Deck 3: Section 2: Lie Detection

Question 1

The ability of humans to maintain relatively harmonious social relationships is facilitated by our capacity to _____ the truth.

A) bend and reshape
B) be honest and share
C) deny and reclaim
D) preserve and maintain

Answer 1

bend and reshape

Question 2

Training people to detect lies _____ their ability _____ their confidence in their ability to discern lies.

A) improves; but undermines
B) improves; and enhances
C) does not improve; but raises
D) does not improve; and thwarts

Answer 2

does not improve; but raises

Question 3

According to the text, the "_____ hypothesis" posits that human intelligence was accelerated by the need for humans to develop social skills related to manipulation, pretense, and deception.

A) crystallized intelligence
B) fluid intelligence
C) Goleman's emotional intelligence
D) Machiavellian intelligence

Answer 3

Machiavellian intelligence

Question 4

When police detectives were assessed as to their ability to detect lies, according to the text, they were _____ likely to correctly assess the truthfulness of videotaped statements compared with college students.

A) more
B) less
C) equally as
D) significantly more

Question 5

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A) Lying is very common and wide-spread.
B) Deception makes social interactions go more smoothly.
C) The vast majority of people never tell lies.
D) There are a lot of different types of lies and reasons for lying.

Question 6

According to a study by Kassin and his colleagues (2005), police detectives were _____ to evaluate false confessions as true.

A) more likely than college students
B) less likely than college students
C) reluctant
D) just as likely as college students

Question 7

Elena was suspected of committing a fraud. Investigators asked her to tell her story in reverse. This promising lie-detection technique is based on the idea that narrating backwards:

A) makes suspects likely to confess.
B) causes false negative admission of guilt.
C) will be accepted by courts as evidence.
D) increases cognitive load.

Question 8

According to research completed by Bond and DePaulo (2006), people's ability to distinguish lies has a _____ rate of accuracy, and efforts to improve people's ability to discern lies have _____.

A) barely above chance; not been very successful
B) significantly above chance; been very successful
C) significantly above chance; not been very successful
D) barely above chance; been very successful

Question 9

According to the text, the level of accuracy of polygraph techniques is:

A) well above 90%.
B) between 60% and 90%.
C) between 30% and 60%.
D) below 30%.

Question 10

There are several problems with polygraph techniques that use the standard procedures like CQT. Which of the following is NOT one of these problems?

A) In some people, lying produces little physiological response.
B) There is lack of standardization and significant subjectivity in polygraph examiners' scoring.
C) People who do not have faith in the validity of the polygraph may not respond in the way examiners expect.
D) Polygraph techniques work especially well if a person believes the polygraph is nearly infallible.

Question 11

Lying is considered to be an adaptive behavior from a(n) _____ point of view.

A) psychodynamic
B) cognitive
C) behavioral
D) evolutionary

Question 12

The tendency to seek out information that supports our beliefs is otherwise known as:

A) expected outcome.
B) integration of thought.
C) confirmation bias.
D) attribution error.

Question 13

Techniques such as biting the tongue, pressing the toes to the floor, or counting backwards are all examples of:

A) aiding in polygraph testing.
B) countermeasures to polygraph testing.
C) aversion to polygraph testing.
D) liar's stereotype.

Question 14

According to a study conducted by Honts, Raskin, and Kircher (1994), the use of countermeasures _____ the detection of guilty suspects by 50%, and the examiners _____ able to tell that the suspects were manipulating their own arousal patterns.

A) reduced; were not.
B) increased; were
C) reduced; were
D) increased; were not

Question 15

The rates of accuracy of the polygraph have been calculated using controlled lab studies and mock crimes. These rates are likely to be somewhat inflated for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

A) subjects in these studies do not have much to lose.
B) lies that subjects in these studies have to tell are very simple.
C) the polygraph machines used in these studies are outdated.
D) subjects in these studies were not trained in countermeasures.

Question 16

Jared was questioning a suspect using the Reid technique, and after a long and exhausting interrogation, the suspect falsely confessed to the crime just to put an end to the interrogation. When hearing this confession, Jared felt even more confident that the suspect was guilty. This is an illustration of the phenomenon that psychologists call:

A) false-positive bias.
B) attribution bias.
C) exhaustion bias.
D) confirmation bias.

Question 17

Lying can best be described as:

A) straightforward.
B) always intentional.
C) easily detected.
D) multifaceted.

Question 18

The comparison question test (CQT) posits that guilty individuals react more strongly to _____ questions, whereas innocent individuals react more strongly to _____ questions.

A) relevant; comparison
B) comparison; relevant
C) known; unknown
D) unknown; known

Question 19

The federal Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 prohibited the use of polygraph by:

A) all private employers for the purpose of hiring for a job.
B) most private employers for the purpose of hiring for a job.
C) all public employers including criminal justice agencies.
D) some public employers including national security agencies.

Question 20

If a person is lying, the polygraph can pick up the following changes in his or her physiological functions EXCEPT:

A) breathing.
B) perspiration.
C) heart rate.
D) brain activity.

Question 21

The _____ shows a video image of the brain in action.

A) fMRI
B) MRI
C) CBCA
D) EEG

Question 22

The guilty knowledge test (GKT) uses a multiple-choice question format. When answers are provided, _____ is usually _____.

A) the first choice; the correct answer
B) the last choice; the correct answer
C) the first choice; thrown out
D) the last choice; thrown out

Question 23

Unlike other polygraph tests, the guilty knowledge test (GKT):

A) relies heavily on the expertise of polygraph examiners.
B) reduces polygraph examiners to mere technicians.
C) places the burden of proof on the polygraph machine.
D) is accepted in court in almost all states.

Question 24

Credibility assessment is also referred to as:

A) criteria-based content analysis.
B) polygraph testing.
C) lie detection.
D) eye-movement memory assessment.

Question 25

Marissa is being polygraphed using the guilty knowledge test (GKT). This test focuses on whether Marissa:

A) knows facts that one would expect that only the criminal would know.
B) understands facts that were published about the crime in the media.
C) is willing to share information that is uncomfortable for most people to share.
D) remains unwilling to be tested, which amounts to her admission of guilt.

Question 26

The polygraph may be used as a _____ tactic to evoke _____.

A) coercive; a confession.
B) gentle; turning over evidence.
C) hidden; naming of suspects.
D) blunt; sympathy of jurors.

Question 27

According to the text, an EEG reads neural impulses _____, whereas the fMRI reads brain activity _____.

A) continuously; every two seconds
B) every two seconds; continuously
C) every hour; every minute
D) every minute; every hour

Question 28

The technique that uses systematic analysis of written statements to assess the credibility of statements related to a particular event is called:

A) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
B) criteria-based content analysis (CBCA).
C) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
D) the polygraph.

Question 29

Some promising low-tech methods of lie detection include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) asking the suspects to tell their stories backwards.
B) insisting that suspects maintain eye contact with the interrogator.
C) asking suspects to draw a picture.
D) making suspects listen to their own story recorded.

Question 30

GKT is one of the most promising polygraph techniques to date. However, there are some limitations to its usefulness. One of these limitations is that:

A) most criminals remember the scene of their crimes very clearly.
B) most crimes are widely publicized in the media.
C) a sufficient number of crime facts uniquely known by only the criminal is often not available.
D) polygraph examiners are reluctant to take on the leading role in formulating the questions.

Question 31

_____ measures almost imperceptible changes in the heat of the human face.

A) Criteria-based content analysis
B) High-definition infrared thermal imaging
C) The electroencephlogram (EEG)
D) Laser doppler vibrometry (LDV)