Forensic Psychology - What is Forensic Psychology + Eyewitness Testimony

Question 1

What is forensic psychology?

Answer 1

A specialised area of psychology that applies psychological theory and skills to the understanding and functioning of the legal and criminal justice system

Question 2

Name 3 roles of a forensic psychologist

Answer 2

• Forensic psychological assessments
• Assessing dangerousness, lie detection, the insanity defence, eyewitness testimony
• Evaluation of evidence
• Criminal profiling
• Offender treatment
• Correctional psychology

Question 3

Name 3 things the work of a forensic psychologist may involve

Answer 3

• Profiling a possible offender for the police
• Assessing mental fitness to enter a plea or stand trial
• Giving an expert opinion on court
• Assessing mental state and/or treating victims or witnesses of crime
• Treating offenders
• Conducting research

Question 4

Eyewitness testimony definition

Answer 4

Eyewitness testimonies are the accounts from witnesses present at the crime scene

Question 4

Name 3 places a forensic psychologists can work

Answer 4

• Mental health units
• Correctional institutions
• Courts
• Child protection services
• Sexual offender treatment services
• Domestic violence programs
• Police
• Universities or other research organisations

Question 5

Explain the 3 stages of memory processing

Answer 5

1. Encoding: the information must first be converted into a form that our brain can understand. If details are not properly encoded, we will not be able to recall details accurately at a later stage
2. Storage: the information we process is stored in our memory. Can be both STM (short term memory) and LTM (long term memory), however LTM is the most important to remember things we have witnessed
3. Retrieval: recalling information to use it. Memory is prone to many errors

Question 6

Psychological factors that affect eyewitness testimony

Answer 6

• Testimony can be influenced by other memories, prejudices, beliefs and expectation
• Retrieval of memory is most efficient when in the same state of consciousness as when the memory was created (known as “state-dependent cues”)

Question 7

Environmental factors that affect eyewitness testimony

Answer 7

• Recording of memories can be distorted and shaped by the context and aspects of the event
• Retrieval of memory is most efficient when in the same context or situation (known as “context-dependent cues”)

Question 8

Reconstructive memory definition

Answer 8

When memories are shaped by our own beliefs and expectation of what we expect to have occurred

Question 8

Weapon focus definition

Answer 8

The presence of a weapon in a situation influences memory of an event, distracting us from the other details of the crime

Question 9

Suspect line-up definition

Answer 9

• Several suspects, not just one or two, must fit the description given by the witness(es)
• Without these checks, the police might arrest the wrong person through limited suspect choices or biases towards a specific person

Question 9

Photofit definition

Answer 9

• An image that represents the face of the suspect
• Allows a witness to see a bunch of facial features and stick them together

Question 10

Potential problems with photofits and line-ups

Answer 10

• Witnesses may have an expectation that the suspect is in the line-up, leading to mistakenly identifying the wrong person
• Eyewitnesses may have observed suspect in less-than-ideal conditions (poor lighting, time, etc)
• Photographs used for identification may not highlight features the eyewitness paid attention to