Deck 18: Applying Social Psychology to the Law

Question 1

System variables that influence eyewitness identifications in criminal lineups are most analogous to ____ that influence participant behavior in social psychological experiments.

A) interactions
B) confounds
C) demand characteristics
D) confirmation biases

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Own-race bias refers to the observation that ____.

A) people tend to trust individuals of their own race more than people of other races
B) people are more likely to correctly identify members of their own race than members of other races
C) people tend to believe that members of other races are more likely to commit crimes than are members of their own race
D) people preferentially associate with members of their own race, increasing the likelihood they will be victimized by members of their own race

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The jury pool in the United States is known as a(n) ____.

A) venire
B) voir dire
C) implicit panel
D) challenger board

Answer 3

A

Question 4

According to the text, when police use lineup procedures to obtain identifications of criminals from eyewitnesses, which is better, the match-to-suspect approach or the match-to-culprit approach?

A) The match-to-suspect approach-because it does not "burn" eyewitnesses as much.
B) The match-to-suspect approach-because it is less likely to "lead" suspects.
C) The match-to-culprit approach-because it does not "burn" eyewitnesses as much.
D) The match-to-culprit approach-because it is less likely to "lead" suspects.

Question 5

Dana says she was terrified when she was assaulted and is not sure she can identify who did it, especially since her glasses were knocked off early during the assault. She views a lineup in which the "true" perpetrator is known to be present. Dana, however, cannot pick the individual out of the line-up, resulting in a(n) ____.

A) correct rejection
B) incorrect rejection
C) correct identification
D) false identification

Question 6

In a target-absent lineup, it is impossible for an eyewitness to make an identification decision that qualifies as a(n) ____.

A) correct identification
B) correct rejection
C) incorrect rejection
D) incorrect identification

Question 7

When criminal psychologists distinguish between system variables and estimator variables as two sources of inaccuracy in eyewitness reports and identifications, they are distinguishing between variables ____.

A) that are under the control of the criminal justice system versus those that are not
B) that are static versus those that are present only at the scene of the crime
C) that are relatively objective versus those that are subjective
D) that are based on memory versus those based on inference

Question 8

When instructions to individuals viewing the lineup include a warning that the perpetrator may not be in the lineup, there is a(n) ____.

A) decrease in the number of correct identifications made by witnesses
B) increase in the number of correct identifications made by witnesses
C) decrease in the number of mistaken identifications made by witnesses
D) increase in the number of mistaken identifications made by witnesses

Question 9

Suppose that, during jury selection for a criminal trial, defense lawyer Wickens decides that she does not want a potential juror named Bob Strange on the jury. He seems unpredictable to her, but potentially likely to favor the prosecution. She therefore tells the judge that she would like to have Bob removed from the jury panel (without stating her reasoning). It would appear that Bob is being removed via the process of ____.

A) venire
B) voir dire
C) challenge for cause
D) peremptory challenge

Question 10

Rossi is suspected of committing a robbery and appears in a lineup in which the store clerk claims that he is the robber. As it turns out, Rossi simply looks remarkably like the person who committed the crime, but did not, himself, commit the crime. Rossi has been a victim of ____.

A) correct rejection
B) incorrect rejection
C) correct identification
D) false identification

Question 11

Suppose that Danielle was an eyewitness to a store robbery. She gives the police a description of the criminal: "30-35 year-old male, brown hair, light eyes, about 5'10", with a missing finger on his left hand." A few weeks later, police track down a suspect. He fits Danielle's description, and additionally has a lazy eye and a huge tattoo on his neck. If police use the match-to-suspect approach in constructing a lineup for eyewitness identification, then the foils in the lineup ____.

A) may or may not have brown hair
B) will definitely have brown hair, but may or may not be missing fingers
C) will definitely have brown hair and missing fingers, but may or may not have a tattoo
D) will definitely have brown hair, missing fingers, and a tattoo

Question 12

Research on estimator variables has found that _____.

A) men and women have similar rates of both correct and mistaken identifications
B) men and women have similar rates of correct identifications but men have higher rates of mistaken identifications
C) men and women have similar rates of mistaken identifications but men have higher rates of correct identifications
D) women have higher rates of both correct and mistaken identifications

Question 13

In general, jurors ____.

A) are swayed by eyewitness testimony only when there is substantial corroborating evidence
B) respond to experts' testimony about problems with eyewitness testimony by tending to view all eyewitness testimony skeptically
C) are quite capable of evaluating the reliability of eyewitness testimony based on their own life experiences
D) typically reject eyewitness testimony because they are well aware that people can and do lie

Question 14

When it comes to eyewitness identifications in police lineups, sequential lineups are generally preferred to simultaneous lineups-especially when witnesses ____.

A) do not know how many people are in the lineup
B) are told in advance how many people are in the lineup
C) are asked to rate the similarity of each person in the lineup to the criminal
D) are asked to rank each person in the lineup in order of his or her similarity to the criminal

Question 15

In the ____ lineup procedure, witnesses view each lineup member in turn, making a decision about whether that lineup member is the culprit before viewing the next member of the lineup.

A) simultaneous
B) signal detection
C) sequential
D) decision-based

Question 16

Suppose that Danielle was an eyewitness to a store robbery. She gives the police a description of the criminal: "30-35 year-old male, brown hair, light eyes, about 5'10", with a missing finger on his left hand." A few weeks later, police track down a suspect. He fits Danielle's description, and additionally has a lazy eye and a huge tattoo on his neck. If police use the match-to-culprit approach in constructing a lineup for eyewitness identification, then the foils in the lineup ____.

A) may or may not have brown hair
B) will definitely have brown hair, but may or may not be missing fingers
C) will definitely have brown hair and missing fingers, but may or may not have a tattoo
D) will definitely have brown hair, missing fingers, and a tattoo

Question 17

What is an example of a system variable that might lead to inaccuracies in eyewitness identifications in lineups?

A) The number of people chosen to appear in the lineup alongside the suspect
B) Whether the eyewitness is confident about his or her identification of the eyewitness during the lineup procedure
C) Whether the eyewitness and the criminal are of the same race/ethnicity
D) Whether the witness is confident about the original statement that he or she gave to the police

Question 18

In general, which of the following best summarizes how convincing eyewitness testimony is to jurors?

A) Not very convincing-even when jurors have reason to believe that the eyewitness had good opportunity to study the criminal's appearance
B) Not very convincing-unless the eyewitness is reporting having seen a good friend, relative, or other highly familiar person commit a crime
C) Very convincing-unless jurors have reason to believe that the eyewitness had impaired vision at the time of the crime
D) Very convincing-even when jurors have reason to believe that the eyewitness had impaired vision at the time of the crime

Question 19

In a properly conducted lineup, wherein eyewitnesses are asked to identify criminals who they saw commit a crime, the foils in the lineup are people who ____.

A) are all suspects of the crime
B) are all known to be innocent of the crime
C) do not match the physical description of the suspect
D) do not match the psychological profile of the suspect

Question 20

Lineup members other than the suspect who are known to be innocent of the crime are called ____.

A) foils
B) false flags
C) fillers
D) validators

Question 21

Juries for robbery trials, assault trials, and other trials all go through a process of voir dire; juries for capital cases also go through a screening called ____.

A) venire
B) death qualification
C) continuance
D) peremptory challenge

Question 22

Delaying a trial is known as a(n) ____.

A) change of venue
B) continuance
C) foil
D) blank lineup

Question 23

In terms of practical, real-world effects, ____.

A) there is no evidence that jurors can be influenced by false memories, since they are so easy to see through
B) the issue of recovered memories reflects the fundamental tension between convicting the guilty and acquitting the innocent
C) because there has been so much publicity about implanting false memories, jurors rarely believe them
D) nearly all trials in which false memories play a role end in a mistrial and are never retried

Question 24

During the jury selection process in jury trials, attorneys often rely on ____ in an effort to figure out what demographic characteristics, personality traits, lifestyle characteristics, and behaviors correlate with jury opinions and jury verdicts.

A) countertransference
B) implicit personality theories
C) attribution theory
D) groupthink

Question 25

Women, the poor, and blacks are less likely than others to be represented on trials for capital cases. One big reason for this, according to the text, is that ____.

A) judges tend to be in favor of the death penalty, and therefore remove from jury panels members of these groups because they are believed to be relatively averse to the death penalty
B) trials for these cases tend to be held in counties where these groups are underrepresented
C) these groups tend to be more opposed to the death penalty than others, and thus often "opt out" of sitting on juries for these cases
D) these groups tend to be more opposed to the death penalty than others, and are thus often disqualified from sitting on juries for these cases

Question 26

Moving a trial from the location in which it would normally be held is called a change of ____.

A) voir dire
B) venue
C) target
D) qualification

Question 27

A request made by an attorney that a potential juror be removed from the jury panel because he or she is clearly biased and will be unable to hear the case fairly is called a(n) ____.

A) challenge for cause
B) implicit challenge
C) peremptory challenge
D) challenge for bias

Question 28

Suppose that, during jury selection for a burglary trial, the lawyer for the prosecution determines that she does not want a potential juror named Ingrid Malone on the jury. Ingrid has stated that she has been in and out of mental institutions her whole life, and that she sees nothing wrong with a little burglary now and then. Ingrid even offers up the idea that "all burglars should be free to burgle." The prosecution lawyer suggests to the judge that Ingrid is highly biased and should be removed from the jury panel. The judge agrees, and has her quickly removed. This process is known as ____.

A) venire
B) voir dire
C) challenge for cause
D) peremptory challenge

Question 29

When jurors have been exposed to pretrial publicity, they ____.

A) are somewhat more likely to deem the defendant guilty
B) are somewhat more likely to deem the defendant innocent
C) tend to think that they are biased by this exposure, even when they are not
D) are able to disregard any information to which they have been exposed once the trial begins

Question 30

According to the text, the best way to eliminate biases in jury judgments resulting from pretrial exposure to trial-related information is by making use of ____.

A) continuance
B) an extended voir dire
C) change of venue
D) an extended venire

Question 31

Which of the following best summarizes current thinking on "recovered memories"?

A) This is a complicated topic, involving numerous tradeoffs, about which there are few clear answers.
B) "Recovered memories" are real, though the criminal justice system has been slow to acknowledge their legitimacy.
C) There does not appear to be any legitimacy to the notion of "recovered memories"-despite the commonality with which they allegedly occurred in the 1980's and 1990's.
D) "Recovered memories" are now widely recognized by both psychologists and the criminal justice system as being real and legitimate.

Question 32

Compared to other juries, juries that are "death qualified" tend to ____.

A) over-represent the poor
B) over-represent women
C) remember more of the evidence that is presented in a trial
D) be more likely to judge defendants guilty rather than innocent

Question 33

People with a(n) ____ personality are more likely to hold conventional values, respect authority figures, and punish others who defy authority.

A) authoritative
B) permissive
C) rigid
D) authoritarian

Question 34

Of the following, which personality trait is most predictive of whether people are lenient versus punitive in jury trial voting?

A) Introversion/extroversion
B) Authoritarianism
C) Self-monitoring
D) Need for closure