Forensic Psychology Midterm Exam Review

Flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, landmark cases, police procedures, and eyewitness phenomena from the Forensic Psychology midterm review notes.

Forensic Psychology (Narrow Definition)

Focuses solely on the clinical aspects, such as the assessment and treatment of offenders.

Forensic Psychology (Broad Definition)

Includes both clinical practice and research aspects within the legal and justice systems.

James McKeen Cattell ($1895$)

Researcher who studied eyewitness testimony accuracy and found that confidence is not significantly related to accuracy.

Alfred Binet ($1900$)

Investigated the suggestibility of child witnesses, particularly how complex or misleading questions impact testimony.

William Stern ($1939$)

Conducted "reality experiments" finding that high emotional arousal ($e.g.$, stress, anxiety) affects eyewitness accuracy.

Hugo Münsterberg

Known as the "father of forensic psychology" and author of "On the Witness Stand," he advocated for applying psychology to the legal system.

State v. Driver ($1921$)

The first time a psychology expert appeared in a $U.S.$ court (attempted rape case) to offer views on lie detection.

Jenkins v. United States ($1962$)

Landmark case where the court of appeal recognized the expertise of psychologists on mental disorders.

Psychology and the Law

The study of the operation of the legal system, such as how eyewitness testimony works.

Psychology in the Law

The use of psychology within the legal system, such as providing expert testimony in court.

Psychology of the Law

The study of the law itself, such as evaluating if a new law effectively reduces recidivism.

Nomothetic (Epistemology)

The psychological pursuit of objective truth through experiments and generalization.

Idiographic (Epistemology)

The legal pursuit of subjective truth for specific, individual cases.

Frye v. United States ($1923$)

Court case that introduced the "General Acceptance Test" for the admissibility of expert testimony.

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals ($1933$)

Case establishing that expert testimony is admissible if the expert is qualified and the evidence is relevant and reliable (peer-reviewed, testable, known error rate).

R. v. Mohan ($1994$)

Canadian case establishing four criteria for admissibility: relevance, necessity, no violation of exclusionary rules, and a qualified expert.

Job Analysis

The process of defining the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities ($KSAs$) for a police officer.

Predictive Validity

A measure used to determine if a selection instrument statistically relates to and predicts future job performance.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ($MMPI$)

A test originally for psychopathological problems, used in policing to screen out candidates with behaviors like depression or paranoia.

Inwald Personality Inventory ($IPI$)

A personality test designed specifically for the police context, measuring stress reactions and alcohol use.

Police Discretion

The flexibility of police officers in deciding what and when to enforce the law, such as deciding whether to arrest or caution.

Organizational Stress

The highest source of police stress, including paperwork, supervisory pressure, and bureaucratic red tape.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing ($CISD$)

Post-event support and education provided to officers after stressful events, such as a shooting.

The Reid Model

A confession-based, coercive interrogation model consisting of gathering evidence, a non-accusatorial interview, and a nine-step accusatorial interrogation.

Minimization Techniques

Interrogation "soft sell" tactics involving moral justification, blaming the victim, or rapport building.

Maximization Techniques

Interrogation "hard sell" tactics involving exaggerating or fabricating evidence, such as false fingerprints.

Investigator Bias (Tunnel Vision)

When an investigator's assumption of guilt leads them to rule out contradictory evidence, potentially resulting in wrongful convictions.

PEACE Model

An inquisitorial, information-gathering interrogation approach used in the $UK$ that does not assume guilt.

Voluntary False Confession

A confession given without police prompting, often driven by a desire for notoriety or to protect someone else.

Coerced Internalized False Confession

When suggestive interrogation leads a vulnerable suspect to actually believe they committed the crime.

Coerced Compliant False Confession

The most common type of false confession, where a suspect confesses to escape a high-pressure interrogation despite knowing they are innocent.

Deductive Profiling

Profiling a suspect by analyzing evidence from other crimes committed by the same offender.

Inductive Profiling

Profiling a suspect by finding patterns based on what is known about similar solved crimes.

Geographical Profiling

A technique using crime locations and geographical behaviors to predict the offender's home or future crimes.

Comparison Question Test ($CQT$)

A polygraph method assuming guilty suspects react more strongly to relevant crime questions and innocent suspects more to comparison questions.

Concealed Information Test ($CIT$)

A polygraph technique measuring physiological reactions to multiple-choice questions about crime details known only to the perpetrator.

Malingering

Intentionally faking or exaggerating symptoms of a mental or physical disorder, often for external motivations.

Adaptational Model

The research-supported explanation that malingering is a response to a perceived adversarial, high-stakes context.

Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms ($SIRS$)

A clinical tool containing $170$ items and $8$ scales used to identify faked psychiatric symptoms.

Estimator Variables

Factors present during a crime that cannot be changed by the justice system, such as witness age and lighting.

System Variables

Factors controlled by the justice system that can be modified to improve accuracy, such as lineup procedures.

Weapon Focus

The phenomenon where a witness's attention is drawn to a weapon, diminishing their focus on the perpetrator's details.

Misinformation Effect

When external information, such as suggestive questioning or media, contaminates or alters a witness's original memory.

Cognitive Interview ($CI$)

An interrogation technique using context reinstatement, reverse-order recall, and multiple perspectives to enhance accuracy.

Simultaneous Lineup

A lineup format where all members are shown at once, which can encourage relative judgment (picking who looks most like the culprit).

Sequential Lineup

A lineup format where members are shown one by one, encouraging absolute judgment (comparing each person to memory).

Cross-Race Effect

The finding that people are better at identifying faces from their own race than from other races.

Source Misattribution

A phenomenon, common in children, where events told to them by others are reported as personal memories.

NICHD Protocol

A structured interview for children that relies on open-ended questions and practicing recall on neutral topics.

Elimination Lineup

A lineup method for children where they first pick the "most alike" photo and then make an absolute decision, reducing false positives.