Deck 5: Eyewitness Testimony

Question 1

10 On what four memory-retrieval techniques is the cognitive interview based?

A) reinstating context, reporting everything, reversing order, and changing perspective
B) reinstating context, recalling, recognizing, and answering questions
C) encoding, short-term memory, long-term memory, and retrieving
D) encoding, storing, retrieving, and forgetting
E) reinstating context, recalling, recognizing, and forgetting

Answer 1

reinstating context, reporting everything, reversing order, and changing perspective

Question 2

What is the most common research method for studying eyewitness issues?

A) field study
B) archival research
C) laboratory simulation study
D) recall study
E) recognition study

Answer 2

laboratory simulation study

Question 3

What has not been identified as a limitation of the standard police interview?

A) asking brief, direct questions
B) mixing visual and auditory questions
C) asking questions in a random order
D) asking very broad questions
E) frequent interruptions

Answer 3

asking very broad questions

Question 4

Van Koppen and Lochun (1997)found which descriptor was reported with 100% accuracy ?

A) age
B) sex
C) race
D) height
E) weight

Question 5

Which of the following would be considered a system variable in eyewitness research?

A) whether the witness is intoxicated at the time of the offence
B) the age of the witness
C) the type of weapon used by the culprit
D) the interview procedure used by the police officer
E) the time at which the crime was committed

Question 6

What type of decision is not possible with a target-present lineup?

A) correct identification
B) foil identification
C) false rejection
D) false identification
E) All of the above are possible identification decisions with the target-present lineup.

Question 7

What is not an advantage of using a photo array rather than a live lineup for eyewitness identification?

A) Photo arrays are easier to construct than live lineups.
B) Suspect does not have the right to counsel being present with a photo array, whereas he/she does have that right with a live lineup.
C) Photo arrays produce higher identification accuracy than live lineups.
D) A suspect need not be informed that he/she is being placed in a photo array, whereas with a live lineup he/she must be so informed.
E) The police do not have to worry about the suspect's behaviour potentially invalidating the lineup.

Question 8

The belief that the misinformation effect results from instances where the original memory is replaced with a new,incorrect memory is referred to as:

A) the encoding rejection hypothesis
B) the source misattribution hypothesis
C) the memory impairment hypothesis
D) the misinformation acceptance hypothesis
E) the reconstructive memory hypothesis

Question 9

Describing the actions of a culprit during a police interview relies on ______________,while identifying the culprit's voice from a set of voices relies on __________________.

A) narrative memory/refreshed memory
B) recall memory/recognition memory
C) natural memory/prompted memory
D) open-ended memory/direct question memory
E) none of the above

Question 10

Which component is not part of the enhanced cognitive interview?

A) rapport building
B) transfer of control
C) focused retrieval
D) direct questioning
E) witness-compatible questioning

Question 11

Which two items did Lindsay,Martin,and Webber (1994)find that were commonly reported by witnesses?

A) gender and age
B) height and weight
C) hair and clothing
D) race and age
E) gender and clothing

Question 12

What is another term for the misinformation effect?

A) post-event information effect
B) free narrative effect
C) direct question recall
D) open-ended recall
E) closed ended recall effect

Question 13

Which of the following statements is true with respect to the cognitive interview and enhanced cognitive interview?

A) The enhanced cognitive interview incorporates all the elements of the cognitive interview.
B) Only some officers in Canada have been trained to use the cognitive interview.
C) No significant differences have been found between the effectiveness of the cognitive interview and that of the enhanced cognitive interview.
D) Compared to the standard police interview, the cognitive interview and enhanced cognitive interview produce more accurate information without an increase in inaccurate information.
E) all of the above

Question 14

What is the major implication of the studies conducted on the misinformation effect in eyewitness research?

A) Memory is like a videotape.
B) Witnesses yield to authority.
C) Memory is reconstructive.
D) Witnesses recall information accurately when under stress.
E) Memory typically gets better as witnesses get older.

Question 15

What increases the likelihood that innocent suspects may be wrongfully identified in a lineup?

A) having the suspect wear similar clothing to that worn by the culprit
B) implying the criminal is in the lineup
C) asking the witness specifically about the suspect and not about the other lineup members
D) using a simultaneous lineup procedure
E) all of the above

Question 16

What is the difference between a suspect and a culprit?

A) The terms suspect and culprit can be used interchangeably; they mean the same thing.
B) A suspect is innocent and a culprit is guilty.
C) A suspect is guilty and a culprit is innocent.
D) A suspect can be guilty or innocent whereas a culprit is guilty.
E) A suspect is innocent and a culprit can be innocent or guilty.

Question 17

Which of the following would be considered an estimator variable in eyewitness research?

A) how light it was outside when the crime was witnessed
B) the room where the witness was interviewed
C) the number of police officers present during the interview
D) the time of day when the witness was interviewed
E) the type of lineup presented to the witness

Question 18

According to the text,when an eyewitness simultaneously compares lineup members to one another and then makes a decision based on who they believe looks most like the culprit,they are making:

A) an absolute judgment
B) a false judgment
C) a relative judgment
D) a correct acceptance
E) none of the above

Question 19

An eyewitness is exposed to a target-present lineup and identifies someone from the lineup that the police know did not commit the crime.What sort of decision has this eyewitness just made?

A) a correct identification
B) a false rejection
C) a foil identification
D) a correct rejection
E) none of the above

Question 20

Which of the following statements is not correct concerning the outcome of hypnosis?

A) More information is recalled.
B) Participants report relatively more accurate information and less inaccurate information.
C) Participants express a high degree of confidence in their memory reports.
D) It is not possible to determine which statements are erroneous and which are correct.
E) Age regression can be a technique used in hypnosis.

Question 21

The hypothesis that explains the cross-race effect in eyewitness testimony by suggesting that the more contact you have with other races the better you will be able to identify them is:

A) the interracial contact hypothesis
B) the cue-utilization hypothesis
C) the unusualness hypothesis
D) the prejudice hypothesis
E) the physiognomic homogeneity hypothesis

Question 22

According to the textbook,what is the primary issue surrounding the Neil v.Biggers (1972)case in relation to eyewitness accuracy?

A) the fact that the court stated that confidence of the witness should be seen as an indicator of accuracy
B) the fact that the witness was hypnotized and thus the information provided should not be admissible as accurate evidence in the trial
C) the fact that the witness was given a simultaneous rather than a sequential lineup
D) the fact that the witness was a child and thus the accuracy of her judgment was questionable
E) none of the above

Question 23

Which of the following identification procedures takes place in a naturalistic environment?

A) a showup
B) a simultaneous lineup
C) a sequential lineup
D) a walk-by
E) an elimination lineup

Question 24

What is the critical difference between a simultaneous lineup and a sequential lineup?

A) Sequential lineups typically involve biased instructions.
B) Sequential lineups require absolute judgments.
C) Simultaneous lineups require absolute judgments.
D) Simultaneous lineups typically include more foils.
E) Sequential lineups require relative judgments.

Question 25

Define the misinformation effect within the context of eyewitness research.In addition,fully describe the three most common explanations for this effect.

Question 26

Which of the following has been proposed as criticism of eyewitness research?

A) Eyewitness experts tend to be overconfident.
B) Most of the eyewitness studies recruit university students as participants.
C) A number of studies that have examined the same issues have reported discrepant results.
D) In eyewitness research, the time allotted for the participants (mock eyewitnesses) to view the culprit is too limited in comparison to real life.
E) all of the above

Question 27

According to the text,which lineup procedure is considered most suggestive and is reserved only for certain extenuating circumstances?

A) a showup
B) a simultaneous lineup
C) a sequential lineup
D) a walk-by
E) an elimination lineup

Question 28

Overall,there is ______________ between the accuracy and the confidence of an eyewitness in the identification of a culprit.

A) a large positive correlation
B) a small positive correlation
C) no correlation
D) a small negative correlation
E) a large negative correlation

Question 29

Approximately what percentage of wrongful conviction cases (exonerated through DNA evidence)have been attributed to eyewitness identification?

A) under 50%
B) 50-60%
C) 60-70%
D) about 75%
E) over 95%

Question 30

Which Canadian case involving poor police techniques in collecting eyewitness evidence resulted in a set of recommendations for conducting lineup identifications?

A) Neil v. Biggers
B) R. v. Sophonow
C) R. v. Brooks
D) R. v. Reno
E) Brooks v. Biggers

Question 31

What typically happens when the eyewitness is told that the culprit may or may not be present in the lineup?

A) False positive identifications increase.
B) False positive identifications decrease.
C) Correct identifications increase.
D) Correct identifications decrease.
E) These instructions have no impact on identifications.

Question 32

Susan is being questioned by police after she witnessed a man rob a convenience store.The police are asking her questions about the culprit's appearance,and she finds that all she can remember is that the man had a gun.What is the term used to describe this recall situation?

A) recall obstruction hypothesis
B) retrieval impairment hypothesis
C) weapon focus
D) central superiority hypothesis
E) peripheral inferiority effect

Question 33

In general terms,how does the enhanced cognitive interview differ from the original cognitive interview?
Name and define three of the five techniques specific to the enhanced cognitive interview.

Question 34

State two difficulties with the use of hypnosis in the eyewitness context.

Question 35

What type of lineup was used by Charles Lindberg to identify Bruno Hauptmann,the man who kidnapped and murdered his infant son?

A) clothing
B) voice
C) face
D) body
E) none of the above

Question 36

When presented with a target-absent lineup,older adults (over 60 years of age)tend to make ______________ correct identifications and __________________ correct rejections compared to younger adults.

A) fewer/more
B) more/fewer
C) a similar number of/fewer
D) fewer/a similar number of
E) a similar number of/more

Question 37

Which of the following is true regarding age and eyewitness identification?

A) Older adults are just as likely as younger adults to make a false positive decision from a target-absent lineup.
B) Generally, there are significant differences between younger and older adults' ability to make correct identifications.
C) Younger and older eyewitnesses do not differ in their correct identification rate or false positive rate.
D) Overall, older adult eyewitnesses have more difficulty than younger adult eyewitnesses in making correct rejection decisions.
E) none of the above

Question 38

Distinguish between a system variable and an estimator variable as related to eyewitness research.Provide one example of each.

Question 39

Which of the following factors has been reported to increase correct identification in a voice lineup?

A) increasing the number of foils in the lineup
B) presenting the target voice later in the lineup
C) increasing the length of the voice samples
D) ensuring that the voice does not have an accent unfamiliar to the witness
E) both c and d

Question 40

An eyewitness is shown a picture of an individual who the police think is responsible for a recent bank robbery.No other lineup photos are shown.The eyewitness is asked to state whether the person in the photograph is the same individual seen in the bank.What sort of lineup procedure is being used here?

A) a showup
B) a simultaneous lineup
C) a sequential lineup
D) a walk-by
E) an elimination lineup

Question 41

On the basis of the research you have read in the textbook,list five recommendations that you would make to police forces regarding how they should conduct police lineups.

Question 42

Distinguish between a simultaneous and a sequential lineup.

Question 43

List the correct decisions associated with both target-present and target-absent lineups.Also,list the potential errors that can be made in the lineup identification process and whether these errors are known or unknown to the police.