Exam 1

Question 1

What is the primary contributing factor to cases of wrongful imprisonment in death penalty cases?

Answer 1

Official Misconduct

Question 2

What factors have a large versus small impact on wrongful convictions in cases of child sex abuse, sexual assault, homicide and other crimes?

Answer 2

Large: Perjury/False Accusation

Small: False Confession

Question 3

Does race matter in the rates of wrongful convictions in the US? If so, how?

Answer 3

Yes

Race of Accused is correlated with Wrongful Conviction

Risk is much higher for blacks than whites

Question 4

Are there people on death row who are innocent? If so, what percentage?

Answer 4

Yes

1/9

Question 5

What is the primary issue in the famous US Supreme Court cases of Roper v. Simmons (2005) and Miller v. Alabama (2012)?

Answer 5

Juveniles being sentenced to severe sentences

Death Penalty; Life Without Parole

Question 6

What does research on cognitive neuroscience say about brain development during adolescence and early adulthood?

Answer 6

Brain development often does not reach completion until age 25

Decision-Making, Impulsivity, Planning

Frontal Lobe

Question 7

Does poverty have an impact on brain development? If so, how?

Answer 7

Poverty has negative impact on brain development

• Smaller white and cortical gray
  matter
• Less development in the hippocampus and amygdala

Question 8

Can a juvenile be prosecuted for sexting?

Answer 8

Yes

Question 9

What is meant by a death qualified jury?

Answer 9

All jurors are deemed competent to be able to consider the death penalty

Question 10

Describe the memory process

Answer 10

Perception –> Encoding –> Consolidation –> Storage –> Retrieval

Question 11

What is meant by encoding, storage, and retrieval?

Answer 11

• Encoding: Acquiring sensory information
• Storage: Retention of information
• Retrieval: Accessing stored information

Question 12

How is memory reconstructive in nature?

Answer 12

• It does not work like a video camera
• Memory changes over time
• The brain tends to “fill in” information that may not be correct

Question 13

What guidelines are in existence for how to collect eyewitness identification evidence?

Answer 13

• Compose Lineup Properly
• Conduct Lineup Properly
• Give Witnesses Proper Instructions (Non-Influential)
• Document Results

Question 14

How did the Department of Justice guidelines on the collection of identification evidence come about from DNA research on those convicted of crimes?

Answer 14

Psychological Testing on past crime scenes (?)

Question 15

Describe the research by Elizabeth Loftus on the misleading question effect. What does this research show us about how memory works?

Question 16

What is the design of a typical suggestibility experiment?

Answer 16

Perpetrates bias by creating false memories in an individual after being given information by others

Question 17

What is a sequential lineup?

Answer 17

A lineup technique where a witness is shown each member of the lineup individually, one at a time

Question 18

Why is a sequential lineup an improvement over a simultaneous lineup?

Answer 18

Likelihood of mistaken identification is noticeably decreased

Question 19

If you were to give a police training seminar on how to improve the accuracy of lineup identifications, what would you recommend?

Answer 19

• Sequential Lineup method
• Do not show witnesses a single individual in multiple lineups
• Do not speak to witnesses in a way that encourages them to feel like they have to make a decision (ex. “Take another look”)

Question 20

Describe the Department of Justice Guidelines for how to conduct photospreads and lineups

Answer 20

• Tell witness that perpetrator may or may not be in the lineup
• Sequential presentation
• Blind administration

Question 21

List and explain at least 4 procedures that should be used for collecting identification evidence

Answer 21

• Instructions:
• Lineup Content
• Lineup Presentation Method
• Behavioral Influence of Lineup Administrator

Question 22

In the case of State of Tennessee v. Coley what did the TN Supreme Court say about the admissibility of expert testimony on eyewitness identification?

Answer 22

• Inadmissable
• Eyewitness memory is “common sense”
• False claim that there is lack of research
• Too much influence on juries
• Belief that jury instructions on evaluating a witness is sufficient enough

Question 23

Is the decision in Coley consistent with the Department of Justice Guidelines for how to conduct photospreads and lineups? Explain

Answer 23

It does not affect photospreads and lineups

?

Question 24

Is the decision in TN v. Coley consistent with the idea of using social science data in court?

Answer 24

No

Question 25

What is an Amicus Brief?

Answer 25

* Impartial "friend of the court" * Asks court's permission to give a brief with the purpose of influencing the judge/jurors' decision

Question 26

What is a Cognitive Interview?

Answer 26

An interviewing procedure that utilizes methods of social communication and scientific knowledge of memory retrieval

Question 27

What type of memory are Cognitive Interviews designed to improve?

Answer 27

Retrieval/Recall memory

Question 28

How does a Cognitive Interview work?

Answer 28

Each memory has "pieces" --> Each piece has a pathway that can access it

Question 29

What are system and estimator variables?

Answer 29

* **System**: Factors that influence the validity of eyewitness identifications that are controlled by the criminal justice system * **Estimator**: Factors that influence the validity of eyewitness identifications but are not controlled by the criminal justice system. Instead, their impact on eyewitness' validity can only be estimated

Question 30

How are system and estimator variables useful in trying to understand whether eyewitness testimony is accurate or inaccurate?

Answer 30

They allow for investigators to prevent errors and to better understand situations in which eyewitnesses experience deficits in their memory/perception

Question 31

What is recall memory? Give an example

Answer 31

A core mental process of retrieving information from the past * **Example**: Misidentifying perpetrator in lineup because witness had seen him or her somewhere else before

Question 32

What is recognition memory? Give an example

Answer 32

* Ability of being able to recognize information as familiar * Requires cue * **Example**: Identifying perpetrator during sequential lineup

Question 33

How does recall and recognition memory apply to the legal system?

Answer 33

Eyewitnesses use both recall and recognition memory when doing tasks, such as identifying from lineups and reporting details from the crime

Question 34

What was found in the study by Ross and his colleagues on whether eyewitness testimony is commonsense to jurors?

Answer 34

* Eyewitness memory is not commonsense * Jurors and police have significantly less knowledge about eyewitness memory than experts * Jurors are unable to identify an accurate vs. inaccurate witness * Jurors often over-believe eyewitnesses, especially when they are confident

Question 35

How are the findings in the Ross study correlated with the decision in TN v. Coley?

Answer 35

TN Supreme Court overturned TN v. Coley (TN v. Copeland), allowing eyewitness experts to testify and acknowledging that they are necessary

Question 36

What is a blind lineup administration? Why is it important?

Answer 36

The administrator conducting a lineup does not know who the suspect is * Important because it prevents any defense argument that a witness was misled by the investigator

Question 37

What should a detective do when selecting the photos to put in the lineup?

Answer 37

* Do not put a suspect in multiple lineups * Do not put a filler in multiple lineups * Ensure fillers resemble suspect's description

Question 38

What instructions should police give to a witness before presenting a lineup?

Answer 38

They should tell the witness that the perpetrator may or may not be present in the lineup

Question 39

What is meant by the “10-12 second rule” in lineup identification?

Answer 39

Accurate identifications are more likely to occur in the first 10-12 seconds after being presented with a lineup

Question 40

What did the Ross et al. study find regarding whether the “10-12 second rule” could be used to identify accurate versus inaccurate witnesses?

Answer 40

While a "pop-out" effect might occur in the first 10-12 seconds with an accurate witness, it can still occur with an inaccurate witness * An inaccurate witness may experience bias if there is a familiar person in the lineup, making it unfair

Question 41

Is the 10-12 second rule the same as the “Pop-out” effect?

Answer 41

No

Question 42

What is Automatic versus Effortful processing?

Answer 42

* **Automatic**: Unconscious/immediate processing of information * **Effortful**: Information processing requires conscious effort

Question 43

What is unconscious transference?

Answer 43

When an eyewitness misidentifies a familiar but innocent person from a lineup

Question 44

Are children susceptible to unconscious transference?

Answer 44

* Younger children are less susceptible to unconscious transference * Unconscious transference is not found to occur until ages 11-12

Question 45

Are elders susceptible to unconscious transference?

Answer 45

Elders are less likely to experience unconscious transference * They make more errors in general

Question 46

According to Bryan Stevenson’s video “We Need to Talk About an Injustice”, **What percentage of African-American men in the US between the ages of 18-30 are in jail? **

Answer 46

33.33%, or 1/3

Question 47

According to Bryan Stevenson’s video “We Need to Talk About an Injustice”, **What does Bryan Stevenson say is the most influential factor that shapes what happens to a person in the American legal system?**

Answer 47

Wealth