Deck 11: Interrogations and Confessions

Question 1

When did "scientific jury selection" begin?

A)1940s
B)1960s
C)1970s
D)1980s

Answer 1

1970s

Question 2

Identify which type of false confession occurred in the Paul Ingram case.Were any of the techniques used to elicit his confession illegal?

Answer 2

no answer

Question 3

What is a general guideline to decide if an interrogation method is acceptable? Using this guideline,should current police practices be modified?

Answer 3

no answer

Question 4

Describe the role a forensic psychologist can play for each of the following clienteles: police departments,courts,and society.

Question 5

How has your opinion of interrogation techniques,confessions,and court decisions changed as a result of reading Chapter 11?

Question 6

What has been the Supreme Court's position on the use of deception by police during interrogations?

Question 7

How does the fundamental attribution error affect jurors' reactions to confessions?

Question 8

The majority of cases in which trial consultants are used are

A)criminal trials.
B)capital trials.
C)civil trials.
D)international trials.

Question 9

Why are the results of compliance studies such as those by Milgram and by Asch relevant to interrogations and confessions?

Question 10

What was the underlying conclusion in the findings of Kassin and Kiechel's 1996 study which had students engage in a computer task?

Question 11

What types of assumptions have the courts made in determining what interrogation techniques are acceptable?

Question 12

Describe the contents of police manuals on interrogation.

Question 13

Since false confessions and convictions occur,is it necessary to rethink the punishment we assign? Is the death penalty too big a risk in light of the possibility of false confessions?

Question 14

Discuss the John Karr case and identify which type of false confession he made.What might have been his motivations?

Question 15

Which of the following was listed in Chapter 12 as a reason why "trial consultants" may be better thought of as " litigation consultants"?

A)Because of lack of certification,the term 'trial consultant' may be misleading to the public.
B)The increasing addition of social scientists to the field has expanded duties beyond simply consulting at the trial.
C)Attorneys may be reluctant to hire 'trial consultants' because they feel that they do not need help with the actual trial portion of the case.
D)People see the name 'trial consultant' and attach negative connotations.

Question 16

Several court cases on confessions and interrogations were presented in Chapter 11.Select three and comment on the court's decision and why it was or was not the correct one in your opinion.

Question 17

Speculate why a gender difference was found in the survey in Chapter 11 about willingness to confess to a crime that one did not commit.

Question 18

Evaluate the technique of misleading suspects,a method than can bring forth both true and false confessions.Should this technique be legal?

Question 19

How many states currently license or certify trial consultants?

A)0
B)8
C)23
D)All 50

Question 20

Discuss the findings of the Kassin et al.(2007) study on police self-reports of interrogation techniques.What kinds of techniques do police most frequently use? Are they accurate in their confidence to detect deception?

Question 21

What does a peremptory challenge do?

A)Strike testimony from the record
B)Change the venue of a trial
C)Make evidence inadmissible
D)Dismiss a prospective juror

Question 22

Who most often requests a change of venue?

A)The prosecution in civil trials.
B)The prosecution in criminal trials.
C)The defense.
D)The presiding judge.

Question 23

The proposition that group stereotypes may be unwisely generalized,but that some basic distinctions between groups exist,is called the

A)fundamental attribution error.
B)kernel of truth hypothesis.
C)attitudinal consistency approach.
D)intergroup differential.

Question 24

Which of the following would reflect a pro defense bias?

A)suspicion of those in power
B)belief in a just world
C)belief that there is too much litigation
D)distrust of lawyers

Question 25

The narrative fidelity of a story presented during opening statements reflects

A)the story's logical realism.
B)the story's length.
C)the story's emotional impact.
D)the story's relevance to the law.

Question 26

Which of the following U.S.Constitutional amendments most directly applies to a change of venue request?

A)First Amendment right to privacy
B)Fourth Amendment right to be free of searches and seizures
C)Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial
D)Eighth Amendment right to avoid cruel and unusual punishment

Question 27

When the defense reconstrues elements in the prosecution's story and offers a different interpretation of them,they are using

A)a reconstruction strategy.
B)narrative coherence.
C)a redefinition strategy.
D)narrative fidelity.

Question 28

What is NOT one of the marks of a well-done change of venue survey?

A)The jurisdiction that serves as a comparison is demographically similar.
B)The survey measures the respondent's knowledge of the case.
C)The survey measures the respondent's knowledge of the legal system.
D)The survey measures the respondent's view of the suspect's guilt.

Question 29

Which of the following statements has NOT been documented,with respect to pretrial publicity?

A)Those with more knowledge about a case were more likely to assume the defendant was guilty.
B)The more media sources people use,the more likely they will know about a case.
C)People's knowledge about a case is not related to their reported ability to remain impartial.
D)If people do not know about a case,surveying them to assess pretrial publicity effects will lead them to assume the defendant is guilty.

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the American Society of Trial Consultants?

A)It does not require a Ph.D.to join.
B)It outlines a Code of Professional Standards.
C)Many trial consultants do not belong to it.
D)It has a regulatory board to enforce its membership rules.

Question 31

A study by Williams,et al.(2001) on "stealing thunder" in the courtroom found that juries sided with the plaintiff most when damaging evidence about awitness for the plaintiff was presented by

A)neither the plaintiff nor defendant.
B)the plaintiff only.
C)the defendant only.
D)both the plaintiff and the defendant.

Question 32

What is an example of powerless speech?

A)Not taking time before answering a question
B)Answering a question one does not understand
C)Not answering a question succinctly
D)Using qualifiers when answering a question

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a juror favoring the prosecution?

A)Trust in authority
B)Belief in a just world
C)Sympathy with the underprivileged
D)Acquiescent responding

Question 34

Focusing on the question of "why is our evidence better than their evidence?" during closing statements is used in the _________ approach.

A)narrative
B)sponsorship
C)expository
D)coherence

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT a possible characteristic of authoritarianism as described by Boehm (1968)?

A)An expression of right-wing philosophy
B)A belief that a question can have more than one answer
C)Indiscriminate endorsement of the acts of constituted authority
D)An essentially punitive nature

Question 36

In order to expand the validity and acceptability of pretrial surveys,the American Society of Trial Consultants has begun to

A)hold seminars and lectures on surveying techniques to help judges and lawyers become comfortable with the techniques.
B)require that every survey presented in a community use no less than 35% of the actual jury pool in that community.
C)develop set standards and guidelines for surveys,including sample size,interview length,and question wording.
D)submit amicus briefs to accompany any Supreme Court decision questioning change of venue techniques.

Question 37

Studies using mock juries have shown that detrimental pretrial publicity changes the conviction rate from 45% in a control condition to

A)49%.
B)59%.
C)68%.
D)82%.

Question 38

What happens in sequestered voir dire?

A)The attorneys dismiss prospective jurors.
B)The judge questions jurors individually.
C)Trial consultants conduct a change of venue survey.
D)Trial consultants prepare witnesses for testimony.

Question 39

Gerry Spence's statement "a concession coming from your mouth is not nearly as hurtful as an exposure coming from your opponent's" characterizes which ofthe following theories?

A)Sponsorship theory
B)Inoculation theory
C)Advocacy theory
D)Coherence theory

Question 40

Which of the following proposes that it is dangerous for an attorney to point out flaws in his or her client's case?

A)Sponsorship theory
B)Inoculation theory
C)Advocacy theory
D)Coherence theory

Question 41

According to Boehm (1968),an individual who endorses traditional liberal,non- extreme positions on legal questions would be described as

A)authoritarian.
B)authoritative.
C)antiauthoritarian.
D)equalitarian.

Question 42

What is the position of the courts on trial consultants?

A)An increasing number of states are banning trial consultants.
B)It is illegal for one side to have a trial consultant if the other does not.
C)It is legal for one side to have a trial consultant if the other does not.
D)An attorney must share all analyses done by a trial consultant with the

Question 43

Asking about a person's attitudes on how serious side effects of a drug would have to be before discontinuing the drug is a measure of attitudes about

A)personal responsibility.
B)liability.
C)standards of care.
D)risk-taking.

Question 44

Which of the following Legal Attitudes Questionnaire juror types did Boehm find to be unrelated to jury verdicts?

A)Authoritarian
B)Authoritative
C)Antiauthoritarian
D)Equalitarian

Question 45

Trial consultants are often used by the_________ in criminal trials and by the__________ in civil trials.

A)defense;defendant
B)defense;plaintiff
C)prosecution;defendant
D)prosecution;plaintiff

Question 46

The clearest determinant of jury verdicts is

A)juror demographics.
B)juror attitudes.
C)the personalities of the lawyers involved.
D)the quality of the evidence.

Question 47

Which of the following would be LEAST likely to be protected from discovery because of the attorney work product?

A)Correspondence between an attorney and trial consultant.
B)Legal research.
C)The responses of prospective jurors to a supplemental questionnaire.
D)Reports on the opinions and conclusions of the attorneys.

Question 48

Which of the following judgments is measured by the Juror Bias Scale?

A)Authoritariansim
B)Probability of commission
C)Totality of the circumstances
D)Redefinition strategy

Question 49

Penrod and Cutler (1987) estimate that scientific jury selection might be able to predict what percent of the variance in close civil cases?

A)1 to 5%
B)10 to 15%
C)25 to 40%
D)50 to 65%

Question 50

Which of the following is NOT advisable when drafting a supplemental juror questionnaire?

A)Keep it as short as possible
B)Explain its purpose in the introduction
C)Arrange questions by topic
D)Use "yes/no" questions

Question 51

An analysis of civil juror bias scales found two distinct factors:

A)attitudes opposed to government regulation and attitudes about proper safety standards.
B)attitudes opposed to government regulation and belief in a just world.
C)attitudes about personal responsibility and attitudes about proper safety standards.
D)attitudes opposed to government regulation and attitudes about proper safety standards

Question 52

Which of the following would most likely lead to someone being held in contempt of court for jury tampering?

A)Examining public records of a prospective juror.
B)Hiring a detective to follow jurors,but never speak to them.
C)Giving supplemental juror questionnaires to prospective jurors.
D)Looking at bumper stickers on prospective jurors' cars.

Question 53

During which stage of a trial would a supplemental juror questionnaire be used?

A)Prior to jury selection
B)After jury selection,to double check or biases
C)After opening statements,to double check for biases
D)Right before jury deliberations