Forensic Psych - Exam II

Brady Rule

mandates that prosecutors must disclose to the defense any evidence in their possession that is both material and exculpatory, meaning it could potentially exonerate the defendant to reduce their sentence

Anchoring and Adjustment Bias

occurs when individuals are strongly influenced or “anchored” by an initial starting value and when, in subsequent decisions, they do not sufficiently adjust their judgements away from this starting point 

Framing Effects

the way decision alternatives are presented (or framed) as either gains or losses can have significant impact on a persons choice

Heuristics

a mental shortcut or educated guess used to help solve a problem

Authority

the power or right to give orders, make decisions, or enforce obedience

Charge Bargaining

a form of plea bargaining in which a prosecutor reduces the number or severity of charges against a criminal defendant in exchange for a gulity plea

Sentence Bargaining

where the prosecutor recommends a reduced sentence in exchange for the guilty plea 

Fact Bargaining

involves the prosecution and defense agreeing in specific facts of the case, rather than the charges or sentences in exchange for reduced sentences or dropped charges

Exculpatory

tending to clear a defendant of fault or guilt

Overconfidence Bias

the tendency to hold an unrealistically optimistic view of the likelihood of a favorable outcome in a litigation

Self-serving Bias

the tendency to interpret information or make decisions in ways that are consistent with one’s own interests, rather than in an objective fashion

Temporal Discounting

the tendency to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards

Belief in a Just World

the tendency to believe that the world is inherently fair and that people get what they deserve, with good things happening to good people, and bad things happen to bad people

Illusion of Transparency

people overestimate how much their internal thoughts, feelings, and emotions are known or understood by others

Loss Aversion

cognitive bias where the pain 0of a loss is felt more strongly than the pleasure = of an equivalent gain, leading people to prefer avoiding losses or acquiring gain

Adjudicative Competence

the legal capacities necessary fo  a defendant to stand trial or otherwise resolve criminal charges

Competence

a individual’s capacity to understand and behave in a way specified by the particular legal question

Brawner Rule

this rule states that a defendant is not responsible for criminl conduct when, because of mental disease or defect, he or she lacks substancial capacity either to appreciate the criminality (wrongfulness) of the conduct or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the law

M’Naghten Rule

one test for the insanity defense. Under this rule, defendants may be deemed insane by the court if because of a “disease of the mind,” they 1) did not know what they were doing or 2) did not know that what they were doing was wrong

Mens Rea

a guilty mind. One of the two elements that must be proven by the prosecution (the other being “a guilty act”) in order to obtain a criminal conviction

Guilty But Mentally Ill

a legal verdict that acknowledges a defendant’s guilt for a crime while also recognizing their mental illness at the time of the offense, leading to both punishment and potential treatment.

Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity

a legal defense in crimnal cases where the defendant argues that they were mentally ill at the time of the crime and therefore are not responsible for their actions

Ultimate Opinion Testimony

testimony that offers a conclusion about the specific defendant or a specific witness, in contrast to testimony about a general phenomenon

Malingering

the deliberate fabrication or exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms in order to gain an advantage

Authoritarianism

a set of beliefs and characteristics that includes submissiveness to authority, demands for obedience from subordinates, intolerance of minorities and other outgroups, and endorsement of the use of power and punishment to ensure conformity to conventional norms

Black Sheep Effect

the tendecny to be more punitive toward those members of one’s group who violate the norms of the group

Challenges for Cause

occurring during jury selection, such challenges can be made by an attorney seeking to excuse a potential juror on grounds of bias. In addition, a judge may excuse a prospective juror for cause without a request to do so from either attorney.

Change of Venue

moving a trial to another locality, usually because extensive pretrial publicity has prevented the assembling of an unbiased jury.

Generic Prejudice

prejudice arising from media coverage of issues not specifically related to particular case but thematically relevant to the issues at hand

Implicit Personality Theory

a person’s preconceptions about how certain attributes are related to one another and to behavior

Need for Cognition

the inclination to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive work

Peremptory Challenges

opportunities available to each attorney during jury selection to exclude potential jurors without having to give any reason.

Scientific Jury Selection

the application of social sciences techniques and expertise to choose juries that are more likely to favor a particular side in a trial

Similarity-leniency Hypothesis

the hypothesis that fact finders treat those similar to themselves more leniently than they treat those they perceive as different from themselves

Social Desirability Effect

people’s wishes to present themselves in a socially appropriate and favorable way and the influence of such wishes on their behavior

Source Monitoring

the ability to accurately identity the source of one’s memory

Specific Pretrial Publicity

media coverage concerning the details of one specific case prior to trial

Venire

a panel of prospective jurors drawn from a large list

Voir Dire

the process by which the judge and/or attorney’s ask potential jurors questions and attempt to uncover any biases

Modern Racism

the subtle and often unconscious form of prejudice where individuals express negative attitudes toward racial minorities while ostensibly upholding egalitarian values (all people deserve equal rights)

Evidentiray Strength

the quality, reliability, and presuasiveness of evidence

Extralegal Information

refers to information or actions that are outside the scope or authority of the law. It’s anything not regulated or sanctioned by law

Inadmissible Evidence

evidence in a legal proceeding that the court holds cannot be admitted, and therefore cannot be considered by the fact finder 

Juror Bias

the tendency of any juror to use irrelevant, inadmissible, or extralegal evidence or considerations in the course of legal-decision making

Jury Nullification

when a jury acquits a defendant, even if they believe the evidence proves guilt, because they disagree with the law or its application in the specific case, essentially disregarding the law in favor of their own moral or ethical judgement

Common Sense Justice

ordinary citizens’ basic notions of what is just and fair in contrast to the dictates of formal, statutory law

Pre-decisional Distortion

a phenomenon by which jurors’ initial inclinations influence the way they interpret evidence presented during trial

Primacy Effect

the influence of information that is presented first, or early in a series

Reactance Theory

a theory proposing that if something is denied or withheld from a person, the person’s desire for it will increase

Recency Effect

the influence  on memory and decision making of information tha tis presented last or later in the series 

Schema

an individual cognitive framework or set of preconceptions that helps a person attend to, organize, and interpret information 

Thought Suppression

 the attempt to avoid thinking about something specific

CSI Effect

the perceived influence of crime-based television shows, like CSI, on jurors expectations and decisions in criminal trials, potentially leading to higher standards of proof and more acquittals