PBS Quiz 1.1.1-1.1.2

Forensic Science

The application of scientific knowledge to resolve questions of civil and criminal law

Decedent

In forensic investigations and medical cases, the person who has died is often referred to as the

Hypothesis

A proposed explanation for something that is tentatively assumed in order to test whether it agrees with facts that are known or can be determined.

Link method

The link method is a search technique where investigators use logic and common sense to find evidence instead of following a fixed pattern (like a grid or spiral).

Zone method

breaks a crime scene with clear boundaries (like a house or building) into smaller sections.

Spiral method

The spiral method is used in wide, open areas without physical boundaries (like open water)

Line method

The line method is used for large, open outdoor crimescenes.

Wheel method

used for small, circular crime scenes where investigators start at a point and walk outward along many straight lines from this point.

Grid method

The grid method is used on large, open outdoor crime scenes. Searchers sweep the area in a straight line from one direction, then turn 90 degrees and search the exact same area again in perpendicular lines, forming a grid pattern.

Person of interest

someone who law enforcement thinks may have information related to a possible crime

Physiological response

Biological reactions to stimuli that can be felt, detected, and/or measured.

Poly

Many

Graph

Write or written

Heart rate

A measure of cardiac activity usually expressed in number of beats per minute

Blood pressure

The pressure exerted by the blood upon the walls of the blood vessels.

Respiration rate

The number of breaths an organism takes per minute

Skin conductivity

How the amount of sweat production impacts the ability to conduct electricity

Vital signs

measurements that include the state of a patient’s essential body functions

Pulse

the rhythmic expansion and recoil of arteries resulting from heart contraction

Ethics

Ethics refer to moral values that affects how a person thinks and behaves

Moral

a sense of what is right and wrong and guide them when making decisions

Ethical dilemmas

A situation which there is a choice to be made between two (or more) options, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion.

Ethical principles

Defining a system of moral values that everyone accepts as good human behavior

Ethical dilemmas in society:

Genome editing (edit of DNA), personal privacy, food security, global population growth, AI

Integrity

Act in a way that is consistent with your internal conscience even if its not the best decision for you personally

Iterative process

A process that repeats a series of steps over and over until the desired outcome is obtained

Independent Variable

Variable that is changed

Dependent Variable

Variable affected by the change

Control group

The group in an experiment where the independent variable being tested is not applied

Experiment

A research study conducted to understand an observed phenomenon. It determines the effect that one variable has upon another variable.

Experimental design

A process used to carefully plan experiments in order to investigate scientific questions of problems