Ethics and Prof Practice: Study Guide for Final Exam

Arlene has severe back pain and decides to ingest some of the unknown white powder she is processing. The drug alleviates her pain, which causes her to develop a habit and ultimately costs Arlene her job as a chemist in the crime laboratory. This is an example of:

Bad action/ Bad consequence

False positives lead to which of the following?

Both c and d

The nature of science involves all of the following except:

Competition

_______ arises when a scientist with deeply held personal views is asked to review projects whose nature is offensive to his or her viewpoints.

Conflict of conscience

In the Harry Snyder and Renee Snyder case study, the major area of misconduct cited was:

Conflict of interest

Which is not one of the basic steps of the scientific method?

Consult with experts in the field to maintain scientific integrity

These professionals teach innovative methods for dealing with ethical dilemmas in industry and management

Creative experts

The American Bar Association has a general rule detailing which specific actions represent conflicts of interest to prevent this unethical act from occurring in the court of law.

False

The National Forensic Center is a regulatory body and compliance with its code of ethics is mandatory by all forensic experts.

False

The most frequent infractions are usually the ones addressed by a code of ethics.

False

True (a) or False (b). Competence of an expert witnesses is determined by the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney.

False

True (a) or False (b). It has been shown that ethics courses can persuade an unethical person with bad intentions to do the right thing.

False

Uncertainty is not negative but it is uncommon and typically not expected in science.

False

Using the ethical decision making frameworks, when making a choice loyalty should come before honesty because it is an inherent good.

False

While ethics stem from instinct, feeling, environment, and faith, morals are based on rational analysis and professional duty.

False

The primary unethical behavior that was found in the Ray Cole case study was:

Falsification of credentials

In the case study of Evan Thompson, which of the following were not errors encountered?

Falsifying management signatures for report review

In the case study of David Petersen, after his initial misconduct of stealing drugs, __________ became a powerful motivator for further unethical behavior.

Fear

Which of the following are not types of unethical behavior that prosecutors and defense attorneys may both employ?

Filing charges at their discretion

Which of the following is not Guiding Principles for Forensic Science?

Forensic scientists' primary objectives should be to support law enforcement efforts in court since they are their clients

Some of the developments in the field that should not have an impact on ethical codes include:

Global Positioning Systems

Which represents the Hierarchical Order of Virtues from highest to lowest?

Human, American, and professional

Which of the following processes is used to recognize and states what something is?

Identification

Which of the following are not core values in teaching ethics?

Independence

Which of the following is not a technical standard of performance?

Independence

Which of the following does not help to decrease the dissemination of junk science?

Introducing new ideas in a court of law to set precedence

What type of science that is consistent with generally accepted scientific views and needs to be eliminated from society?

Junk

Which is not a major limitation of the peer review process?

Lengthy review process slows down the dissemination of valid science

The "Least Published Unit" describes:

Publishing the same study repeatedly in different forms

Which of the following factors do not influence change blindness:

Socio-economic status

An example of a conflicts of effort may arise when a scientist has pressure to present lectures, serve on boards and panels, or teach, all of which are usually encouraged activities.

True

Ann Chamberlain ran a test on her husband's underwear in the crime laboratory, where she was employed since 1999, to determine if he was cheating represents an example of abuse of authority.

True

As a general rule, anything that dehumanizes a person is unethical because human beings are conscious of their actions and employ free will in making choices.

True

Determinism means that all thoughts and actions are beyond human control.

True

In the case study of Michael West, he stated that he did not believe in scientific certainty as an appropriate standard and that the gut instinct should be used.

True

It is the duty of both prosecutors and defense attorneys to be moral agents.

True

Many people are actually in support of nepotism.

True

Many public defenders had varied views on the severity of Joseph Kopera's infractions and how they might affect his case work.

True

Practitioners who blatantly behave unethically will not be dissuaded by a code of ethics.

True

Proficiency testing is a major preventative measure to unethical behavior.

True

Science fiction is one media in which science is communicated to the public.

True

Some groups did not want to employ codes of ethics to avoid lawsuits or because they expected other safeguards to take care of problems.

True

Some limitation of data access may be necessary to protect scientific data or keep information safe.

True

The Daubert Ruling set a precedent for the admissibility of expert witness testimony.

True

The public has more unreasonable expectations for the field of forensics due to the CSI Effect.

True

True (a) or False (b). It is often difficult for laypersons to believe that forensic scientists remain objective based on the nature of the cases in which they work.

True

Trust between science and society has declined in the last decade.

True

An expert's moral and social obligation to decline services that do not support the honest interpretation of facts most closely exemplifies which of the following professional responsibilities?

Understanding the scope and nature of service

________ are defined as "enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable"

Values

In the case study of Gary Veeder, which of the following is not a true statement?

Veeder tampered with and stole evidence for personal gain.

During this process, a person's knowledge, skills, experience, education, and training are established for a judge in which of the following ways?

Voir dire

________ occurs when a person who reports unethical or illegal conduct or wrongdoing outside of normal internal communication to publicly expose problems faced by an organization regarding ethics, legality, or safety.

Whistle- blowing

Which of the following is ethics not?

all of the above

In the case study of Kathleen Lundy, she admitted to suffering from the ________ factor, which led her to make statements beyond her reasonable certainty.

Adrenaline

Factors that contribute to unethical behavior include:

All of the above

In the case study of Joyce Gilchrist, what ultimately led to her unethical behavior?

All of the above

Pressures faced by expert witnesses include which of the following?

All of the above

Which of the following is not a general ethical guideline?

As an expert, you may have to advocate for things that you do not support.

In the Duke Lacrosse Team case, what type of exculpatory evidence was withheld from the jury?

DNA evidence

Which of the following is not one of the three branches of ethics?

Dogmatism

A personality trait where an individual is committed to one answer and will not change their mind is:

Dogmatist

In the Duke Lacrosse team case study, which of the following were not a major issue of misconduct?

Evidence tampering

What is the acronym for the organization which offers a uniform curriculum in ethics in accredited degree programs in forensic science?

FEPAC

Ethical decision making involves all of the following components except:

Factoring in how a decision will directly affect the decision maker

A type II error is much worse than a type I error.

False

Allegations of unethical behavior need to be brought, investigated, and resolved by the professional organization for the primary function of getting rid of "bad apples"

False

Although they have varying functions, both forensic science and the law serve the interests of their clients.

False

As a result of the CSI Effect, It is now the responsibility of the expert witness to impress the jury and create a "TV-like" experience.

False

Codes of ethics should be considered as absolute documents.

False

Cole misrepresenting himself does not directly affect his credibility as an expert witness.

False

Digital media is one of the safest forms of evidence because it provide stable, long-term storage of images, which allows unequivocal proof of the source and authenticity.

False

Eye witness testimony is considered as a reliable source of evidence?

False

False positives-describe a negative result for something that is not correct.

False

Forensic science and criminal justice share the same standards for conduct, beliefs, and obligations.

False

Greed represents one of the top dilemmas of law enforcement.

False

If the attorney knows testimony is false, he or she must ethically refuse to offer such testimony in trial, and if he or she "reasonably believes" the testimony is false, then it also must not be offered to ensure a conservative approach.

False

In respect to racism, people deserve treatment as means rather than ends.

False

In the case study of the Houston Police department, problems surfaced after an audit revealed that technicians were stealing and selling drugs from drug lockers.

False

In the full review of the Los Angeles city fingerprint analysis unit, it was found that all the infractions noted stemmed from one bad apple (unethical individual).

False

It is unethical for attorney to make attempts to discredit the expert witness since the expert is there to support the attorney.

False

Laws are ever constant, whereas ethics are ever changing.

False

Most laboratories in the U.S. are private.

False

One good reason for unethical behavior is that many scientists are responsible for their own training and continuing education because resources are not provided or available through agencies.

False

One major drawback to the CAC code is its brevity and lack of specificity is that it has little value as a guide to proper action in a particular circumstance.

False

Since all humans make mistakes, people should only take ethical responsibility for actions they intend to occur.

False

In criminal justice, an officer may coerce a suspect into providing a statement but tell the supervisor that the statement was made of free will is an example of:

Malicious

Information published on a given project should include all except which of the following?

Materials and methods written in a vague way to prevent plagiarism/ copycats

___________ describes the ability to interpret situations, recognize the ethical issue, and understand consequences.

Moral Sensitivity

The CSI Effect leads to all of the following common misconceptions of forensic Science except:

Most forensic scientists are really dedicated to their work

A ______ occurs when tests are run on a sample that is known not to be a particular substance and the result is negative.

Negative control

When deciding what is right vs. what is wrong, which of the following are not used to make judgements?

None of the above

Which of the following are not sociological factors within the Police Culture that may influence professionalism?

None of the above

Which of the following is not one of the most common forms of misconduct cited for scientists from the Fanelli Study (2005):

None of the above

_______ occurs when a person shifts the attention from his or her acts of misconduct to the motives and behaviors of those who allege misconduct has occurred.

None of the above

Which case has been described as a pivotal moment for forensic science that led to more public awareness and scrutiny?

O.J. Simpson

Which of the following is a factor that selection of law enforcement is based on:

Polygraph testing

What type of evidence was the focal point of the precedent set with the Frye v. United States Ruling?

Polygraph tests

Public servants, who act in the interest of the state, and because of the rules for discovery, have no responsibility for confidentiality

Prosecutor