Deck 12: Law

Question 1

What would be the outcome of altered eyewitnesses' reports of crime details?

A) The reliance on peremptory challenges
B) The reconstructive nature of memory
C) Normative influence pressures
D) The positive coercion bias

Answer 1

The reconstructive nature of memory

Question 2

Leonard Berkowitz and Anthony LePage (1967) explored the impact of which of the following?

A) Weapons effect
B) Stereotypes
C) Interference
D) The cross-race identification bias

Answer 2

Weapons effect

Question 3

The effect where people of one race are unable to recognize faces and facial expressions of people of another race is called

A) ingroup homogeneity effect.
B) outgroup homogeneity effect.
C) own-race identification bias.
D) cross-race identification bias.

Answer 3

cross-race identification bias.

Question 4

Stark and others (2010) showed participants slides of a man stealing a woman's wallet and slipping it in his jacket. Then an auditory recording recounted the event, stating that the wallet had been slipped into his pants. The results showed that

A) false memories tended to occur in the visual cortex.
B) false memories tended to occur in the auditory cortex.
C) false memories rarely occurred.
D) memories could be accurately retrieved if participants visualized the crime.

Question 5

According to Rhodes and Anastasi (2012), children, young adults, and the elderly all had difficulty recognizing others who were part of a different ____ than their own.

A) neighborhood
B) age group
C) ethnicity
D) religion

Question 6

The factor affecting the reliability of eyewitness testimony is called

A) weapon-focus effect.
B) distraction effect.
C) inattention phenomenon.
D) CSI effect.

Question 7

Tony, Silvio, Paulie, and Christopher were all in the convenience store when it was robbed. Who will be the most reliable eyewitness?

A) Tony, who was the only one to notice that the thief was brandishing a gun
B) Silvio, who was extremely frightened by the whole incident
C) Paulie, who was drunk at the time of the crime
D) Christopher, who is the same race as the thief

Question 8

Prida has witnessed a violent crime involving a knife. Research suggests that he will be less likely to identify the culprit than in a situation where no knife was present because Prida will

A) be less aroused.
B) focus more on the victim.
C) spend more time looking at the knife.
D) be too afraid to remember anything accurately.

Question 9

Waleska is a social psychologist who studies legal systems. Which of the following objectives would she be least likely to pursue in her research?

A) Improving the ability of police officers to determine when a criminal suspect is lying.
B) Determining under what circumstances jurors are best able to understand and follow a judge's instructions.
C) Assessing how judges apply sentencing guidelines to complex cases.
D) Identifying the types of psychological disorders most likely to lead people to engage in criminal behavior.

Question 10

After Natalie testifies in court that she witnessed the defendant committing an armed robbery, a memory expert is called to testify on Natalie's ability to encode the information which was probably impaired. Which of the following factors did the expert most likely have in mind when he questioned Natalie's ability to acquire the information accurately?

A) Weapon-focus effect
B) Reconstructive memory
C) Misleading questions
D) Leniency bias

Question 11

Emily has just witnessed a violent crime. In this agitated state, Emily is most likely to focus on the

A) weapon.
B) culprit.
C) setting.
D) victim.

Question 12

Which of the following techniques can be used to study eyewitness testimony?

A) Single case and field studies
B) Archival studies
C) Slide presentations
D) All of the above

Question 13

____% of police officers reported that they routinely encounter witnesses who are drunk or under the influence of drugs when committing a crime or being interviewed by the police.

A) 24
B) 41
C) 59
D) 75

Question 14

_______ is the phenomenon of witnesses' interpretations of events wavering according to their past experiences and expectations.

A) Attributional bias
B) Sampling bias
C) Retrograde amnesia
D) Anterograde amnesia

Question 15

Which of the following has not been shown to bias a child's memory report?

A) Repeating the question
B) Introducing misinformation
C) Leading questions
D) Questioning in a group setting

Question 16

Which of the following is not an event characteristic?

A) Gender of the witness.
B) The presence of a weapon
C) The time between the incident and recall
D) Lighting

Question 17

The most common cause of mistaken convictions to be seen in DNA exoneration cases is

A) a coerced confession.
B) false alibis.
C) racially biased juries.
D) inaccurate eyewitnesses.

Question 18

When Valentine and Mesout (2009) fitted visitors to the London Dungeon with a wireless heart monitor, they found that

A) higher anxiety levels were associated with more accurate eyewitness identification.
B) higher anxiety levels were associated with less accurate eyewitness identification.
C) heart rate corresponded to arousal level.
D) heart rate corresponded to the number of perpetrators encountered.

Question 19

Loftus and Palmer (1974) manipulated the wording of questions posed to participants who witness a filmed traffic accident. Their findings suggest that

A) the wording affected the participants' memory for the accident.
B) the wording did not affect the participants' memory for the accident.
C) witnesses often store multiple, contradictory memories for a single event.
D) most eyewitness errors have to do with problems that arise during encoding.

Question 20

Which of the following is the most controversial statement that has been debated among researchers who study reconstructive memory?

A) Some believe that post-event details actually alter a witness's real memory, whereas others believe it affects only the reporting of the memory.
B) Some believe that post-event information can bias an eyewitness's reporting of an event, whereas others believe that only information that is learned during acquisition can bias an eyewitness's reporting.
C) Some believe that scientific jury selection is an effective way to reduce the chances that jurors will be biased by reconstructive memory, whereas others believe that this strategy is unethical.
D) Some believe that the use of peremptory challenges leads to false memories, whereas others believe it helps ensure accurate memories.

Question 21

Manisha witnesses a crime and is brought to the police station for an interview about what she saw. She is given a face construction booklet and asked to pick the hairstyle, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc., that look like the culprit's. Research suggests that this process is likely to lead Manisha to

A) perform more accurately if she is shown a lineup including the culprit several days later.
B) perform less accurately if she is shown a lineup including the culprit several days later.
C) become more confident in her ability to identify the culprit.
D) become less confident in her ability to identify the culprit.

Question 22

In which way does your text suggest that social psychologists could help the courts make better use of eyewitness testimony?

A) By educating judges and juries so they can do a better job evaluating eyewitnesses
B) By influencing legislation regulating the use of eyewitnesses in specific types of trials
C) By contributing to high-profile trials, assisting with jury selection
D) By appearing in public fora, such as television programs, to teach the public about the errors in eyewitness testimony

Question 23

Kwame, a noted psychologist, has been called as an expert witness in a trial. Kwame is least likely to provide which of the following testimonies?

A) Alcoholic intoxication can impair ability to recall events.
B) Police instructions can influence an eyewitness's confidence.
C) Eyewitness confidence is not a good predictor of accuracy.
D) Hypnosis increases the accuracy of eyewitness memory.

Question 24

Which of the following is not currently considered as a potential alternative to traditional polygraph tests?

A) Hypnosis
B) fMRI assessment of blood oxygen in the brain
C) Thermal imaging to detect rises in skin temperature
D) Pupil dilation

Question 25

Cathy witnesses a carjacking. A few days later, she is called to the police station to identify the culprit from a lineup. Cathy is most likely to be accurate if

A) the police tell her that the culprit is in the lineup.
B) one of the men in the lineup resembles the description that Cathy had given the police, while the other men in the lineup look very different from that description.
C) she is first presented with some mug shots and then views a lineup containing one of the men whose mug shot she has seen.
D) she observes the suspect one at a time rather than together in a single lineup.

Question 26

A major problem with using the polygraph as a lie detector is that

A) some research suggests that it can make mistakes.
B) arousal cannot be measured with the polygraph.
C) it measures only the vocal channel, ignoring all other channels.
D) control questions do not evoke arousal in innocent people.

Question 27

Research on lineup administration by Greathouse and Kovera (2009) suggests that the police officer who conducts a lineup

A) can affect the actual identification that a witness makes.
B) can impact how confident an eyewitness is.
C) will not unduly bias an eyewitness as he or she makes a conscious effort not to.
D) is unlikely to be called as a witness in any subsequent legal action.

Question 28

An eyewitness identified Ashtok from a lineup as the man who robbed the bookstore. As an employee of the store, Ashtok was present during the crime but was not the person who committed the crime. What would be the outcome of eyewitness's false identification?

A) The leniency bias
B) The misinformation effect
C) A familiarity-induced bias
D) The fundamental attribution error

Question 29

Which of the following can be used to authenticate evidence?

A) Juries
B) Expert opinion
C) Expert testimony
D) Polygraph

Question 30

According to Wells and Bradfield (1998), feedback can influence an eyewitness's confidence and memory when

A) he or she makes an accurate identification.
B) the feedback validates the identification.
C) when the suspect is of a different race.
D) the feedback disconfirms the identification.

Question 31

When Gene is at a convenience store, he witnesses a robbery and hides behind a large display to avoid being victimized. Later he tells the police that he thinks that an African American woman was the culprit, and he points to the woman talking to a police officer on the other side of the parking lot. He doesn't realize that she actually owns the store and was working stocking a shelf near where the robbery occurred. Gene's memory that the woman was there but failure to recognize the circumstances under which he saw her is called the ____ bias.

A) familiarity-induced
B) ultimate attribution
C) Nullification
D) Availability

Question 32

When innocent suspects are subjected to a polygraph test, they

A) are more aroused by crime-relevant questions than control questions.
B) are more aroused by control questions than crime-relevant questions.
C) exhibit overall lower levels of arousal than guilty suspects.
D) exhibit overall higher levels of arousal than guilty suspects.

Question 33

Harwin is hooked up to a mechanical instrument that records his heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and sweat gland activity. Harwin is being subjected to

A) a polygraph test.
B) an internalized interrogation.
C) the voir dire process.
D) a sequential line up.

Question 34

Guilty suspects can fool a polygraph test if they

A) simply deny any and all involvement in the crime for which they are being questioned.
B) meditate prior to the administration of the test.
C) lie in response to any crime-relevant questions, but tell the truth in response to the control questions.
D) artificially increase physiological arousal while responding to control questions.

Question 35

In which way does expert testimony increases the competence of jurors?

A) Facilitating judges' use of scientific jury selection
B) Leading jurors to be more critical of eyewitness testimony
C) Eliciting sentencing disparity
D) Modeling confidence with which the confidence of nonexpert witnesses can be assessed

Question 36

Research suggests that eyewitnesses who correctly remember minute details surrounding a crime

A) also have a better memory of a culprit's face.
B) are less susceptible to misleading questions.
C) have a poorer memory for the culprit's face.
D) are more susceptible to misleading questions.

Question 37

Kirby is a juror in a rape trial in which both the prosecution and defense are relying on eyewitnesses. It is likely that Kirby will

A) be able to determine which eyewitnesses are accurate.
B) use eyewitness confidence as a cue to eyewitness accuracy.
C) underestimate the accuracy of all of the eyewitnesses.
D) understand the factors that determine if an eyewitness is biased.

Question 38

According to Barlett (1932), which of the following techniques can be used to investigate the influence of schemas?

A) Mock trail
B) Cognitive interviews
C) Cued recall
D) Free recall

Question 39

Martha is accused of insider trading. During a polygraph test, she is asked if she ever littered as a child. This question is an example of a

A) control question.
B) crime-relevant question.
C) peremptory challenge.
D) reconstructive memory.

Question 40

Which of the following examinations is required for the successful detection of lies?

A) Body language of the suspect
B) Language used by the suspect
C) The total context
D) Physiological signs of the suspect

Question 41

Litigants at trial may remove prospective jurors from their jury through the use of peremptory challenges. Traditionally, no explanation has to be given for the use of a peremptory, but within the past few decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that preemptory dismissal may not be based on a juror's

A) education level.
B) race.
C) physical appearance.
D) Sex

Question 42

Jonnie is a defense attorney representing a client charged with drug offenses. He conducts a survey in the community and discovers that residents with conservative politics are particularly unsympathetic to defendants in drug cases. He therefore decides to use his peremptory challenges during jury selection to remove from the panel prospective jurors with a history of voting for conservative political candidates. Jonnie is making use of

A) scientific jury selection.
B) an implicit personality theory.
C) trial attorney intuition.
D) jury consultants.

Question 43

Jurors in criminal trials often fail to fully discount coerced confessions. In what sense can the fundamental attribution error explain this tendency?

A) People often overlook the situational factors that lead others to commit criminal acts.
B) We tend to think that no situational influences could be strong enough to lead someone to confess to something they did not do.
C) Jurors usually think that false confessions result from certain personality characteristics, such as passivity or lack of education.
D) Few people think that they themselves would ever admit to a crime they did not commit.

Question 44

Which of the following statements best describes the conclusions reached by Kassin and Kiechel (1996) concerning false confessions?

A) People are highly unlikely to confess to crimes they did not commit.
B) Internalized false confessions are most likely to occur when a suspect is intimidated with bright lights and physical threats.
C) Compliant false confessions are most likely to occur when a friendly interrogator offers sympathy and advice to a suspect.
D) Internalized false confessions are most likely to occur when false evidence of guilt is presented.

Question 45

_______ are the only members of the courtroom workgroup who are considered most powerful due to their discretion.

A) Judges
B) Prosecutors
C) Bailiffs
D) Defense attorneys

Question 46

The defense attorney asks Twila, a prospective juror, if she knows the prosecuting attorney. This illustrates which of the following processes?

A) Voir dire
B) Normative influence
C) Informational influence
D) Jury nullification

Question 47

According to research on minority influence, it can be speculated that jurors in the minority

A) will not have a crucial effect on the majority.
B) may be persuasive if they have consistency and self-confidence.
C) may be persuasive if they demonstrate their case unconfidently.
D) may be convincible if they are females.

Question 48

A police officer testifies that the defendant in a murder trial confessed to the crime. Under cross-examination, the officer reveals details of the interrogation that suggest it is likely that the defendant was coerced into confessing. How are jurors likely to react to the confession evidence?

A) Jurors will discount the confession because it was coerced.
B) Jurors will accept the confession because as a general rule jurors don't believe that people would confess to a crime that they did not commit.
C) Jurors will believe that they have discounted the confession, but will vote to convict anyway.
D) If the judge instructs jurors to disregard the confession evidence, then they will discount it, but otherwise, they will not.

Question 49

What happens when experts provide jurors with information on the conditions under which eyewitness records are reliable?

A) Jurors indicate reactance and may accept inaccurate testimony.
B) Jurors are not influenced by the details provided by the experts.
C) Jurors believe the credibility of the testimony.
D) Jurors may find testimony less convincing.

Question 50

Claire, a district attorney, believes that elderly women are likely to be sympathetic to criminal defendants. She, therefore, summarily dismisses elderly prospective jurors during voir dire . This exemplifies the

A) use of peremptory challenges.
B) advantages of scientific jury selection.
C) process of jury nullification.
D) power of informational influence.

Question 51

What is the key criticism of scientific jury selection?

A) Focuses jury selection on the question of whether or not a juror can be
B) Does not make use of empirical data
C) Can only be afforded by the wealthiest of defendants and plaintiffs
D) Used in civil trials, but not in criminal cases

Question 52

_______ is the process through which potential jurors are being questioned by the judge and lawyers to determine their eligibility for jury service.

A) Decision control
B) Jury nullification
C) Scientific jury selection
D) Voir dire

Question 53

What factor helps lawyers to dismiss prospective jurors?

A) Jury nullification
B) Sentencing disparity
C) Peremptory challenges
D) Normative influence

Question 54

Studies have found that defendants with baby-faced attributes (with round, large eyes, narrow chin, and small chin) are more likely

A) to be found convicted in crimes involving negligence.
B) to be found convicted in crimes involving intentional criminal acts.
C) to be received stingy sentences if found guilty.
D) to be opted for the insanity defense.

Question 55

_______ is the legal principle that refers to the court's policy to stand by prior cases.

A) Writ of demurrer
B) Stare decisis
C) Voir dire
D) Mandamus

Question 56

Police interrogations are often conducted in small, bare, soundproof rooms so that

A) distractions will be minimized and the suspect will be better able to focus on the interrogation.
B) suspects feel socially isolated and uncomfortable.
C) police operating costs will be kept to a minimum.
D) other police officers will not become biased against particular suspects.

Question 57

Internalization is the process in which

A) innocent suspects come to believe that they have committed the crimes for which they are being interrogated.
B) suspects confess to crimes that they did not commit in order to escape aversive interrogations.
C) accused suspects are offered lighter sentences in exchange for important information.
D) juries are able to disregard confession testimony that was extracted through coercion.

Question 58

After a 36-hour interrogation, Liz just wanted to make it end so she confessed to the kidnapping even though she had not committed the crime. Liz's confession would be labeled as

A) internalization.
B) compliance.
C) reactive.
D) misinformed.

Question 59

Which of the following conclusions is not consistent with research on confessions?

A) Confessions are discounted more by jurors who see a videotape that focuses on the interrogator instead of the defendant.
B) When false evidence is presented by an interrogator, suspects are not only more likely to confess to a crime they did not commit but also to believe this confession.
C) Jurors often fully discount a defendant's confession if they learn that the confession was obtained while the defendant was being physically threatened by police.
D) Police detectives use an average of five to six tactics when trying to obtain a confession.

Question 60

Which of the following is not the criterion for jury selection?

A) Compiling a list of potential jurors from sources such as voter registration lists
B) Using random selection to obtain a representative sample of community members who will be summoned for jury duty
C) Ensuring every single 12-person jury is representative of the community from which it is drawn
D) Subjecting those individuals who appear for jury duty to a pretrial interview to exclude those who might be biased

Question 61

According to Sommers and Ellsworth (2001), when a crime involves race, Caucasian jurors

A) discriminated against an African American defendant.
B) avoided discrimination against an African American defendant.
C) were particularly motivated to be elected foreperson of the jury.
D) processed trial evidence less carefully than when the crime was race-neutral.

Question 62

Death qualification can be defined as

A) pretrial hearings that are conducted to determine whether a defendant should receive the death penalty.
B) a procedure used during voir dire to ensure that jurors are prepared for potentially graphic testimony concerning violence, usually involving murder.
C) a jury selection procedure that permits judges to exclude from capital cases all prospective jurors who say they would refuse to vote for the death penalty under any circumstance.
D) jurors' decision to recommend the death penalty even if the prosecution has not asked for it.

Question 63

Franklin, an African American male, is on trial for attempted murder. The study conducted by Sommers (2006) regarding jury racial composition suggests which of the following jurors would be most likely to vote to convict Franklin?

A) Jerry, a Caucasian male on an all-Caucasian jury
B) Robin, a Caucasian male on a racially diverse jury
C) Eddie, an African American male on an all-African-American jury
D) Dave, an African American male on a racially diverse jury

Question 64

Pretrial publicity tends to produce a bias against defendants because

A) people assume that defendants are guilty until proven innocent.
B) information in news reports usually comes from police or district attorneys.
C) most people charged with crimes really are guilty.
D) the publicity makes the defendant seem more familiar, resulting in a familiarity-induced bias.

Question 65

Miguel will be using scientific jury selection in an upcoming trial. The first step of this process will be to

A) ask prospective jurors personal questions during the voir dire .
B) assess demographic characteristics and trial-relevant attitudes of the community in which the trial will take place.
C) submit a motion to the judge to allow an independent consulting firm to interview prospective jurors.
D) meet with the judge and opposing counsel to discuss the range of questions that will be permitted during the voir dire .

Question 66

Which of the following eyewitness testimonies is likely to be the most dependable?

A) Joe's testimony about a motorbike accident. He has been interviewed four times by the defense attorney before the trials.
B) Suzanne's report immediately after observing a rape incident. She was interviewed by the police, who believed they already has a criminal in custody.
C) Tim's testimony about a clothing store. He was interviewed six times by the prosecuting attorney before the trials.
D) Liza's report immediately after a robbery. She was asked by the police to narrate the entire event in her own words.

Question 67

Attorney Kevin will be defending Mark, who is accused of raping a 20-year-old female. Who of the following jurors is probably the least sympathetic to his or her client's case?

A) Marry, a 38-year-old mother of two who tends to be disciplinarian
B) Keith, a 41-year-old plumber who once served a sentence for kidnapping
C) Ash, a 22-year-old university scholar who is a liberal
D) Shelly, a 34-year-old newspaper reporter who opposes the death penalty

Question 68

How many jurors does a petit jury have?

A) 26
B) 12
C) 16
D) 22

Question 69

What was the major consideration of the U.S. Supreme Court during the case of Lockhart v. McCree ?

A) Whether the death qualification violates a defendant's right to a fair trial
B) Whether scientific jury selection should be legal or not
C) Whether a jury should have 6 or 12 members
D) Whether a jury must have a unanimous verdict or not

Question 70

Individuals who do not demonstrate objection on the death penalty are

A) likely to have been involved in some sort of crime themselves.
B) likely to hold religious convictions.
C) likely to favor the prosecution.
D) likely to be elderly.

Question 71

Tyson sits on a jury. Tyson is more likely to believe the defendant is guilty if

A) Tyson has an authoritarian personality.
B) the defendant is of the same race as Tyson and the evidence is weak.
C) Tyson has principled objections to the death penalty.
D) Tyson is a young adult.

Question 72

If the CSI effect is real, then it would make juries

A) more likely to convict.
B) less likely to convict.
C) deliberate for a longer period of time.
D) deliberate for a shorter period of time.

Question 73

Kara sees a news story on television about an upcoming criminal defendant who was previously charged with similar crimes. If Kara is selected to serve as a juror for this defendant's trial, it is likely that

A) the information concerning the defendant's prior criminal activity will have no impact on her verdict as long as she agrees to be objective and impartial.
B) the information concerning the defendant's prior criminal record may bias her impression of the defendant, but instructions from the judge can counteract such a bias.
C) Kara will interpret the facts of the case in a way that is consistent with the information about the defendant's prior criminal record.
D) the pretrial publicity will make the defendant seem more familiar to Kara and so she will be less likely to convict.

Question 74

According to inadmissible evidence contrary to the judge's instructions, juries often pay attention to such information

A) even when it is unreliable.
B) when it is reliable but inadmissible because of a legal "technicality."
C) when it is emotional in content.
D) when it is objected to by the defense and not by the prosecution.

Question 75

In a murder trial, Bob was selected to serve on a death-qualified jury. Given his attitude toward the death penalty, he is probably ____ than the average U.S. citizen.

A) more likely to vote for acquittal
B) more likely to recommend the death penalty
C) more tolerant of procedures that protect the accused
D) less religious

Question 76

Henry is a Caucasian male and the foreman of a criminal jury. The defendant in the trial is also a Caucasian male, and the evidence against him is quite strong. Research suggests that Henry is likely to be

A) harsher in his judgments than he would have been if the defendant were not Caucasian.
B) more lenient in his judgments than he would have been if the defendant were not Caucasian.
C) more forceful than the other jurors in making his arguments about the case.
D) less concerned with procedural aspects of the deliberations than other jurors.

Question 77

Kalven and Zeisel (1966) found that ____% of judges agreed with the verdicts juries rendered in all cases.

A) 45
B) 60
C) 78
D) 92

Question 78

Who will be the opponent of the death penalty?

A) Michael, who scores low on a self-report measure of authoritarian beliefs
B) Buster, who holds fundamentalist religious beliefs
C) Lindsey, who believes that the world is a fair place in which you get what you deserve
D) Gob, who believes in the deterrent potential of capital punishment

Question 79

Saul is a prospective juror in a mass murder case who, when asked by an attorney, says that he opposes the death penalty. The presiding judge then excludes him from the jury. This is an example of

A) leniency bias.
B) death qualification.
C) scientific jury selection.
D) jury nullification.

Question 80

Prospective jurors willing to vote for the death penalty do not show

A) a greater concern with crime.
B) more cynicism toward defense attorneys.
C) a greater suspiciousness of police officers.
D) a greater tendency to convict.