PSYC1001 Forensic Psychology questions with
verified answers
___________ confession rates before and after changes in laws
regarding manipulative and persuasive tactics, and similar confession
rates in the US Ans✓✓✓ Similar
9 steps used to break down the suspect's resistance Ans✓✓✓ 1.
Positive confrontation
2. Theme development
3. Handling denials
4. Overcoming objections
5. Retaining suspect's attention
6. Handling the suspect's mood
7. Creating an opportunity to confess
8. Oral confession
9. Converting an oral confession into a written one.
Setting: small, bare room
- control of things such as lighting should be inaccessible to suspect
- invasion of suspect's physical space
-one-way mirror
,Absolute judgment Ans✓✓✓ Each member of the lineup is compared
to the witness's memory. When a suspect was identified, he/she more
likely to be guilty.
Accuracy of GKT Ans✓✓✓ -very accurate at identifying innocent
participants, around 95% correctly identified
- less accurate at identifying guilty participants (false negatives), around
85% correctly identified.
Accuracy of the CQT Ans✓✓✓ Majority of guilty suspects correctly
identified
85% to 92% guilty correctly identified
- relatively large number of innocent suspects falsely identified as guilty
(false positives)
- 9% to 24% false positive errors
Accurate identification decision for target present or target absent
lineup would be to Ans✓✓✓ Correctly identify culprit for target
present lineup, or correctly reject all lineup members for target absent
lineup
Admissibility Criteria Ans✓✓✓ 1. Experts must satisfy the judge that
they have special knowledge above and beyond that of average juror
and this expertise will assist jurors.
,Admissibility Criteria: Australia Ans✓✓✓ Au and NZ are also
constrained by the Turner ruling - especially the "common knowledge"
ruling.
Expert evidence relating to eyewitness testimony is regularly
disallowed.
Evidence Act NSW (1995) abolishes common knowledge rule.
Admissibility Criteria: R v Skaf (2006) Ans✓✓✓ Psychologists allowed
to give expert evidence regarding the reliability of certain aspects of
eyewitness testimony
This was the first time in NSW
Alfred Binet (1900) asked children about button glued to poster board
Ans✓✓✓ When children were asked to describe it, the accuracy was
pretty good. However, highly misleading questions resulted in poor
accuracy "What colour was the prick attached to board?"
Aussage period of eyewitness research (1900-WWI) Ans✓✓✓ German
for "testimony"
Challenges of Providing Expert Testimony. Ans✓✓✓ The legal system
criticises psychology for
1. The lack of ecological validity of psychological research (just aren't
realistic enough)
2. Psychologists may become advocates and lose their objectivity
, 3. Psychology can intrude upon the legitimate activities of the legal
system
4. It's all common sense
Characteristics of expert witness Ans✓✓✓ Contrasts regular witnesses
who'd an only testify about what they have directly observed. Either
side can ask judge to permit expert witnesses. Expert witnesses may be
clinical psychologists or academic psychologists. In Australia it is not as
common as in US for academic psychologists to appear in court.
Coerced-compliant false confessions Ans✓✓✓ -a coerced-compliant
false confession occurs in response to a desire to escape further
interrogation, gain a promised reward, or avoid a threatened
punishment. The confessor knows that they did not commit the crime
Coerced-Internalised False Confession Ans✓✓✓ -a coerced-
internalised false confession results from highly suggestive
interrogations
-the confessor comes to believe that he/she did commit the crime
(internalises). Often starts as coerced compliant.
- some people, such as those with learning disabilities, are more
susceptible to this type of confession.
Composition of ID procedure (Gary Wells) Ans✓✓✓ Gary wells
mentioned that a good foil matches the verbal descriptions but differs
from suspect in ways not mentioned in verbal description
verified answers
___________ confession rates before and after changes in laws
regarding manipulative and persuasive tactics, and similar confession
rates in the US Ans✓✓✓ Similar
9 steps used to break down the suspect's resistance Ans✓✓✓ 1.
Positive confrontation
2. Theme development
3. Handling denials
4. Overcoming objections
5. Retaining suspect's attention
6. Handling the suspect's mood
7. Creating an opportunity to confess
8. Oral confession
9. Converting an oral confession into a written one.
Setting: small, bare room
- control of things such as lighting should be inaccessible to suspect
- invasion of suspect's physical space
-one-way mirror
,Absolute judgment Ans✓✓✓ Each member of the lineup is compared
to the witness's memory. When a suspect was identified, he/she more
likely to be guilty.
Accuracy of GKT Ans✓✓✓ -very accurate at identifying innocent
participants, around 95% correctly identified
- less accurate at identifying guilty participants (false negatives), around
85% correctly identified.
Accuracy of the CQT Ans✓✓✓ Majority of guilty suspects correctly
identified
85% to 92% guilty correctly identified
- relatively large number of innocent suspects falsely identified as guilty
(false positives)
- 9% to 24% false positive errors
Accurate identification decision for target present or target absent
lineup would be to Ans✓✓✓ Correctly identify culprit for target
present lineup, or correctly reject all lineup members for target absent
lineup
Admissibility Criteria Ans✓✓✓ 1. Experts must satisfy the judge that
they have special knowledge above and beyond that of average juror
and this expertise will assist jurors.
,Admissibility Criteria: Australia Ans✓✓✓ Au and NZ are also
constrained by the Turner ruling - especially the "common knowledge"
ruling.
Expert evidence relating to eyewitness testimony is regularly
disallowed.
Evidence Act NSW (1995) abolishes common knowledge rule.
Admissibility Criteria: R v Skaf (2006) Ans✓✓✓ Psychologists allowed
to give expert evidence regarding the reliability of certain aspects of
eyewitness testimony
This was the first time in NSW
Alfred Binet (1900) asked children about button glued to poster board
Ans✓✓✓ When children were asked to describe it, the accuracy was
pretty good. However, highly misleading questions resulted in poor
accuracy "What colour was the prick attached to board?"
Aussage period of eyewitness research (1900-WWI) Ans✓✓✓ German
for "testimony"
Challenges of Providing Expert Testimony. Ans✓✓✓ The legal system
criticises psychology for
1. The lack of ecological validity of psychological research (just aren't
realistic enough)
2. Psychologists may become advocates and lose their objectivity
, 3. Psychology can intrude upon the legitimate activities of the legal
system
4. It's all common sense
Characteristics of expert witness Ans✓✓✓ Contrasts regular witnesses
who'd an only testify about what they have directly observed. Either
side can ask judge to permit expert witnesses. Expert witnesses may be
clinical psychologists or academic psychologists. In Australia it is not as
common as in US for academic psychologists to appear in court.
Coerced-compliant false confessions Ans✓✓✓ -a coerced-compliant
false confession occurs in response to a desire to escape further
interrogation, gain a promised reward, or avoid a threatened
punishment. The confessor knows that they did not commit the crime
Coerced-Internalised False Confession Ans✓✓✓ -a coerced-
internalised false confession results from highly suggestive
interrogations
-the confessor comes to believe that he/she did commit the crime
(internalises). Often starts as coerced compliant.
- some people, such as those with learning disabilities, are more
susceptible to this type of confession.
Composition of ID procedure (Gary Wells) Ans✓✓✓ Gary wells
mentioned that a good foil matches the verbal descriptions but differs
from suspect in ways not mentioned in verbal description
