Chapter 7 Flashcards
(35 cards)
What is the main purpose of criminal profiling in law enforcement?
Criminal profiling helps narrow down investigations by identifying suspects with behavioral and personality traits inferred from the way the crime was committed.
How is criminal profiling portrayed in the media, and how does this compare to reality?
In the media, profiling is often sensationalized, but in reality, it is not well accepted in legal and psychological communities and is considered scientifically unreliable.
Why is criminal profiling often criticized in legal and psychological communities?
It is criticized because it lacks scientific evidence for its validity and reliability, and many profiles are inaccurate or overly broad.
What are some of the limitations of criminal profiling research?
Limitations include small sample sizes (e.g., FBI data), subjective methods, and a lack of clearly defined profiling practices.
What was the main finding of Pinizzotto and Finkel’s (1990) study on criminal profiling?
The study found that experienced criminal profilers were more accurate than other groups in predicting sex offenders, but there was no significant difference in accuracy for homicide cases.
What is the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) at the FBI, and what was its focus?
The BSU (1972-2014) focused on violent offenders, especially those committing bizarre or repeated crimes, studying factors like victim selection, personality traits, and offender behavior.
What is the difference between mass murderers, spree killers, and serial killers?
Mass murderers kill four or more victims in one location, usually motivated by revenge.
Spree killers kill victims at multiple locations with no cooling-off period.
Serial killers kill four or more victims at different times, often with a pattern and cooling-off period between murders.
What is the “truth bias” and how does it affect deception detection?
The truth bias is the tendency to believe others are telling the truth, which makes it challenging to accurately detect lies.
Why is the observation method of deception detection often inaccurate?
Observation is often inaccurate because there are no definitive signs of deceit, and behaviors like eye contact or fidgeting are not reliable indicators of lying.
What are the key physiological measures used in polygraph testing for deception detection?
Polygraphs measure blood pressure, electrodermal activity, and respiratory changes during questioning to assess signs of deception.
What is the cognitive method for detecting deception?
The cognitive method assumes lying is mentally taxing. It involves techniques like asking a suspect to recall events in reverse order or perform secondary tasks to increase cognitive load, making lies harder to maintain.
What are the main characteristics of serial murderers?
Serial murderers are typically white males in their early 30s, often employed, with an average education of 11th grade. They usually have a pattern for selecting victims, often prefer hands-on methods of killing, and keep souvenirs from their crimes.
What are false confessions, and how do they happen?
False confessions occur when innocent suspects admit to crimes they did not commit, often due to emotional pressure, manipulative interrogation techniques, or misunderstanding the nature of the interrogation.
Why are false confessions particularly problematic in criminal justice?
False confessions can set off a chain of errors, leading to wrongful convictions, as investigators, witnesses, and even juries may be influenced by the confession.
What reforms have been suggested to prevent false confessions?
Suggested reforms include recording interrogations to provide objective evidence and adopting practices from countries like the UK, which restrict deceptive tactics used by law enforcement.
What is the purpose of the Concealed Information Test (CIT) in polygraph examinations?
The CIT aims to detect concealed knowledge that a suspect may have, such as details about a crime, which an innocent person wouldn’t know
What are the three types of false confessions?
Voluntary Confessions: Innocent suspects confess voluntarily, often to protect someone or due to misunderstanding.
Coerced-Compliant Confessions: Suspects confess under pressure to end the interrogation, even if they didn’t commit the crime.
Coerced-Internalized Confessions: Suspects come to believe they committed the crime due to suggestive interrogation.
How do misleading police tactics contribute to false confessions?
Police may downplay the seriousness of the situation, tell suspects they are not under suspicion, or offer leniency, which can lead innocent suspects to confess.
What is one key suggestion to prevent false confessions during interrogations?
Videorecording interrogations to ensure transparency and prevent coercive or manipulative tactics by law enforcement.
Why is brain-based lie detection considered an emerging technique?
Brain-based lie detection is still in its early stages and expensive, but early studies suggest that there may be distinct brain activity patterns when people conceal information or tell lies.
In a settlement negotiation, people tend to believe that the evidence favors their position even if it doesn’t. This could be said to be an example of which of the following?
A self-serving bias
Psychologists who study decision-making have learned that the way decision alternatives are presented—as either gains or losses—can have a significant impact on a person’s choice in a process called which of the following?
Framing effects
Which of the following is true of exculpatory evidence?
It tends to show the defendant to not be guilty as charged.
Plea bargaining, a practice that has lately threatened to put the trial system out of business, has been practiced in the United States since which time period?
Middle of the 19th century
