Forensic Psychology Lecture Notes

Vocabulary terms and definitions from forensic psychology lecture notes covering profiling, memory, interrogation tactics, legal competencies, and jury decision-making biases.

Forensic Psychology

The scientific analysis of trace psychological evidence to assist with the detection, suppression, and knowledge of criminal behaviour.

Knowing someone (vs. Profiling)

The degree to which knowledge of an individual is empirically (scientifically) based rather than purely intuitive.

Cardinal Traits

Stable dispositions suggested by Gordon Allport that guide an individual's personality and display themselves across various situations.

16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF)

An assessment tool developed by Raymond Cattell to identify traits, later used in forensic settings to profile offenders who may score extreme on factors like risk-taking or impulsivity.

Sensory memory

Sense-based information held for a very short duration immediately following exposure.

Short-term memory

A storage system for a limited amount of information ($7 \times \text{or } \times 2$ meaningful units) held without rehearsal for approximately $30$ seconds.

Long-term memory

An almost unlimited amount of information that can be stored over an individual's lifetime through rehearsal.

Clinical Model

A profiling model used by the FBI Behavioural Science Unit (US) aiming to create a psychological profile of an offender to identify who they are.

Experimental/Statistical Model

A profiling model used in the UK aiming to create a statistically-based profile regarding the location of the offender and their crimes.

Eyewitness Reliability

The degree to which information provided by an eyewitness accurately reflects the perceived event.

Cognitive-behavioural approach (CBA)

An avenue for behaviour change based on principles of learning, including rewards, punishments, and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation.

Recognition

The ability to elicit stored memory material through the use of an external cue, such as a multiple-choice question.

Recall

The ability to elicit stored memory material without any external cue, such as in a short-answer question.

System Variables

Factors affecting eyewitness reliability that the criminal justice system can or should control, such as interviewing techniques and lineup instructions.

Estimator Variables

Factors affecting eyewitness reliability that the criminal justice system cannot control, such as lighting conditions, event duration, or the weapon effect.

Sequential Line-up

A presentation method where photos are shown to a witness one at a time.

Simultaneous Line-up

A presentation method where all photos are shown to a witness at the same time.

Questioning

An interaction aimed at encouraging a person to provide reliable information regarding an alleged offence.

Interviewing

A formal interaction aimed at encouraging a person to provide confirmation of known elements of an alleged offence.

Interrogation

An interaction specifically aimed at acquiring a confession from an individual regarding an alleged offence.

Yerkes-Dodson Principle

The principle suggesting that performance or perception is negatively impacted if stress/arousal levels are either too high or too low.

Paralanguage

Non-verbal cues related to the voice, such as tone and pauses.

Oculesics

Non-verbal communication through eye contact, used to express emotion, control conversation, or indicate honesty.

Kinesics

Non-vocal body movements that express meaning, including facial expressions and gestures.

Emblems

Specific gestures that serve as direct substitutes for words or phrases.

Proximics

The study of interpersonal space, ranging from Intimate Distance ($15-45\text{ cm}$) to Public Distance ($4-8\text{ meters}$).

Haptics

The study of communication through physical touch, which can be positive, negative, ritualistic, or task-related.

Prisoner’s Dilemma

A research concept looking at when individuals in a dyad crime are most or least likely to admit involvement, often used as an interrogation technique.

Competency

Whether a defendant has sufficient ability to consult with legal representation and possesses a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings.

Competency Screening Test

A $22$-item sentence completion assessment used to determine if a full competency assessment is needed.

Challenge for cause

The removal of a juror based on proof of a bias that would prevent objectivity.

Peremptory challenges

The removal of a juror without requiring a reason, which was abolished in Canada in $2019$ via Bill C-75.

Vividness

An input bias where decision-makers place extra weight on dramatic, bizarre, or abnormal information.

Primacy

An input bias revolving around 'first impressions', where extra cognitive weight is placed on information presented early.

Representative Heuristic

A processing bias where individuals use emotionally-evoking stimuli and false beliefs rather than logic to make decisions.

Illusory Correlation

The processing bias of believing two events are causally related simply because they occurred in close proximity.

Framing

A processing bias where a decision is influenced by concentrating on a specific cognitive anchor.

Response Bias

The tendency for an individual to behave contrary to their decision due to social influences.

Functional Fixedness

An output bias creating an inability to apply a logical decision because of the cognitive categorization or 'role' someone holds.