PSYC2450 WK 1 Notes - CH. 1, 2, 12

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary and concepts from the psychology and legal system lecture, helping students prepare for their exam.

Law

Human creation of order, consistency, & conflict resolution

Psychological approach to law

Highlights human determinants, focusing on the individual as the thing to analyze

Due process model

Protects citizens from abuse by the legal system & assumes innocence

Crime control model

Prefers efficiency to apprehend & punish lawbreakers

Equality

All people committing the same crime receive the same consequences

Discretion

Legal actors making decisions on a case-by-case basis for specific circumstances

Distributive justice

Fairness in outcome of decisions

Procedural justice

Fairness in the decision-making process

Commonsense justice

What ordinary citizens deem just & fair

Jury nullification

A jury refusing to convict a legally guilty defendant

Adversarial system

Legal system with opposing sides presenting evidence to the fact-finder

Inquisitorial system

Legal system with judge having more control over the proceedings

Black-letter law

Precisely codified laws

Stare decisis

Principle of abiding by previous decisions

Basic scientist

Studies things to better understand & scientifically advance

Applied scientist

Applies knowledge from research to solve real-life problems

Expert witness

Someone having specialized knowledge to help legal proceedings

Policy evaluator

Someone using methodological skills to assess efficacy of interventions

Forensic evaluator

Someone evaluating individuals in a civil or criminal case on a legal standpoint

Consultant

Giving expertise & strategic advice during a trial

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Case in 1993 that established experts to be allowed to give testimony in federal courts, giving relevance & reliability of scientific methods

Venire

Panel of prospective jurors that are summoned to court

Voir Dire

Questioning prospective jurors to assess possible biases

Challenge for cause

A juror being excused due to having bias

Preemptory challenge

Simply excusing a juror without giving a reason (having too many & only a limited #)

Implicit bias

Unconscious bias of beliefs & attitudes affecting how someone thinks or acts a certain way

Social desirability effect

People’s tendency to present themselves in a socially acceptable way

Implicit personality theory

Theory of people holding unconscious assumptions about how personality traits are related, leading to make quick judgements based on little information

Similarity-leniency hypothesis

Jurors in court preferring to side with someone similar to them

Black sheep effect

Someone inside a group being judged more harshly than someone outside the group from them being outside their norms or having a negative perception

Authoritarianism

Someone having higher levels of this personality trait tends to have predictable bias of favoring prosecution & punitive measures, potentially impacting legal decisions leading to harsher outcomes for defendants

Lockhart v. McCree

Found it constitutional to remove potential jurors predisposed to disagree with the death penalty in capital cases; allows the ability to remove them if they can’t fulfill their duties

Need for cognition

Personality trait describing someone being inclined to enjoy & seek out mentally engaging tasks that take effort in problem-solving, learning new things, & thinking deeply

Scientific jury selection

Using empirical methods like focus groups or surveys to identify desirable jurors & weed out undesirable ones

Selection effects

Differences between cases chosen as a jury trial vs. a judge trial

Pre-trial publicity

Information coming out to the public before a trial starts, giving potential to influence potential jurors

Source monitoring error

Believing previously public information before a trial is presented as evidence during a trial (prior knowledge), mistakenly attributing the source of their memory & influence their opinion

Continuance

Postponing a trial

Change of venue

Moving a trial to a different physical location

Legal formalism

Judges applying law in a rational, mechanical way

Legal realism

Judges’ decisions being influenced by psychological, social, political, & economic factors

Precedent

Ruling in a previous case being used as a guide for future decisions

Probabilistic estimate

Prediction about future outcomes when the right answer’s not yet known

Proportionality (in law)

Principle of punishment matching consistently to the magnitude of the offense

Self-determination theory

Explaining the motive based on situational or personality factors to affect positive or negative motivation & change subjective wellbeing

Sentencing disparity

Tendency of judges to give a range of penalties for the same crime

Settlement negotiation

Agreeing to end a legal dispute using compromise of some kind

Stability (attribution dimension)

Whether someone believes the cause of something is permanent (stable) or temporary (unstable), heavily influencing their expectation for future outcomes or their motivation to change

Therapeutic jurisprudence

How law affects the wellbeing of people involved; how legal rulings can cause harm (in mental health & drug cases) & how to restructure them to be more healing while being balanced with legal procedures

Criminal profiling

Viewing certain characteristics as indicators of criminal behavior

Source monitoring error

Believing previously public information before a trial is presented as evidence during a trial (prior knowledge), mistakenly attributing the source of their memory & influence their opinion

Probabilistic estimate

Prediction about future outcomes when the right answer’s not yet known

Sentencing disparity

Tendency of judges to give a range of penalties for the same crime

What are the primary functions of laws in society?

Create order & consistency; Resolve conflicts between people’s impulses & their rights; Adapt to societal changes

How does a psychological approach to law differ from traditional legal thinking?

Emphasizes human determinants of law; Views the individual responsible for their actions; Uses scientific methods & probability reasoning vs relying on precedents & absolute statements; looks at the grey between black & white more

What are the 4 basic choices that pervade the law? How do they each apply?

1. Individual rights vs. the common good

2. Equality vs. discretion

3. Discovering truth vs. resolving conflicts

4. Science vs. law as the source of decisions

What are the 2 main models of the criminal justice system?

1. Due process model - pro abuse protection & innocence; individual rights (favored in 1960s)

2. Crime control model - pro apprehension & punishment; efficiency & crime reduction (favored in 1990s)

What’s the difference between distributive & procedural justice?

Distributive - fairness of outcomes
Procedural - fairness of the processes used to reach that end

What’s the 5 distinct roles for psychologists in the legal system & what do they each do?

1. Basic scientist - studies human phenomena for better understanding & scientific advancement

2. Applied scientist - uses research to solve real-world problems

3. Policy evaluator - assesses the efficacy of interventions or policies

4. Forensic evaluator - assessing someone during trial

5. Consultant - giving advice/strategic expertise during trial

What things does a forensic psychologist do in the legal system?

Evaluate people & prepare a report for court;
If a criminal defendant can stand trial or has an unfit mental disorder at the time of the crime & what treatments they recommend for them;
Provide expert testimony in a trial;
Communicate information to answer legal questions & resolve legal disputes

What are 2 ways to dispute conflicts effectively in the civil justice system? What is the benefit to these?

1. Plea bargaining - resolves up to 95\% of criminal disputes of pleading guilty for a more lenient sentence or for dropping certain charges

2. Settlement negotiation - allows plaintiff & defendant to negotiate terms before heading to trial
   *Benefits: Resolves conflicts efficiently vs. the uncertainty in seeking absolute truth in trial; saves time & costs, secures defendant cooperation &/or testimony, & is a pragmatic choice for the defendant’s legal challenges

What’s the difference between adversarial & inquisitorial legal systems? Pros & cons of each?

Adversarial - US based, has opposing sides present evidence to the fact-finder for absolute truth
Inquisitorial - Europe-based, allows judge more control over evidence & proceedings

What does a black-letter law mean?

Laws previously & precisely written to identify illegal actions

What’s the difference between venire & voire dire during the jury selection process?

Venire selects a panel of potential jurors, while voir dire assess their potential biases before trial

What’s the difference between challenge for cause & preemptory challenge in jury selection?

Challenge for cause - decision to exclude a potential juror based on demonstrable bias, no limit to how many
Preemptory selection - excluding a potential juror without giving a reason

How does implicit personality theory apply in jury selection?

A person’s framework of preconceptions about how characteristics tie to each other & to behavior, likely to be mistaken, incorrect, & misrepresented

What are the 3 dimensions of causal attribution, & how do they each differ?

1. Stability - is the cause of behavior enduring & stable or temporary & unstable?

2. Internality - is it due to something internal to a person or external in the environment? Nature vs. nurture

3. Globalness - is this specific to one situation or applicable in all situations? Internal vs. external validity

What’s the difference between the law & psychology?

Law deals with absolute statements of black & white + precedents
Psychology uses scientific method & probabilities in human determinants & views individual as the focus that’s responsible for their actions

Which case allowed for admissibility of expert testimony, & how is it determined?

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 1993 with the Supreme Court creating a two-prong test to determine permissibility for trial

What determines someone’s eligibility to be an expert witness in trial?

If they’re relevant to the case reliable & valid science; created a standard to admit expert testimony upon those conditions being met

What 2 schools of thought influence judges’ rulings & how do they differ?

1. Legal formalism - judges applying rulings in a careful, rational, & mechanical way, using little influence from psychosocial factors in society

2. Legal realism - judges’ decisions are influenced by psychological, social, political & economic factors
   *The former uses solely facts of a case & applicable laws, the latter uses extralegal context factors in their decisions; judges tend to do the latter more often, especially with special cases having room for leeway

How can judges decide on legal rulings during trial?

1. Using motivated reasoning typically outside of a person’s awareness

2. Intuitive processes based on emotion & perception, often spontaneous without careful thought or effort (This is used more often by judges for awarding damage rulings, describing litigants' conduct, & inadmissible evidence once known)

3. Deliberative processes involving mental effort, concentration, motivation, & application of learned rules

What trial ruling declared the right to an attorney in the Miranda rights? Why?

Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963 ruled in Supreme Court that Clarence Giden had the right to an attorney even if he couldn’t afford one & received a new trial with a court-appointed lawyer 2 years later & being acquitted (found not guilty)

What does the Batson v. Kentucky ruling of 1986 indicate?

Supreme Court ruling peremptory challenges (dismissing a potential juror without giving reason) based on race/skin color

What are the main remedies for pre-trial publicity?

1. Continuance - postponing trial & allowing more time to reduce influence during trial

2. Expanded voir dire - lengthening the prospect juror questioning & selection process

3. Change of venue - changing the location of where the trial takes place with less media present to mitigate trial bias

What can cause sentencing disparity?

Sentencing disparity leads judges to administer different penalties for the same crime & is influenced by psychosocial factors or implicit/racial bias

What can help mitigate sentencing disparity?

Determinate sentencing, which reduces discretion for judges & parole commissions with more finite offenses to determine the sentence

What’s the Miller v. Alabama decision about? How does it relate to the death penalty?

Determined it’s unconstitutional for juvenile offenders to be charged with life sentences without possibility of parole bc they’re less culpable than adults & have more capacity to change