unit 2 Flashcards
confirmation bias
once the eye witness have identified a suspect as the perpetrator then they stop looking – look for info to conform what we think
encoding
what people notice and perceive: tend to overestimate the length of time for a brief incident but underestimate the time of a lengthy incident
Change blindness
people can be blind to changes in their environment
What did Loftus, et al. study tell us?
Found that people’s memory for the perpetrators face was worse when he had a gun vs. the check since they’re looking at the gun
Misinformation effect
mis remember where the information came from: think memory but came from someone else/reading about it
Unconscious transference
the generation of memory that is related to an incident, but is not relevant to the issue being considered
What did Robert Buckhout study tell us?
mix up memories: more likely to assume a regular customer is the perpetrator instead of a stranger
system variable
factors under control are the criminal justice system - not leading questions, how line ups are conducted
estimator variable
factors beyond the control of justice system whose impact needs to be estimated
reflector variable
does not directly affect the reliability of an identification but it is a measurement of some process that correlates with reliability (e.g. time)
cross race effect
people are worse at identifying someone of a different race then they are
Exposure: on average people are exposed to those of the same race more often than those who are different
Physiognomic differences: what features are best to distinguish – may pay attention to different features that aren’t as distinguishable in a different race
Ingroup/outgroup categorization: people tend to see ingroup memories as more differentiated while outgroup members are all alike
hypnosis retrieval methods
o Age regression retrieval: technique where they have them remember the event as if it’s happening to them now
o Television retrieval technique: acting as an observer
effects/dangers of hypnosis
- Hypermnesia: remembering more during their hypnotized state than their conscious state
- Subjects relax their standards for reporting information. Approximations are accepted as truth, and subjects are extremely suggestible
- Those hypnotized find it difficult to separate actual memories from those generated under hypnosis
- Memory hardening: memory becomes more formed – both good and bad because don’t want them to remember things that are untrue or traumatic
- More responsive to leading questions
what did the State V. Hurd case give us?
rules for using hypnosis for memory retrieval
what is a good substitute for hypnosis?
- The cognitive interview: re-create the scene mentally and report everything they remember
o Establish rapport with the witness and make them comfortable
o Ask the witness to provide a narrative account of the event
o Probes for details with specific questions
Works in getting more detail but on the downside, they report more detail but also more fulse information
what did cutler and penrods’s study tell us?
sequential presentation leads to more accurate identification because they can compare it to their memory instead of each other
Janet Reno and Gary wells justice department guidelines
o Investigators should use open-ended questions when questioning witnesses; leading questions may taint witness’ memory
o The person conducting the lineup should make it clear that the suspect may or may not be present
o The fillers or foils in the lineup or photospread should match the physical features of the suspect and the features the witness reported
o The witness should be asked (and this recorded) how sure they are of their identification after the initial identification because sustacant effects impact their hypothesis
o Gary wells’ New additions
Lineups should be sequential
Witnesses should be videotaped about how sure they are of their identification
The people conducting the lineups should not know who the suspect is
what did the Loftus study teach us?
People find eyewitness testimony very convincing, even if there’s reasons they shouldn’t because they think it’s more accurate
- Can more accurately identify someone when you can see their whole face and for a longer period of time: we think people can be way more accurate then they actually can
What makes a child’s account more reliable?
- Children’s accounts are more accurate when they participate with the individual rather than merely observe
What makes a child’s account more reliable in lineups?
o They had extended contact with the person, and
o The person is actually in the lineup: more likely to just pick somebody
Elimination lineups work better with kids: when you show a photo one at a time and ask them yes or no, answer after every photo
What did the state vs. Michaels case teach us?
the interrogations revealed a lack of impartiality on the part of detectives; elicited information the kids had not previously mentioned
o Guilty people could go free, and non guilty people could be seen as guilty
suggestive questioning
introducing new information into the interview that the child does not previously provide
interviewer bias
preconceived notions on the part of the interviewer causes them to frame questions differently; elicit answers consistent with their prior beliefs
social influences
highly supportive interviewers can elicit more true responses unless biased reinforcement comes into play
Why are suggestive interviewing techniques so impactful for kids?
o Have a hard time distinguishing fantasy vs. reality and so may not be able to distinguish what really happened
Creating a mental picture of the “event”
what did the paco Perez study teach us?
o Classroom visitor and the effects of positive consequences/reinforcement
o Children reinforced were much more likely to make false allegations (35%) than those in the control group (12%)
o False allegations persisted through subsequent interviews and children insisted that the memories were correct
- In reality, children can usually disclose any sort of abuse when questioned – suggestive interviewing techniques are rarely useful
what are good interviewing techniques for children?
- Asking child open-ended questions
- Have child put event in own words first
- Ask them simple Qs and soon after the event
- Non-threatening atmosphere: no suggestions or pressure
- Check if the reports are highly consistent over time
- Ask the child if different persons are responsible for the same event
How do standards change for children in sexual abuse?
- Relaxed standards:
o Elimination of competency evaluations before testifying (even in those as young as 3 or 4(
o Admitting uncorroborated testimony
o Confrontation clause (6th amendment) – have right to confront accuser
Allowing testifying over closed-circuit TV (Maryland V. Craig, 1990) – child so traumatized that she couldn’t be in the same room: only allowed with strong justification as to why
Admitting the testimony through adults (hearsay) (Idaho V. Wright, 1990) – doctor allowed to testify for kid, courts agreed with mom and that the doctor’s testimony was hearsay but if trained interviewer if it would have been okay
o Can children testify?
Linguistic repertoire: vocabular/speech
Distinguish truth from lie
Willingness to speak
o Jurors are more likely to believe younger kids in sex abuse cases (children lack sex knowledge) other then that they are more likely to believe older children
o 8-10 yr olds had poorer memory and higher stress than older children
What did Goodman et al. study teach us?
no diff in conviction, but tv child viewed as less believable when shown in trial (even though more accurate)
Belief in a Just world theory
- Just world theory claims that people have a need to believe the world is fair (learner 1980)
- Thus knowing an innocent person has been victimized threatens the image of a just world, and this motivates observers to restore justice in some way
o We have to believe that the world is fair and that our good begavior will pay off in order for us to behave in a good way
o BJW is motivation. If it is threatened one is going to have to do something to restore it.
Strategies for restoring BJW
- Reward/help the victim: first response
- “irrational” strategies: denying that the injustice took place
o Denial (minimizing harm that was done) / withdrawal (don’t listen/watch anything with injustice)
o Reinterpreting the outcome so that it was positive (benefit finding): looking for the good things in bad events
o Ultimate justice: payoff will come eventually even if it doesn’t come immedietly
o Victim derogation: they deserve this bad thing because they are a bad person
o Victim blame: something bad happened because they’re behavior was wrong
What did Bulman and wortman study teach us?
o Blaming behavior, helped victims cope
o But those who blamed their character was bad for their coping
what did Rubin and Peplau study teach us?
Victim derogation by victims themselves: People chosen for the draft saw themselves as less deserving people
victimology
Ex: victim impact statement: how victim has been affected by the crime
* Influence type of punishment
* Gives victim more voice in the sentencing part of a trial
what did the ACE study teach us?
o Adverse childhood exerpeinces are much more common than anticipated or recognized
o Adverse childhood experiences have a strong relationship with health outcomes later in life
What did Widom teach us?
found that abused or neglected children were significantly more likely than a comparison group to have been arrested for violent crimes as juveniles or as adults
o Most of the abused in the study did not commit a crime it’s just that when compared they were more likely
when is PTSD most likely to develop?
o Trauma related to crime
o Lack social support
o View world as hostile, feel helpless
how does socialized therapy help for PTSD?
o Letting people know negative responses normal
o Relaxation training
o Diminish fear reaction
o Cognitive restrucring
Battered spouse myths
o Battered women are free to leave at any time
o Battered women provoke the assault
o Battering is a lower-class problem
what did Ewing, et al., study teach us?
how many people endorse myths?
1/3 endorsed battered spuses myths and women were just as likely as men to endorse
what did Walker teach us with cycle of violence
tension building: violence isn’t esplicite but violence and negativity
- incident: acute battery/harm
- contrite phase: person apologizes and promises to never do it again
o however cycle so just starts over again
- Walker found the cycle not experienced in 1/3 of cases
What was Duttons explanation for why the cycle of violence isn’t experience in 1/3 of cases?
maybe due to borderline personality disorder
o Unstable moods and behvaior which accounts for the 1/3 of cases that don’t have the same patterns
What did Leslie Emick and Marshall Allison case teach us about self-defence for battered spouses?
most often punishment is probation or life in jail
What are the symptoms of battered women syndrome?
o Learned helplessness: learned there is nothing they can do to escape their punishment
o Social isolation, economic dependence: no alternatives : one’s that kill are usually totally dependent on partner
o Fearful of mate
o Low self-esteem, guilt/shame for actions, resentment
o Hypervigilant to danger cues of mate
Don’t see that there are other options that they could take
Some feel like this perpetuates the stereotype
Follingstand assesment of self defense by psychologist
Seriousness of threatened harm: do they have reason to think their life is in danger
Imminence
Rule of retreat: did the women have options to leave
Reasonableness of actions
o Self defence
Hearing expert: less options, believe claim
* Expert testimony helps in helping them be convinced of self defense
o Overall, most are convinced, but sentences vary widely
How are rape cases different then normal cases?
only half of reported cases result in arrest
o Defense is open to attack character in court
o 13% rate of conviction in the US (25% for assaults and 75% for murders): lower then other violent crimes because defense is open to attack victims character in court (they consented and here’s their history)
characteristics of rapists
- High sexual arousal in response to aggression
- Attitudes that justify aggressive actions against women
- Loss of control
- Antisocial personality disorder
female rape myths
- Women cannot be raped against their will
- Women secretly want to get raped
- Most accusations of rape are faked
- Ideology associated with endorsement of myths
o Sexual conservatism: people more conservative about sex are more judgmental about situations where sex can occur
o Adversarial sexual beliefs: men and women are basically at war
o Acceptance of interpersonal violence: think violence is a good way to solve problems
o Sex role stereotyping: women passing and less in control and males pursuing
male rape myths
- Impossible for a man to rape a man
- It is impossible for a women to rape a man
- Most men who are raped by a women do not need counseling after the incident
o People think a man being raped by a man is worse
Dismissal that a women can rape a man
PTSD phases
o Acute: regain control (examination: secondary victimization (not believed))
o False recovery: flashbacks, phobias
o Normal: 4-6 years later (74%)
- Longterm: anxiety, depression fear
rape and the law
- Penalty used to be death
- Resistance or nonconsent standard: in order to claim to be a victim there has not be an indication that they resisted but it’s now a nonconsent standard that the person didn’t consent
o “she didn’t say no” - Degrees (varies by state)
o 1st degree: a person commits the offense of rape in the first degree if he or she has sexual intercouse with another person who is incapitated, incapable of consent, or lacks the capacity to consent, or by the use of forcible compulsion
o 2nd degree: a person commits the offense of rape in the seocound degree if he or she has sexual intercourse with another person knowing that he or she does so without that person’s concent - Spousal rape: was not a crime for a little bit since they consented to be married however still shorter report period for rape, and higher standard that victim has to show force or threat proved by victim
jurors’ rulings on rape
o Less credible complaint the longer the two know each other: rape most often happens from two who know each other
o More empathy if know a rape victim
rape interventions
o Identify risky behaviors
o Identify effective strategies
Problems: suggests rape is avoidable if behave “correctly”
- Target potential perpetrators
o Change rape-support attitudes
o Problems: less effective
Dilemma because don’t want to come off as victim blaming but it’s more effective to tell
- Target perpetrators
o Chemical castration
What did Oncale V. Sundowner offshore services teach us about sexual harassment?
same-sex harassment is sexual harassment
- Women conceive more things as sexual harassment then men
What is hostile sexism?
men are superior
o Less likely to perceive sexual harassment
What is benevolent sexism
protection of weaker sex, or promotions based on sex
o More likely to perceive sexual harassment
What is quid pro quo sexual harassment?
bargain for sex – need to show it occurred
What s hostile workplace sexual harassment?
gender, or unwanted attention – repeated offenses need to be shown
Reasonable person standard and Harris v. Forklift systems inc case
o Standard for judging hostile workplace: would a reasonable person find that these comments stop them from doing their work
Before that they had to show that they were distressed by the harassment
o Problem: Reasonable women or reasonable man?
Differences between what men and women find tolerable so which one?
Why and when does sexual harassment occur?
- Social norms of workplace
- Personality differences
o Male dominated workplace
o Those in power more likely - When is it reported?
o Quid pro quo is more likely to be reported since hostile needs to be repeated
what does Stalans adn henry tell us about offenders as victims
varied whether murder victim was perpetrator of abuse or not and weather he killed his father or a neighbor
People were most sympathetic to victim if he was abused by his father and killed his father
However, if abused by father and killed his neighbor people didn’t care that he was abused since the neighbor was innocent
More sympathetic if they kill person who abused them
what did Pinizzotto and Finkel determine about validity of profiling?
Found that profilers were more accurate for sex offence but not for murder
What did Hoffman and Kennedy teach us about validity of profiling?
o Different kinds of crime scenes can be classified with reasonable reliability and correlate with certain characteristics of killers
Suggests profiling should work
o But
Inaccurate profiles are common: serial snipers 2002
Profile statistics are based on a small number of one-on-one interviews with murderers, by FBI agents
Approaches used are not always systematic – profiling is an art
What did serial snipers 2002 teach us about validity of profiling?
Inaccurate profiles are common
What did Bond and DePaulo find on detecting deception?
determined that people are correct only 54% of the time, hardly more than chance
What are the methods for detecting deception?
o Nonverbal cues: fidgeting
Same verbal cues that suggest someone is lying is the same as being nervous
o Verbal cues: what are they actually saying
Higher pitch when they’re lying
Give more detail when they’re telling the truth
Say they don’t remember when telling the truth
o Cognitive load interviews: people are using up more of their mental resources
Tell what happened and memorize a list of words: harder for them to lie when they are focused on something else
What did Frye V. United States teach us about polygraphs?
His appeal was denied because there was not enough scientific agreement over the procedure
What standards did Larson develop to determine if polygraphs should be used in court?
o Measure emotion by heart rate, blood pressure, sweat, breathing rate
o Asks relevant questions pertaining to the crime and compare to non-stressful irrelevant questions like birthdate
o Assumption: if someone is not lying their physiological response will be the same to both questions
o Problems: people can clearly tell what the relevant questions are, increased stress so might see a spike even if they are telling the truth
The control question polygraph test
: to address problems
* John Reid created it
* Gathers biographical info., convinces subject that the machine is infallible (important technique)
* Ask crime relevant questions and irrelevant (but emotional) questions
o People still know what relevant questions are though
The concealed knowledge polygraph (or guilty knowledge) test
- Developed by Lykken because of his stark criticism of all other polygraph tests
- Goal is to detect “guilty knowledge” and not necessarily
o Everyone asked the same question, with multiple choice answers to see the reaction that causes the response
Gets around comparing different answers to each other
Problem with this is that there has to be information that is not widely known, some may have guilty knowledge even if they’re innocent
polygraphs and confessions
Many criminals confess when “hooked up”, because they are convinced of the validity of the test – BUT that means it can also induce false confessions
Ground truth
what does the guilty person’s test look like compared to the innocent peoples?
o Can set up a lab study to determine truth but in a criminal investigation we can’t guarantee that someone is lying or telling the truth so hard to really know what a guilty person’s test looks like
misleading base rates in polygraph tests
too many false positives (deemed guilty when innocent) and false negatives (deemed innocent when guilty)
o Subjective on what the rate is, it’s better than chance but is that enough
field study problem with polygraph tests
based on real – life, high stakes, situations – motivated to avoid detection
o Lab studies – stakes are not high enough – no “real” punishment attached
Hard to do research in establishing how accurate it is
the problem with countermeasures in polygraph tests
deliberately arousing self during irrelevant questions (thinking of something upsetting, pinching your skin, pain), using drugs, etc.
Sax et al’s reserach on polygraph tests
18.2% false positives, 11.5% false negatives
- Total overall accuracy rates are at least 65% or better
other lie detection methods
- Cortical measures: measure the brain’s event-related potentials. Different evoked potentials are found when people are confronted with familiar stimuli (crime scene photos) than with unfamiliar stimuli
o Polygraph
o fMRI: blood flow to different reasons of the brain, lying looks different then telling the truth
expensive so might not get very widespread
State v. Dorsey polygraph admissibility in court
New Mexico consistently allows polygraph tests if administered by qualifying operation
united states V. scheffer polygraph admissibility in court
polygraphs shall not be admitted in military courts
united states V. Galbreth polygraph admissibility in court
: a judge uses the Daubert standards and allowed Raskin to testify that the accused was not being deceptive
o Whether the theory or technique can be and has been tested
o Whether the theory or technique has been subject to peer review or publication
o The known or potential rate of error of the technique or theory
o The existence and maintenance of standard control the technique’s operation
o Whether the technique is generally accepted within the relevant scientific community
Judge determines whether it meets standards and can be used
Cavoukian and Heslegrave’s study on polygraph acquittal rates
o No polygraph: 48% conviction
o Polygraph showing innocent: 72% acquittal rates
o Polygraph showing innocent plus judge’s instructions about now it’s not infallible: 60% acquittal
evaluating confessions
- When the police capture suspects, one of their 1st acts is to encourage a confession
- Police ALEAYS try to elicit a confession
- Once a confession has been elicited, it can later be recanted – but how will jurors react to this?
o Judge’s reaction: they hate recanted confessions because judge feels like they’re wasting everyone’s time and so give harsher punishments
o Jurors find a confession even when recanted that they did it - Kassin found that confession are more incriminating than eye witness testimony, or character testimony
confessions
- Only those that are voluntary can be admitted into court. Three gray areas:
o Promise of a lenient sentence told they can get an easier sentence if they confess
o Threatened with severe punishment: we’ll go after the death penalty unless you confess
Brown v. Mississippi
supreme court overturned the conviction of three black men for the murder of a white man because they were Whipped, Hanged from a tree and Stripped naked and beaten
o Coerced confessions are untrustworthy, offensive to the system and only serve to increase police brutality
o Coercion should not be allowed
Forms of brutality
use of drugs, sleep deprivation, lack of food, prolonged interrogations
- Mental disease or retardation are not enough to throw out a confession
Jackson v. Denno
if there’s an indication that confession was involuntary, defendants are entitled to a pretrial hearing in order to determine whether the confession was coerced
Arizona V. Fulminate
admitting a coerced confession does not taint a verdict
Why do innocent suspects falsely confess?
- Between 1966 and 2007, there were approximately 250 documented false confessions in the U.S.
- False confessions were involved in 15-20% of cases in which DNA evidence led to exoneration
Voluntary false confessions
Desire for publicity, self-punitiveness (feel guilty for something), or various bizarre reasons
Coerced - compliant false confessions
confess under pressure but don’t truly believe in own guilt
o 1980’s Maplewood/Richmond heights MO: confess because they are scared that they will be killed
o Brown vs. Mississippi who were beaten
o Often involves physical torture or threats
Coerced – internalized false confessions
truly believe in guilt despite actual innocence
o Why might a person internalized a false confession
2 components
* Vulnerable suspect: young (teenagers are more likely to confess then adults), mental illness, interrogation
* Lying about evidence: police blame innocent person by bringing in false evidence
Marty Tankleff
thinks he must have done it since his “dad” recognized him as a killer but the police had lied telling him that so he thought he must have
How do you prove a confession is false?
- Impossible for confessors to commit crime
- Find real perpetrator
- Evidence clears confessor
Kassin & Kiechel
Vulnerability and lying about evidence increases the likelihood of signing the confession
Indicates some internalization
“confabulation” falsely creating memory details
Kassin % sukel
If didn’t confess, judged guilty a lot less, equally guilty with high/low confession but a little less under high pressure
* Even when clearly coerced, confessions still increase
Entrapment
o Legal defense starting: (1) yes I committed the crime, but my behavior was induced by law enforcement pressure, and (2) I was not predisposed to commit this crime
Sting: police set up an opportunity for someone to commit a crime
* Passive: not approaching anyone but creating opportuny for crime to happen
* Active: police approach someone and ask them to commit a crime under cover
* When judge/jury thinking if they buy this offense
o Subjective approach: look at person’s history and ask if they are likely to commit this crime
o Objective approach: What were policies behavior
* Most states use the subjective approach; ut both approaches are used by the supreme court
Jackson v. united states: won the case, example of objective and subjective approach
