Social Psychology and the Law Questions & Answers 2024/2025

Social Psychology and the Law Questions & Answers 2024/2025 identifying the types of psychological disorders most likely to lead people to engage in criminal behavior - ANSWER-Waleska is a social psychologist who studies the legal system. Which objectives would she be least likely to pursue in her research? a. improving the ability of police officers to determine when a criminal suspect is lying b. determining under what circumstances jurors are best able to understand and follow a judge's instructions c. assessing how judges apply sentencing guidelines to complex cases d. identifying the types of psychological disorders most likely to lead people to engage in criminal behavior inaccurate eyewitnesses. - ANSWER-Recent DNA exoneration cases have revealed the most common cause of mistaken convictions to be a. a coerced confession. b. false alibis. c. racially biased juries. d. inaccurate eyewitnesses. juries are not well-informed about many of the factors that influence eyewitness accuracy. - ANSWER-Research concerning eyewitness testimony has demonstrated that a. a coerced confession. b. eyewitness identifications are generally not susceptible to situational biases. c. juries are not well-informed about many of the factors that influence eyewitness accuracy. d. judges and lawyers are well aware of the limitations of eyewitness testimony. encoding - ANSWER-A witness's consumption of alcohol is most likely to pose problems for the ____ of memory, which involves the person's perception of events as they take place. a. encoding b. storage c. retrieval d. consolidation 75 - ANSWER-According to Evans et al., (2009) approximately ____ percent of police officers reported that they routinely encounter witnesses who are drunk or under the influence of drugs when committing a crime or being interviewed by the police. a. 24 b. 41 c. 59 d. 75 higher anxiety levels were associated with less accurate eyewitness identification. - ANSWER-When Valentine and Mesout (2009) fitted visitors to the London Dungeon with a wireless heart monitor, they found that a. higher anxiety levels were associated with more accurate eyewitness identification. b. higher anxiety levels were associated with less accurate eyewitness identification. c. heart rate corresponded to arousal level. d. heart rate corresponded to the number of perpetrators encountered. weapon - ANSWER-Emily has just witnessed a violent crime. She is very worked up about it. In this agitated state, Emily is most likely to focus on the a. weapon. b. culprit. c. setting. d. victim. weapon-focus effect. - ANSWER-The tendency for the presence of a weapon to draw attention and impair a witness's ability to identify a culprit is called the a. weapon-focus effect. b. distraction effect. c. inattention phenomenon. d. CSI effect. weapon-focus effect - ANSWER-After Natalie testifies in court that she witnessed the defendant committing an armed robbery, a memory expert is called to testify on behalf of the defense. The expert testifies that Natalie's ability to encode the information accurately was probably impaired. Which factor did the expert most likely have in mind when he questioned Natalie's ability to acquire the information accurately? a. weapon-focus effect b. reconstructive memory c. misleading questions d. leniency bias spend more time looking at the knife. - ANSWER-Prida has witnessed a violent crime involving a knife. Research suggests that he will be less likely to identify the culprit than in a situation where no knife was present because Prida will a. be less aroused. b. focus more on the victim. c. spend more time looking at the knife. d. be too afraid to remember anything accurately. cross-race identification bias. - ANSWER-The tendency for people to be more accurate at recognizing members of their own racial group than of other groups is called the a. in group homogeneity effect. b. out group homogeneity effect. c. own-race identification bias. d. cross-race identification bias. Christopher, who is the same race as the thief - ANSWER-Tony, Silvio, Paulie, and Christopher were all in the convenience store when it was robbed. Who is likely to be the most reliable eyewitness? a. Tony, who was the only one to notice that the thief was brandishing a gun b. Silvio, who was extremely frightened by the whole incident c. Paulie, who was drunk at the time of the crime d. Christopher, who is the same race as the thief age group - ANSWER-According to the research of Rhodes & Anastasi (2012), children, young adults, and the elderly all had difficulty recognizing others who were part of a different ____ than their own. a. neighborhood b. age group c. ethnicity d. religion the reconstructive nature of memory. - ANSWER-Eyewitnesses' reports of crime details can be altered by exposure to post-event information. This results from a. the reliance on peremptory challenges. b. the reconstructive nature of memory. c. normative influence pressures. d. the positive coercion bias. the wording affected the participants' memory for the accident. - ANSWER-Loftus and Palmer (1974) manipulated the wording of questions posed to participants who witness a filmed traffic accident. Their findings suggest that a. the wording affected the participants' memory for the accident. b. the wording did not affect the participants' memory for the accident. c. witnesses often store multiple, contradictory memories for a single event. d. most eyewitness errors have to do with problems that arise during encoding. misinformation effect. - ANSWER-The tendency for false post-event information to become integrated into a person's memory for the event is called the a. misinformation effect. b. familiarity-induced bias. c. leniency bias. d. positive coercion bias. false memories tended to occur in the auditory cortex. - ANSWER-Stark and others (2010) showed participants slides of a man stealing a woman's wallet and slipping it in his jacket. Then an auditory recording recounted the event, stating that the wallet had been slipped into his pants. The results showed that a. false memories tended to occur in the visual cortex. b. false memories tended to occur in the auditory cortex. c. false memories rarely occurred. d. memories could be accurately retrieved if participants visualized the crime. Some believe that post-event information actually alters a witness's real memory, whereas others believe it affects only the reporting of the memory. - ANSWER-Which statement most accurately summarizes an important point of controversy that has been debated among researchers who study reconstructive memory? a. Some believe that post-event information actually alters a witness's real memory, whereas others believe it affects only the reporting of the memory. b. Some believe that post-event information can bias an eyewitness's reporting of an event, whereas others believe that only information that is learned during acquisition can bias an eyewitness's reporting. c. Some believe that scientific jury selection is an effective way to reduce the chances that jurors will be biased by reconstructive memory, whereas others believe that this strategy is unethical. d. Some believe that the use of peremptory challenges leads to false memories, whereas others believe it helps ensure accurate memories. they may be especially susceptible to the effects of repetitive questions. - ANSWER-Research on children's memory for events demonstrates that a. they may be especially susceptible to the effects of repetitive questions. b. they are particularly resistant to the effects of suggestive questions and misinformation. c. children witness often completely fabricate events in order to deceive adults. d. children usually make better witnesses because they are more honest than adults. questioning in a group setting - ANSWER-. Which of the following has not been shown to bias a child's memory report? a. repeating the question b. introducing misinformation c. leading questions d. questioning in a group setting she observes the suspect and foils one at a time rather than together in a single lineup. - ANSWER-Cathy witnesses a carjacking. A few days later, she is called to the police station to identify the culprit from a lineup. Cathy is most likely to be accurate if a. the police tell her that the culprit is in the lineup. b. one of the men in the lineup resembles the description that Cathy had given the police, while the other men in the lineup look very different from that description. c. she is first presented with some mug shots and then views a lineup containing one of the men whose mug shot she has seen. d. she observes the suspect and foils one at a time rather than together in a single lineup. continues..