Psych and Law Exam 2

What is the ‘historical approach’ for the admission of child witness testimony?

children under the age of 7 presumed incompetent to be witnesses

What is the ‘modern approach’ in the U.S for the admission of child witness testimony?

children’s competence determined on an individualized basis

What is ‘Witness Competence’?

witness meets the qualifications to be a witness (this is determined by a judge)

What is ‘Witness Credibility’?

weight given to a competent witness’ testmony (determined by the trier of fact)

What is the criteria used to determine the competence of a witness?

The witness must have the ability to perceive, remember, and communicate facts relevant to the case, as well as understand the duty to tell the truth

What are the conclusions for children when it comes to ‘truth telling’ and ‘understanding lies’?

• Research suggests children as young as 3 understand lies

• Asking children to tell the truth works well to prevent lying

What is the ‘Funnel Approach’ to investigate questioning of children?

interviewers are encouraged to start with open-ended questions and proceed to more narrow questions when necessary (avoid misleading or leading questions)

Why is the Funnel Approach preferred?

this approach to questioning reduces false memories and increases accuracy

At what age are children considered no less suggestable than adults?

Children aged 7 and older

What types of questions increase suggestability in children?

Leading or Misleading questions

What type of interviewing increases suggestability?

repeated interviews with biased questioning

What type of memories are children less suggestable about?

Temporal order of events (what happened first, then next, and last)

What type of memories are children more suggestable about?

The details of a scene

What type of events are children less suggestable about?

events children know and understand better (they already have a schema in place)

What type of events are children more suggestable about?

Events that were highly stressful (think ‘Inverted U Model’)

What were two of the findings from the ‘Goodman et al.’ study regarding children who testify or do not testify in Child Sexual Assualt cases?

• negative consequences in the short term for both groups (immediate and 3 months after testifying)

• testifiers also had long-term negative consequences at 7 months, but showed some improvement at 12 months

What are children most fearful of when testifying?

the defendent

Social Authority

the use of social science theory and research to answer questions of law and make law

What are the two contexts in which social authority may be used?

Case law and statutory law

What is an ‘Amiscus Curiae Brief’?

a written legal document submitted to a court by a person or organization that is not a party to the case but has a strong interest in the matter (APA in the Maryland v. Craig case)

What was the ‘Issue’ in the Maryland v. Craig case?

decide whether the confrontation clause of the sixth amendment categorically prohibits a child witness from testifying against a defendent at trial, outside the defendent’s physical presence, by one-way closed circuit television

What was the ‘Holding’ in the Maryland v. Craig case?

if the state makes an adequate showing of necessity, the state interest in protecting child witnesses from the trauma of testifying in a child abuse case is sufficiently important to justify the use of a special procedure that permits a child witness in such cases to testify at trial against a defendant in the absence of face-to-face confrontation with the defendant

Coy v. Iowa

guarantees the defendant a face-to-face meeting with witnesses appearing before the trier of fact, but does not guarantee an absolute right

What is the methodolgy of research that has studied the role of heritability in criminal behavior?

Most prominent method are twin studies and adoption studies

What does a heritability score of .5 mean for violent crime in twin studies?

50% of the variability in criminal behavior among the population is a result of genetic differences (might not be as strong for non-violent crime)

Role of the Prefrontal Cortex

reduced activity; involed in impulse control and intelligence

Role of the Autonomic Nervous System

low level of autonomic arousal; reduced responsiveness to stimulation

What are the two personality dimensions related to criminal thinking?

agreeableness and conscientiousness

What are some of the most important characteristics of individuals with psychopathy?

1. chronically deceitful and manipulative

2. nearly total lack of conscience

3. superficial, arrogant, do not learn from experience

4. lack of empathy and loyalty

5. selfish, callous, and irresponsible

6. blame others

What are the 4 requirements for ‘Observational Learning’ to occur?

1. attention

2. retention

3. reproduction

4. reinforcement

What are the 3 social contexts for models?

1. Familial Influences

2. Subcultural Influences

3. Symbolic Models

Social Learning Theory

Acknowledges the importance of differential reinforcement for developing new behaviors

Differential Reinforcement

criminal behavior is learned and maintained through a balance of rewards and punishments

Self-reinforcement

When a person’s actions create results that encourage them to repeat the same behavior (individuals who act antisocially derive pleasure, pride, revenge or self worth from harming others)

Self-exoneration

exempting oneself from one's own conscience after behaving antisocially (minimizing seriousness of one’s acts by pointing to more serious offenses by others, justifying aggression by appealing to higher values, displacing the responsibility for misbehavior onto a higher authority, etc.)

What are the major components of ‘Wilson and Hernstien’s Theory’?

1) Individual differences influence gain and loss ratios and determine whether an individual is likely to commit a crime

2) Time Discounting

3) Constitutional Factors- gender, intelligence, variations in physiological arousal, and impulsivity

4) Family Influences and early school experiences

Community Policing

a systemic approach to policing with the goal of instilling a sense of community to improve the quality of life

What are the benefits of ‘community policing’?

could be a useful tool that supports healthier contact experiences between officers and civilians and aligns their interests

may be useful in areas where police-civilian relations lack mutual trust and where police legitimacy is low

What are the recommendations for law enforcement to address racial bias in policing?

• Diversify Police Forces

• Rotational