Forensic Exam #2

Suggestive Questioning

Asking questions that introduce information the child has not mentioned and suggest a particular answer.

Example of Suggestive Question

“Did the man touch you on the bottom?”

Repeated Questioning

Asking the same question multiple times which may cause children to change their answers because they assume their first answer was wrong.

Peer Pressure in Child Interviews

Telling a child that other children reported abuse in order to influence their responses.

Positive Reinforcement in Interviews

Praising or rewarding children for certain answers which may increase both accurate and inaccurate statements.

Imagining / Pretending

Asking children to imagine events which can create false memories and source monitoring errors.

Cross-Race Effect

People are better at identifying individuals of their own race than those of other races.

Important Finding

Misidentification is about 1.6 times more likely with cross-race identifications.

Weapon Focus Effect

Witness attention shifts toward a weapon and away from the perpetrator’s face.

Results of weapon focus effect

Decreases accuracy of eyewitness identification.

Source Monitoring Error

When someone confuses where a memory came from (for example confusing something they heard from investigators with what they actually witnessed).

Unconscious Transference

Mistaking a person seen in a different context as the perpetrator of a crime.

Example of unconscious transference

Recognizing someone from a lineup because they were seen earlier in a different situation.

Misinformation Effect

Memory becomes distorted because of misleading information after the event.

Example of misinformation effect

Leading questions about what happened during the crime.

Estimator Variables

Factors affecting eyewitness accuracy that police cannot control.

Examples of estimator variables

Lighting, stress level, cross-race effect.

System Variables

Factors police CAN control that affect eyewitness accuracy.

Examples of system variables

Lineup instructions, lineup type.

Blind Lineup

The person administering the lineup does not know who the suspect is.

Purpose of blind lineup

Prevents unintentional cues to the witness.

Sequential Lineup

Witness sees suspects one at a time rather than all at once.

Research Finding of sequential lineup

Reduces misidentification compared to simultaneous lineups.

Cognitive Interview

Technique designed to improve memory recall without increasing suggestibility.

Steps include for Cognitive interview

building rapport
mentally recreating the crime scene
asking for detailed recall

Competency to Stand Trial

Defendant must be able to understand the trial process and assist their lawyer.

Dusky Standard

Defendant must have
rational understanding of proceedings
ability to consult with attorney.

Adjudicative Competence

Abilities required to participate in legal proceedings.

Decisional Competence

Ability to make informed legal decisions such as pleading guilty.

Malingering

Faking mental illness or disability to avoid legal responsibility.

Jackson v. Indiana

Defendants cannot be held indefinitely if they are incompetent to stand trial.

Criminal Profiling

Inferring characteristics of offenders from crime scene evidence.

Homology Assumption

Assumes similar crimes are committed by similar types of offenders.

Problem with Homology Reserach

Research does not strongly support this assumption.

Behavioral Consistency

Idea that offenders behave consistently across crimes.

Evidence-Some support in crimes like arson and burglary.

Distance Decay

Criminals usually commit crimes close to where they live.

Psychological Autopsy

Method used to determine someone’s mental state before death to classify cause of death