and white women.

Question 2

Masculinity & decision to shoot black suspects (Goff, 2012)

Answer 2

Results: Participants that were more insecure about masculinity were more likely to shoot black suspects relative to white.

Question 3

Looking deathworthy (Eberhardt, 2006)

Answer 3

• Results (White victims): Stereotypically black defendants received the death penalty much more than less stereotypically black defendants.
• Results (black victims): No significant difference in likelihood of getting the death penalty.

Question 4

Own-race bias

Answer 4

People are better at recognizing faces of their own race

Question 5

Weapon focus

Answer 5

Presence of gun impairs eyewitness’s ability to accurately identify a perpetrator’s face

Question 6

False memory

Answer 6

Recalling events that never occurred or occurred differently.

Question 7

Misinformation effect

Answer 7

• Happens when witnesses talk to each other
• Witnessing an event
1. receiving misinformation about it
2. incorporating the “misinformation” into one’s memory.

Question 8

Individual bias in the criminal justice system: Dror & Charlton (2006)

Answer 8

• Changed env. info about the case (not the fingerprint)

* results: 2/3 of experts reversed their decision

Question 9

Questioning & Misinformation effect (Loftus & Palmer, 1974)

Answer 9

• Framing

* By changing a word, different perceptions on how fast the car was going.

Question 10

Guilt of suspect

Answer 10

• Trained to suspect guilt

* results: Interrogators that underwent training were less accurate but more confident in their judgements.

Question 11

What are the 5 steps to securing a confession?

Answer 11

1. Control the situation – small room, minimize distractions
2. Distort perceptions of the crime – Make it sound worst than what it was or make it sound less serious than what it was
3. Sympathize with the suspect – Good cop/bad cop
4. Encourage self-doubt – Point out physical symptoms
5. Present false evidence of guilt

Question 12

Psychology of false confessions

Answer 12

1. Voluntary
2. Coerced-complaint
3. Coerced-internalized

Question 13

Psychology of false confessions: Voluntary

Answer 13

involving no external pressure

Question 14

Psychology of false confessions: coerced-complaint

Answer 14

person knows they are not guilty, but confess to receive a promised reward (or avoid penalty)

Question 15

Psychology of false confessions: coerced-internalized

Answer 15

Innocent suspect induced to believe (sometimes temporarily) that he/she is guilty.

Question 16

Polygraph

Answer 16

• records physiological arousal from multiple channels

* often used as a lie detector test

Question 17

Voir dire

Answer 17

• pretrial examination of prospective jurors by the judge or opposing lawyers to uncover signs of bias

Question 18

Peremptory challenge

Answer 18

• means by which lawyers can exclude a limited number of perspective jurors w/o judges approval

Question 19

Scientific Jury selection

Answer 19

• Selecting juries through surveys that yield demographics & trial relevant attitudes

Question 20

Death qualification

Answer 20

• jury-selection procedure used in capital cases that permits judges to exclude prospective jurors who say they would not vote for the death penalty

Question 21

Sentencing disparity

Answer 21

• inconsistency of sentences for the same offense from one judge to another

Question 22

Adversarial Model

Answer 22

• Dispute-resolution system in which the prosecution & defense present opposing sides of the story

Question 23

Inquisitorial model

Answer 23

• dispute-resolution system in which neutral investigator gathers evident from both sides & presents findings in court.

Question 24

Power of innocence (Kassin & Norwick, 2004)

Answer 24

• participants who were truly innocent were significantly more likely than guilty suspects (78%) to sign a waiver of their miranda rights

Question 25

Defense attorney & plea reccomendations (Edkins, 2010)

Answer 25

• Defense attorneys more likely to recommend longer sentences to black suspects, compared to white suspects.

Question 26

Torture & Judgements of Guilt (Gray & Weger, 2010)

Answer 26

• Participants rated other students as guiltier in high pain, compared to low pain.

Question 27

What are some ways to improve eyewitness procedures?

Answer 27

• use double-blind procedures to administer line-ups & sequential line ups
• Changing the situation & false confessions: power of videotape confessions, have entire confession tape can reveal tactics used to get to the confession.

Question 28

Judges understanding scientific evidence (Kovera & McAuliff, 2000)

Answer 28

• Trained judges were better able to distinguish good vs. bad studies and less likely to admit studies with poor quality.