Test #1

Question 1

Define “forensic psychology” both narrowly and broadly

Answer 1

Narrow Def: The professional practice by psychologists in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, neuropsychology, and school psychology, when they are engaged regularly as experts in an activity intended to provide professional expertise to the judicial system (Really only speaks to expert opinion)
Broad Definition: A research endeavour and/or a professional practice that examines human behaviour in relation to the legal system. (Speaks to a variety of contributors and does not just offer opinion but offers analysis, research findings, testing, assessment, etc.)

Question 2

Define “Forensic Psychology” narrowly.

Answer 2

The professional practice by psychologists in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, neuropsychology, and school psychology, when they are engaged regularly as experts in an activity intended to provide professional expertise to the judicial system (Really only speaks to expert opinion)

Question 3

Define “Forensic Psychology” broadly.

Answer 3

A research endeavour and/or a professional practice that examines human behavior in relation to the legal system. (Speaks to a variety of contributors and does not just offer opinion but offers analysis, research findings, testing, assessment, etc.)

Question 4

How are forensic psychologists similar to regular psychologists?

Answer 4

BOTH are interested in studying people’s thoughts, feelings, behaviours and actions. BUT Forensic Psychologists put an emphasis on the context of THE LAW

Question 5

What are the 3 Interactions of the law? Explain.

Answer 5

1) Psychology and the law – The use of psychology to study the operation of the legal system
2) Psychology in the law – The use of psychology within the legal system as it currently operates
3) Psychology of the law – The use of psychology to study the law itself (least common form)

Question 6

Compare & Contrast Clinical & Experimental Psychology

Answer 6

Clinical Psychology
• Job may include: Research and practice
• Area of interest: Mental health and the law
• Differences in education as well
Experimental Psychology
• Job may include: Research
• Area of interest: Human behavior and the law

Question 7

Who are the 3 Major contributors to Forensic Psychology?

Answer 7

1. James Cattell (1895)
2. Alfred Binet (1900)
3. William Stern

Question 8

Explain what James Cattell offered to Forensic Psychology.

Answer 8

• Developed “psychology of eyewitness testimony”
• Conducted an experiment on everyday life events
• What he found was that participants were often inaccurate in their recollection of events and information. This suggests that witnesses to crimes may not be the best judge of what actually happened.

Question 9

Explain what Alfred Binet offered to Forensic Psychology.

Answer 9

• Discovered that testimony provided by children was highly susceptible to suggestive questioning techniques.
• Conducted a study using different questioning techniques with children

Question 10

Explain what William Stern offered to Forensic Psychology.

Answer 10

• Developed the “reality experiment” – used to study eyewitness recall and recognition
• Participants were exposed to staged events and then asked questions about the event. Testimony was often incorrect
• Important because emotional arousal can have a negative impact on the accuracy of a person’s testimony.

Question 11

Discuss some relevant cases to false confession and wrongful convictions

Answer 11

• Richard Ivens (1906)

- Harry Orchard

Question 12

Why is the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) case so important?

Answer 12

• The success of the psychological input in the case had validated psychology as a science – the discipline had now achieved a status where it was deemed useful for assisting courts of the law on the USA.
• Psychologists spoke to how segregation impacted an individual, lasting psychological effects, etc.

Question 13

Describe & explain the 3 Psychological Theories of Crime - using all relevant resources offered by Instructor

Answer 13

1)Psychoanalytical Theories – Internal dynamics and early experiences
• (John Bowlby – Theory of maternal deprivation)
• Early separation from one’s mother prevents effective social development from taking place, which results in antisocial behavior patterns
2) Learning Theories – Learning through direct and indirect consequences
• (Albert Bandura – Social learning theory)
• Criminal behavior is learned through direct and indirect reinforcement
• For example, by interacting with anti-social peers or watching violence on tv
3) Personality Theories – The make-up of criminal personalities
• (Hans Eysenck – Bio-social theory)
• Personality falls on a continuum of personality dimensions
• People high on neuroticism and extraversion are more likely to become involved in crime.

Question 14

What is the difference between compliance? And suggestibility?

Answer 14

Compliance: Tendency to go along with people in authority (related to coerced-compliant confessions)
Suggestibility: Tendency to internalize information communicated during questioning (related to coerced-internalized confessions)

Question 15

Briefly describe geographic profiling

Answer 15

Involves an analysis of crime scene locations in order to determine the most probable area of offender residence.

Question 16

What are the functions of the expert witness.

Answer 16

Two primary functions:

1) Aid in understanding a particular issue relevant to the case
2) Provide an opinion

Question 17

What are the 3 stages of the Reid Interview and Interrogation.

Answer 17

1) Gather evidence
2) Conduct a non-accusatorial interview to assess deception/guilt
3) Conduct an accusatorial interrogation to obtain a confession

Question 18

What is the difference between inductive and deductive profiling

Answer 18

Deductive profiling: Profiling an offender from evidence relating to that offender’s crimes
Inductive profiling: Profiling an offender from what is known about other offenders who have committed similar (solved) crimes

Question 19

Define Deductive Profiling.

Answer 19

Profiling an offender from evidence relating to that offender’s crimes

Question 20

Define Inductive Profiling.

Answer 20

Profiling an offender from what is known about other offenders who have committed similar (solved) crimes

Question 21

What are the 3 potential problems with profiling?

Answer 21

1. Many forms of profiling are based on a model of personality that lacks empirical support
2. Profiles often contain ambiguous advice and such advice can be interpreted to fit a wide range of suspects
3. Professional profilers do not always produce profiles that are more accurate than the profiles produced by novices

Question 22

Define Racial Profiling.

Answer 22

Racial Profiling – refers to any police initiated action that uses race to make decisions regarding an individual

Question 23

What are the 3 main types of polygraph tests?

Answer 23

1. Relevant/Irrelevant Test
   - asks questions relevant to the crime and irrelevant to the crime
   - no longer used in law enforcement, but used for employee screening (drug use, honesty)
   - larger physiological responses to relevant questions indicates deception
2. Control Question Test (CQT)
   Deception is assessed by comparing arousal levels of relevant and control questions.
   Includes 3 types of questions: Irrelevant, Relevant, and Control
3. Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT)
   - Assesses if suspect has information that only the criminal would know
   - Asks suspects multiple choice questions, one option is correct
   - Assumes if the suspect is guilty they will react strongly to correct information
   - Not used in Canada or US

Question 24

What are the vocal cues which detect deception?

Answer 24

Vocal cues most consistently related to deception include:

• Higher voice pitch
• Increased speech disturbance (ah, umm)
• Slower speech and Speech pauses
• Pattern of vocal cues may depend on how cognitively complex the lie is

Question 25

What are the non-vocal characteristics of deception.

Answer 25

• Gaze aversion
• Smiling, blinking, fidgeting
• Illustrators, body movements
• Shrugs, head movement, shifting positions

Question 26

Define Factitious disorder.

Answer 26

A disorder in which the person’s physical and psychological symptoms are intentionally produced and are adopted for no external rewards.

Question 27

Define Somatoform Disorder?

Answer 27

Physical symptoms that cannot be explained by organic impairment

Question 28

Define Malingering.

Answer 28

Psychological or physical symptoms are voluntary for personal gain

Question 29

Define Defensiveness.

Answer 29

Opposite of malingering. Defensiveness refers to the conscious denial or minimization of physical or psychological symptoms.

Question 30

Explain the Reid Technique?

Answer 30

Most common interrogation method used in Canada. Developed by John. E. Reid (poly-grapher). Used to extract confession from suspects.

Question 31

Define the Minimization Technique?

Answer 31

Soft sell tactics used by police interrogators that are designed to lull the suspect into a false sense of security

Question 32

Define the Maximization Technique?

Answer 32

Scare tactics used by police interrogators that are designed to intimidate a suspect believed to be guilty

Question 33

What is the difference between minimizing and maximizing techniques?

Answer 33

Minimization (False Security) – Tactics include sympathy, excuses, and justification. Officer says things that make the suspect more inclined to admit guilt.
Maximization (Scare Tactics) – Tactics include: exaggerating the seriousness of an offence; false claims about evidence. Examples are referring to non-existence of eyewitness testimonies and mentioning non-existent video surveillance.

Question 34

Define the Reid Model.

Answer 34

A nine-step model of interrogation used frequently in North America to extract confessions from suspects

Question 35

What is the nine-step procedure in stage 3 of the Reid Model?

Answer 35

1. Suspect is immediately confronted with their guilt
2. Psychological themes are then developed
3. Interrogator interrupts any statements of denial by the suspect
4. Interrogator overcomes suspect’s objections to the charges
5. Hold the suspects attention (ensure suspect doesn’t tune out of interrogation)
6. Interrogator urges confession by presenting sympathy and understanding
7. Suspect is offered self-incriminating explanations to the crime ex. It was accidental
8. Once the suspect accepts responsibility for the crime, Interrogator develops admission into a full confession
9. Finally, the interrogator gets the suspect to write and sign a full confession

Question 36

What is criminal profiling? Describe its historical roots.

Answer 36

Criminal profiling is a technique for identifying the personality and behavioral features of an offender based on an analysis of the crimes they have committed. Historically, it came about in order to assist police officers to identify the criminal by narrowing down lists of suspects or providing new ideas.

Question 37

What are the different types of false confessions? Include and relevant cases that can be used as examples.

Answer 37

1) Voluntary – a false confession that is provided without any elicitation from the police Ex. JonBenet Ramsey Case
2) Coerced-Compliant False Confession – occurs in response to a desire to escape further interrogation or to gain a promised reward Ex. Gerry Conlon and the IRA bombings
3) Coerced-Internalized False Confession – results from highly suggestive interrogations. The confessor comes to believe that they did commit the crime (i.e. internalizes) Ex. The Paul Ingram Case

Question 38

Describe the main concept from the Ted Talk video from the Week 1 PPT.

Answer 38

• Studies how humans remember crimes

* He suggests that even close-up eyewitnesses to a crime can create “memories” they could not have seen

Question 39

Describe the difference between expert witness & an expert Testimony?

Answer 39

Expert Witness – a witness who provides the court with information (often an opinion on a particular matter) that assists the court in understanding an issue of relevance to a case.
Expert Testimony - Testimony about a scientific, technical, or professional issue given by a person qualified to testify because of familiarity with the subject or special training in the field.

Question 40

What are the three main problems with Reid.

Answer 40

1) Assumes that police officers can accurately detect deception when little evidence supports this assumption
2) Officers enter the accusatorial interrogation with the belief that the suspect is guilty, which can lead to inappropriate biases
3) Coercive techniques used in this model may elicit false confessions

Question 41

Why is the R.V. Oickle (2000) case significant to the field of forensic psychology ?

Answer 41

Presented border-line techniques used by the police in interrogation to obtain a confession, where a judge actually thought the police were using coercive techniques to obtain a confession. However, the conviction was restored at the Supreme Court Level.

Question 42

What are the 3 types of false confessions?

Answer 42

1) Voluntary – a false confession that is provided without any elicitation from the police Ex. JonBenet Ramsey Case
2) Coerced-Compliant False Confession – occurs in response to a desire to escape further interrogation or to gain a promised reward Ex. Gerry Conlon and the IRA bombings
3) Coerced-Internalized False Confession – results from highly suggestive interrogations. The confessor comes to believe that they did commit the crime (i.e. internalizes) Ex. The Paul Ingram Case