Deck 2: A: Police Psychology

Question 1

In the context of police selection,what is meant by KSA?

A)KSA is a physical ability test taken by all potential officers.
B)KSA refers to sets of characteristics that define a "good" police officer.
C)KSA is a police selection agency.
D)KSA refers to characteristics that are undesirable in a potential police officer.
E)KSA refers to an instrument that is used to assess psychopathology.

Answer 1

KSA refers to sets of characteristics that define a "good" police officer.

Question 2

Which of the following individuals would be best suited to become a police officer based on the essential KSAs identified in your text?

A)Sarah: has a public relations background,volunteered at a children's fitness program,has received leadership awards,got top grades in her degree program,and is considered responsible and trustworthy.
B)Lyle: has a high degree of physical fitness,considered funny and personable,doesn't get bothered by what other people think of him,and is highly independent and motivated.
C)Tarek: has worked extensively with youth populations,very shy and considerate,works well in small groups,always willing to help others,tries to minimize stressful situations.
D)Juanita: has lived all over the world and speaks several languages,outperformed her classmates on the PARE,wants to prove that women can be police officers,and is dominant and strong-willed.
E)Ashton: scored in the accep ranges on all physical and psychological testing,background check was clean,critical of self and others,and endorses rigid legal attitudes and practices.

Answer 2

Sarah: has a public relations background,volunteered at a children's fitness program,has received leadership awards,got top grades in her degree program,and is considered responsible and trustworthy.

Question 3

A common personality test used in police selection is the IPI.What does IPI stand for?

A)Inbau's Personality Index
B)Inwald Personality Inventory
C)Inwald's Policing Index
D)Iterative Policing Inventory
E)none of the above

Answer 3

Inwald Personality Inventory

Question 4

The validity coefficient calculated for a selection instrument (when it is used to predict job performance)is +0.99.This means that:

A)as performance on the selection instrument increases,so do ratings of job performance
B)as performance on the selection instrument increases,ratings of job performance decrease
C)the coefficient is negative,so there is no relationship between the selection instrument and job performance ratings
D)there is a strong relationship between the results of the selection instrument and ratings of job performance
E)both a and d

Question 5

Julia has applied to become a police officer with the Hamilton Police Service.Which of the following selection procedures will NOT be used throughout her application process?

A)Physical ability testing
B)Personality testing
C)Selection interview
D)Background check
E)Polygraph test

Question 6

As a psychologist involved in police selection,which measure(s)would you be most confident in administering to an applicant if your goal was to accurately predict the potential for a candidate to display problematic police behaviour?

A)IPI
B)SILS
C)MMPI
D)MMPI-2 Lie Scale
E)RPAT

Question 7

As a psychologist involved in police selection,which measure(s)would you be most confident in administering to an applicant if your goal was to accurately predict their future job performance?

A)IPI
B)SILS
C)MMPI
D)MMPI-2
E)the combined results of the MMPI and the MMPI-2

Question 8

You are applying to be a police officer with the RCMP.Which of the following tests would you expect to be administered in order to measure your cognitive abilities?

A)IPI
B)the situational test
C)RPAT
D)KSA
E)MMPI

Question 9

Cognitive ability tests used during police selection tend to be better at predicting _____________ relative to ______________.

A)judgment and problem-solving; situational testing
B)police suitability; personality testing
C)personality score results; successful on-the-job performance
D)academy performance; on-the-job performance
E)poor on-the-job performance; successful on-the-job performance

Question 10

Which of the following is considered to be a serious problem with validation research in the area of police selection?

A)There is disagreement on how to best measure the performance of police officers.
B)There is no validity coefficient available for measuring predictive validity.
C)Indicators of on-the-job performance do not exist in the policing field.
D)Cognitive ability tests are characterised by relatively high validity coefficients.
E)Few police applicants have to go through the selection process.

Question 11

Which of the following has been identified as a key problem with the police selection interview?

A)The interview lacks any structure.
B)The interview is too lengthy to be used by many police agencies.
C)Interviewers often disagree on the ratings that should be assigned to various attributes of the interviewee.
D)The interview has very high predictive validity.
E)all of the above

Question 12

What is the most common police selection instrument used in assessment centres?

A)personality tests
B)cognitive ability tests
C)situational tests
D)selection interviews
E)polygraph tests

Question 13

Which of the following police selection procedures is used by all Canadian police agencies when selecting officers?

A)medical exams
B)polygraph tests
C)cognitive ability tests
D)drug tests
E)personality tests

Question 14

When conducting job analysis concerning police selection,an organizational psychologist may find this challenging because

A)different jobs within policing are related to different KSAs.
B)the KSAs of a good police officer may not be s over time.
C)individuals disagree over which KSAs are important to assess.
D)there are a range of techniques for identifying relevant KSAs
E)all of the above

Question 15

Lewis Terman's attempt to assist with police selection in the early 1900s involved the assessment of:

A)intelligence
B)physical abilities
C)personality traits
D)criminal background
E)authoritarianism

Question 16

In the context of police selection,the term validation refers to:

A)the development of a selection instrument to measure the abilities of potential police officers
B)the need to ensure that certified individuals are administering police selection tests to applicants
C)the need to ensure that the results of a police selection instrument are related to some measure of police performance
D)a job analysis
E)none of the above

Question 17

New strategies for recruiting police officers,such as those used by the Vancouver Police Department,involve

A)more rigorous physical testing
B)use of social media such as blogs and Twitter
C)criminal background checks
D)screening for mental disorders
E)use of role play to determine suitability

Question 18

Marcus has applied to become an RCMP officer.What are the two primary aptitude battery assessments that he must pass in order to progress in the selection process?

A)polygraph exam and the police aptitude test
B)the six factor personality questionnaire and the physical abilities requirement evaluation
C)the physical abilities requirement evaluation and a field investigation
D)the police aptitude test and the six factor personality questionnaire
E)cadet training and the police aptitude test

Question 19

According to Cochrane,Tett,and Vandecreek (2003),which of the following police selection procedures is most commonly used in the United States?

A)physical agility tests
B)drug testing
C)selection interview
D)background checks
E)polygraph tests

Question 20

Which psychometric property is most important in the context of police selection?

A)concurrent validity
B)divergent validity
C)predictive validity
D)intrinsic reliability
E)long-term reliability

Question 21

As discussed in the textbook,what was the main issue in the case of Paul Boyd?

A)the rights of mentally disordered offenders
B)police use of force
C)police discretion in situations involving domestic disturbances
D)the use of inappropriate police discretion in cases involving youths
E)the negative effects of police stress

Question 22

Hoch,Hartford,Heslop,and Stitt (2009)conducted a study to determine whether mentally ill individuals in London,Ontario were more likely than non-mentally ill individuals to come into contact with the police and be arrested and/or charged.They found that:

A)mentally ill individuals had significantly less contact with the police
B)mentally ill individuals had significantly more contact with the police
C)mentally ill individuals were more likely to get arrested and charged by the police
D)mentally ill individuals were less likely to get arrested and charged by the police
E)both b and c

Question 23

According to Sheehan and Cordner (1989),which of the following are arguments for the use of police discretion?

A)Law enforcement resources are limited and full enforcement of the law would overwhelm the criminal justice system.
B)Most law violations are minor and do not require strict enforcement all the time.
C)Some laws are vague and ill-defined,which makes discretion necessary.
D)Full enforcement of the law would alienate the public.
E)all of the above

Question 24

According to Taylor and Bennell (2006)__________ stressors are often ranked as the most stressful among police officers.

A)public
B)criminal justice
C)organizational
D)extrinsic
E)none of the above

Question 25

A police officer witnesses a fellow officer being killed in the line of duty.This is an example of:

A)an organizational stressor
B)an occupational stressor
C)a criminal justice stressor
D)a public stressor
E)a police-specific stressor

Question 26

What is considered to be the primary reason why the likelihood of encounters between the police and mentally ill individuals has increased?

A)Mentally ill persons commit more crimes.
B)Most criminal behaviour is associated with mental illness of some kind.
C)The recent movement towards deinstitutionalization of mentally ill individuals.
D)Victimization rates of persons with mental illness have increased.
E)All of the above.

Question 27

An RCMP applicant is given a certain period of time to interview witnesses in a mock domestic disturbance case and complete an incident report.This scenario is most likely a component of:

A)an IPI
B)a situational test
C)a selection interview
D)an RPAT
E)a personality test

Question 28

According to the U.S.Bureau of Justice Statistics (2005),approximately what percentage of police-citizen interactions involve the actual or threatened use of force?

A)1%
B)10%
C)25%
D)50%
E)75%

Question 29

Results from Duxbury and Higgins (2012)study of police stress in Canada indicate that

A)police officers in Canada experience much less stress relative to police in other countries.
B)psychological services within Canadian police forces are under-utilized by officers who really need them.
C)occupational stressors are the leading cause of stress among Canadian police officers.
D)public stressors cause more stress for police officers relative to both occupational and organizational stressors.
E)Police officers experience significant difficulty balancing their work and home life.

Question 30

The press has been distorting the facts of a particular case on which a police officer is working.This is an example of:

A)an organizational stressor
B)an occupational stressor
C)a criminal justice stressor
D)a public stressor
E)an extrinsic stressor

Question 31

Possible consequences associated with police stress fall into three general categories.These are:

A)physical health problems/psychological problems/job performance problems
B)occupational/organizational/criminal justice
C)adaptive/maladaptive/neutral
D)proactive/reactive/inhibitory
E)psychological/physical/mental

Question 32

Which of the following is not true of the use-of-force continuum?

A)It is an indirect method of helping to control the amount of force used by a police officer.
B)It provides a dynamic guide that can potentially assist with use-of-force decision making.
C)Following the continuum completely removes the need for police discretion in use-of-force situations.
D)The continuum encourages officers to continually assess their surroundings.
E)Lethal force is one of the use-of-force options included in the continuum.

Question 33

Which of the following statements is true regarding police use-of-force data from Calgary,Alberta?

A)Suspects in use-of-force encounters are usually female.
B)Suspects in use-of-force encounters are usually under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the encounter,or experiencing distress.
C)Suspects in use-of-force encounters typically get seriously injured.
D)Use-of-force encounters are extremely frequent.
E)tasers are the intervention that results in the highest rate of injury.

Question 34

Jared is frustrated in his job as a police officer due to inconsistent leadership from his superior officers,feeling like he always have to prove himself within his precinct,bureaucratic red tape,excessive paperwork,and feeling like there is no room for advancement.What type of stressor is influencing Jared's job the most?

A)public
B)criminal justice
C)organizational
D)occupational
E)extrinsic

Question 35

According to the use-of-force continuum,a police officer must be prepared to use a level of force that is __________ the amount of force used by the suspect.

A)one step higher than
B)one step lower than
C)equal to
D)two steps higher than
E)two steps lower than

Question 36

As a police selection instrument,research suggests that situational tests have:

A)no predictive validity
B)extremely high predictive validity
C)moderate predictive validity
D)no research has been conducted on the predictive validity of situational tests
E)results of studies that have been conducted are inconclusive

Question 37

Jerome is an African Canadian male living in downtown Sudbury.He gets pulled over by the police in a traffic stop even though he has not violated the law and was doing the speed limit.Jerome's experience reflects the presence of _____________ in policing.

A)discretion
B)racial profiling
C)simulation exercises
D)selection procedures
E)ticketing quotas

Question 38

Police officers are exposed to a wide range of stressors.Experiencing shift work and being exposed to human suffering are examples of:

A)public stressors
B)organizational stressors
C)criminal justice stressors
D)occupational stressors
E)selection stressors

Question 39

Following the death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007 after being tasered by RCMP in the Vancouver International Airport,new policies were released which restricted taser use only to situations where

A)suspects are not cooperating with police officers.
B)suspects are trying to escape from police custody.
C)suspects are exhibiting active resistance such as causing bodily harm to self or others.
D)suspects are uttering verbal threats against police officers or members of the public.
E)suspects refuse to comply with police requests.

Question 40

According to your text,which selection procedure is associated with the best predictive validity for how a police candidate will perform on-the-job?

A)Selection interview
B)KSA assessment
C)Cognitive ability tests
D)The situational test
E)Personality tests

Question 41

Which of the following would not be considered an adaptive coping strategy to deal with police stress?

A)Effective communication with others
B)Use of freeze-frame techniques
C)Use of alcohol to relax and unwind
D)Psychological debriefing
E)Critical incident stress debriefing

Question 42

Recent research conducted by McCoy and Aamodt (2010)has compared the divorce rate amongst law enforcement personnel to the divorce rate in the general population.What did they find?

A)The divorce rate amongst law enforcement personnel is higher than the divorce rate in the general population.
B)The divorce rate amongst law enforcement personnel is lower than the divorce rate in the general population.
C)The divorce rate amongst law enforcement personnel is equal to the divorce rate in the general population.
D)Differences in divorce rates between the two groups existed,but only for people over the age of 50.
E)none of the above