Forensic Psychology Flashcards
(41 cards)
Define Forensic Psychology
the application of psychological knowledge and theories to all aspects of the criminal and civil justice systems
Describe the history of forensic psychology
- Hugo Munster berg = eyewitness testimony and false confessions
Describe the functions of an expert witness
- provide specialised knowledge
- provide an opinion
e.g. clinical psychologist, academic psychologist
What are some challenges of providing expert testimony
- may lose objectivity
- psychological vs legal perspectives clash
- lack of ecological validity - knowledge might not reflect the real life case
Describe admissibility criteria
- techniques must be reliable
- must be directly relevant
evaluate 3 types of expert evidence/techniques in forensics science
- Fingerprints = overall pretty accurate but occasionally made errors that lead to false convictions
- Facial mapping = no standardised techniques
- Hair analysis = prone to error
Define estimator variables and give examples of how they influence memory
present at the time of the crime and cannot be changed
- lighting
- exposure time
- distance
- physical disguise
- distraction
What is own race bias
tendency for people to have difficulty identifying people of another race
what is the easterbrook hypothesis
highly aroused witnesses have better memory for central details than peripheral details
e.g. weapons focus effect = presence of a weapon draws attention and impairs ability to identify culprit
what does the Yerkes-Dodson law say about emotional level and memory
memory is best at optimal level of arousal, but if it continues after that point, memory declines
Define system variables and give examples of how they influence memory
manipulated after the fact and impact accuracy of witness
- timing, the ebbinghaus forgetting curve suggests that a large delay between witnessing an event and giving a statement can affect memory
Describe misinformation effect and its implications
exposure to incorrect information often causes people to incorporate this into their memories
- police officers should ask open, non-leading questions to avoid memory distortion
What are some factors that increase susceptibility to the misinformation effect
- age
- suggestibility (more gullible than others)
- repetition of misinformation
Evaluate research on misinformation effect
Loftus and Palmer - leading questions car crash
contrast simple false memories and rich false memories
simple false memory = memory slightly altered/change perception
rich false memory = complete false memory
Describe and evaluate research on rich false memories
Loftus and Pickrell - lost in the mall study
- ethical issues
- ecological validity
- type of questioning
Describe the false/repressed memory debate
can traumatic memories be repressed and then recovered, or are the recovered memories “false memories”
Discuss 3 forms of evidence on the inaccuracies of IDs
- surveyed justice officials = over 70% thought false convictions occurred in less than 1% of cases
- DNA exoneration cases = prove innocence of convicted inmates, 72% were due to mistaken identification (eyewitness)
- empirical studies of ID performance = false IDs associated with very high witness confidence
Identify 5 system variables affecting the accuracy of eyewitness ID
- Identification procedures = showups and lineups
- Composition of lineup = should consist of foils that match the eyewitness’ description
- Format of ID procedure = photo lineups (unconscious transference, remember a face but don’t remember where)
- Instructions given = should be told that the suspect they may or may not be in the lineup
- Lineup presentation = simultaneous lineup vs sequential lineup (have to decide yes or no, don’t know when it will finish, fewer false identification)
Describe juror perceptions of ID evidence
- more likely to believe confident witness
- more likely to vote for conviction when there has been eyewitness ID evidence
Describe 9 ways to improve ID procedures
- conduct thorough pre-lineup interview of eyewitness
- decide when or whether to conduct lineup
- use neutral administrator to conduct lineup
- select lineup fillers so suspect doesn’t stand out
- give non suggestive pre-lineup instructions
- take a confidence statement
- video-record process
- avoid repeated procedure with same witness and suspect
- avoid “showups”
Define profiling
technique for identifying major personality and behavioural characteristics of an individual based on the crime they have committed
Describe and evaluate deductive criminal profiling
look at specific details of the crime scene and uses logical reasoning
- tailored to individual cases
- depends on evidence
Describe and evaluate inductive criminal profiling
profiling based on patterns and statistical data from previous similar crimes, looking at characteristics of known offenders who have committed similar crimes
- useful when there are similar patterns
- individual differences
