PSYC 268 - Final exam

suggestibility

- "The degree to which encoding, storage, retrieval, and reporting of events (2 points) - can be influenced by a range of social and psychological factors (1)"

Moffitt's research has been extended to examine offending patterns in girls. She finds that life-course-persistent criminality is about ______ for males, and _____ for females.

- 10:1, 100:1

Wright and Alison (2007) found that open questions and questions of clarification made up ____ of the questions asked and closed questions made up _____ of all questions asked.

- 17% - 74%

When were the rules that made it "virtually impossible to prosecute [child sexual abuse cases] to conviction' abolished?

- 1980's

In a good interview, the interviewer should talk ____% of the time and the interviewee should talk ____ % of the time.

- 20, 80

A biased interviewer may draw false conclusions from their interview with a child. What mechanisms have been identified that could account for this effect?

- A biased interviewer is more likely to ask suggestive questions. A biased interviewer is more likely to behave in ways (e.g., nod, smile, move closer) that encourage a child to say things that are consistent with the interviewer's hypothesis. A biased interviewer is more likely to accept and to remember the parts of the child's report that are consistent with the interviewer's hypothesis.

How do we know that it is probably the promise to tell the truth rather than the truth/lie discussion that promotes truth-telling behavior?

- A promise alone is not different from a truth/lie discussion combined with a promise.

Landstrom & Granhag (2010) offered a vividness explanation for the finding that children are seen as less credible when using testimonial supports than when they testify live. Explain the theory (be precise) and describe some of the data used to support the theory.

- A report that is temporally (1) and locationally (1) proximate is more vivid (1 ) than a report that is more distant. The most proximal testimony is live (1). CCTV is intermediate in proximity (1). Videotaped evidence is the least proximate (1). - According to this theory, as vividness increases so does credibility (1). Landstrom and Granhag compared ratings of credibility of live testimony, CCTV, and videotaped testimony (1). - Consistent with the vividness hypothesis, the biggest difference in credibility ratings was between the live and video conditions (1), the second biggest difference was between the CCTV and video conditions (1), the smallest difference was between the live and CCTV conditions (1). - Vividness should also affect memorability, with more vivid reports being remembered better than less vivid reports (1). - Consistent with this, Landstrom et al. (2007) found that mock jurors reported better memory (1) and actually had better memory (1) for live testimony testimony than testimony presented on CCTV (1).

According to Ceci and Bruck (1995) several factors converged in the late 1980s that lead to an increase in research on children as witnesses in criminal court. Which of the following was NOT a factor articulated by Ceci and Bruck?

- A sudden increase in the prevalence of crimes against children.

It has been hypothesized that sequential line-up presentation leads to _______ judgments whereas simultaneous line-up presentation leads to ________ judgments.

- Absolute, relative

Believing that the men who robbed the bank were wearing black clothes when in fact they were wearing jeans and plaid shirts is an example of ___________.

- Active interpretation

Competence is concerned with ____________________ whereas credibility is concerned with ___________________.

- Admissibility, weight

Emotionally arousing events may involve ____________ processing leading to vivid memories. Stress, during an event may cause interference with the consolidating mechanism of the __________ making the memories fragmented.

- Amygdala based, hippocampus

Explain a condition under which younger children are seen as more credible than older children and adults and explain why this may occur.

- An overall evaluation of perceived credibility involves two constructs: perceived honesty and perceived cognitive ability (2). When the abilities to encode, store, and retrieve details do not require sophisticated cognitive skills, honesty will be more salient (1). - This is true of an event that occurred in a familiar location, by familiar persons, and/or in predictable ways (as often defines child abuse (1). - If the witness is attempting to be honest, he or she will probably be accurate, at least on central details (1). When honesty is more salient younger children are viewed more positively than older children and adults (1). - This is due, in large part, to: (a) children's perceived impoverished cognitive sophistication (1)and consequent inability to fabricate a convincing lie concerning events about which they have little knowledge (i.e., sex) (1), (b) children's perceived innate innocence (1), and child victims are seen as vulnerable (1)

There are several problems with closed questions. Which of the following was not discussed as a problem?

- Because they are not recommended, responses to closed-questions may not be admissible evidence at trial

A ____________________ lineup is one in which all the members are known by police to be innocent of the crime under investigation.

- Blank

Which source of stress is associated with mental health problems in children?

- Both A and B - Testimonial and anticipatory stress

Doli incapax refers to what?

- Both a and b - Person under age of 7 was not criminally responsible - Person between 7 and 14 could be held criminally responsible if malice was proven

In Principe and Ceci (2002) what was the effect of peer influence on children's reports of a trip on an archaeological dig?

- Children exposed to peer influence were as likely to report that misdeeds as children who observed the misdeeds.

Is the accused prejudiced when children testify with the aid of testimonial supports? Describe the primary study that addressed this question (Goodman et al., 1998) and explain what they found and concluded.

- Children starred in a movie during which he or she put on a costume and the experimenter placed stickers on the child's bare flesh (guilty condition) (1) or on the child's cloths (not guilty condition) (1). Two weeks after the play session, the child came to an actual courtroom (1) and was told that the experimenter may have done something wrong (1). - In groups, community members (1) listened to the child testify either live in the courtroom or via CCTV (1). Trial condition affected actual accuracy such that children were, in fact, more accurate (1) in the CCTV condition than in the live condition (1). - However, perceptions of children's accuracy (1 )were lower in the CCTV condition than in the live condition (1). CCTV does not have a detrimental effect on perceptions of the accused. In fact, testimony via CCTV may reduce the chances of a conviction by reducing perceptions of the child's accuracy (1)

During an identification test, the police officers re-administered the test several times, until the witness selected the suspect. What kind of bias was operative here?

- Confirmatory bias

The Enhanced Cognitive Interview was developed to be used with ___________________.

- Cooperative witnesses

What is the central component of Statement Validity Assessment?

- Criterion-based Content analysis

Longer observation time will increase memory accuracy and increases in retention interval will decrease memory accuracy. This statement ______________

- Depends on centrality of the details, emotionality, and whether a weapon was present, among other things

The weapon focus effect has been explained as a narrowing of attention onto the source of the threat. What is an alternative explanation?

- Distinctiveness

The juvenile justice system places less emphasis on detention and greater use of _____________.

- Diversion programs

Selective attention influences which of the following stages of memory?

- Encoding

Asking a witness to reinstate the context of the crime under investigation is a prompt used in the Cognitive Interview. Upon which principle of cognitive psychology does it rest?

- Encoding specificity

The amount of alcohol that a witness consumed before witnessing a crime is what kind of variable?

- Estimator variable

It is important to use open prompts during the substantive portion of the interview. However, the use of open prompts during the practice interview is less important. This statement is ________________.

- False

During a police interview, the police officer instructed the witness to think about how they felt during the event. He suggested that it may be easier to do this if the witness closed his eyes. Which GENERAL principle of memory was used to develop this question?

- Feature overlap

Sometimes we infer (without having perceived) details of a past because they are consistent with our expectations. What is this called?

- Fill-in-the-blanks

List and discuss the advantages of beginning a forensic interview with a child with a practice interview.

- First, it helps to build rapport (1). - Second, it gives the interviewer a chance to observe the child's linguistic competence (1). - This is important because it will allow the interviewer to know if there is a language shift when the child talks about the alleged abuse and to investigate reasons for the shift (i.e., does the child revert to "baby language" or use language that is too mature-sounding) (1). - Third, it lets children know how they will be interviewed during the substantive portion of the interview and how much information the interviewer wants to hear. (1) - Finally, it gives the child an opportunity to practice responding to open-ended questions about past events (1).

Discuss the four characteristics of a welfare based system of youth justice? (8 points)

- First, youthful offending was seen as a symptom of a larger societal and/or familial problem. (1) Symptoms of delinquency, all of which could be subject to state intervention, included criminal activities and/or other potentially harmful activities such as truancy, sexual promiscuity, and/or incorrigibility. (1) • - Second, young persons were denied many of the procedural rights guaranteed to adults. (1) Under this system, the welfare of youth was the primary concern and procedural rights impeded the process of helping young people. (1) • - Third, indeterminate sentences were permitted. (1) When a young person was found to be delinquent, a disposition was passed to treat and cure the youth. Because the appropriate length of treatment varied from case to case and could not be known in advance, indeterminate sentences were passed. (1) • - Fourth, the new system of youth justice established separate courts and correctional facilities. (1)This system was to be staffed with specially trained judges and court personnel, such as social service personnel, clinicians, and probation officers, who understood developmental issues, were sensitive to the special needs of delinquents, and were qualified to make appropriate therapeutic decisions. (1)

Name the four subscales of Criteria-Based Content analysis.

- General characteristics Specific content Motivation-related content Details characteristic of the offence

credibility

- How much weight the trier of fact places on the testimony.

recent complaint doctrine

- In all cases involving sexual offences (1), - a trier of fact was required to draw an adverse inference (1) - with respect to consent of credibility (1) - if the victim did not complain at the first available opportunity (1).

In research on the efficacy of the Truth/Lie competency inquiry with children there are two primary paradigms. Describe the 2 paradigms

- In temptation studies, children play with a toy that includes hidden or secret parts (1). Sometime during the game the experimenter is called out of the room and the child is asked not to "peek" or play until the experimenter returns and the game resumes (1). When the experimenter returns the child is asked if he/she peeked (1)(across experiments, a substantial majority of children peek/play). • In a transgression paradigm the child is in a room with another adult and observes the adult break something (1). The adult tells the child that he/she might get into trouble and so the child should not tell anyone what happened (1). The experimenter returns and asks the child what happened. (1)

Sequential line-up procedures have been found to ________ correct identifications and ______ false identifications.

- Increase, increase

According to research by Wells, Wright, and Bradfield (1999), the three general sources of eyewitness identification errors in photospreads and lineups are:

- Instructions, structure, and procedure

Based on a meta-analysis, what did Memon, Meissner, and Fraser (2010) conclude about the cognitive interview?

- It increases the amount of correct information reported and there is a small increase in the amount of incorrect information reported.

competence

- It is a question of admissibility of the testimony.

According to Moffitt (1993, 2003) and others, what are the major patterns of juvenile delinquency observed? Identify and briefly describe each. (14 points)

- Life-course persistent offenders,(1) have conduct problems that begin in early childhood. (1) - The childhood predictors are under controlled temperament and delayed motor development by age 3, low verbal ability, attention deficit and hyperactivity problems, and neuropsychological impairments. - These children may engage in bullying behavior in elementary school and have difficulties in interpersonal peer relations. - Small group, only 10% - Adolescent-limited offenders, (1) don't begin offending until their teen years, (1) and they typically do not have the early childhood antisocial and behavioral problems seen in life-course persistent offenders.(1) - Delinquent behavior is normative for adolescent-limited offenders, as a way of establishing autonomy from parents and to gain acceptance from peers. (1) They are heavily influenced by peers when engaging in delinquent behavior. (1). - Adolescent-limited offending is by far the most common type of offending (1)

A general principle of interviewing cooperative witnesses it to ask open-ended questions. Some reasons for this recommendation rest on what principle?

- Limited cognitive resources

Sometimes, in suggestibility studies, participants report the suggested information to please the experimenter, even if they know it is wrong. This is an example of what?

- Misinformation acceptance

What kinds of questions should be asked during the practice interview?

- Mostly open questions.

During a police interview, the police officer instructed the witness to report the details of the event from the end to the beginning. Which GENERAL principle of memory was used to develop this question?

- Multiple retrieval paths

How does the Easterbrook hypothesis explain the finding that the central features of emotionally arousing events are remembered better than central features of neutral events?

- Narrowing of attention

Under what circumstances is a competency inquiry required in Canada?

- None of the above

Sometimes, instructing a child to say "I don't know" or "I don't remember" can lead to a particular kind of error. What kind of error can it lead to?

- Omission errors

How many suspects should be in a line-up?

- One

During a forensic interview, when might leading questions be required?

- Only if important information is missing from the answers given to open prompts and wh-questions.

Research suggests that eyewitnesses have a tendency to ____________________ the amount of time they were exposed to the perpetrator of the crime.

- Overestimate

A Caucasian woman witnesses a robbery committed by a Caucasian man. She has been asked to look at a photo lineup to see if the perpetrator is a member of the lineup. Research suggests that she should be better at making an accurate identification than if the perpetrator was South Asian. What theory predicts this?

- Own-race bias

What are the two factors (in Psychology) that comprise overall credibility?

- Perceived honesty and perceived cognitive competence

Which of the following is NOT a reason to use photo line-ups instead of live line-ups?

- Photo line-ups are superior to live line-ups

Emotional arousal has two components: arousal and stress. Arousal is said to be _______ while stress is said to be _________.

- Physiological, subjective

_________ interventions include programs such as FASD awareness campaigns directed at women of child-bearing age or curriculum programs designed to address peer victimization in elementary schools.

- Primary prevention

open prompts

- Prompts, or questions, that allow a response that is minimally constrained by the question (e.g., "tell me more about that")

closed prompts

- Prompts, or questions, that constrain the possible responses ("who was driving the car?" or "was it Tuesday or Wednesday?").

What did Bishop and colleagues find about recidivism rates among youth who were transferred to adult court and youth who were not transferred?

- Recidivism rates were lower among the youth transferred to adult court

When a witness considers which member of line-up looks most like the culprit, he/she is using which of the following decision-making strategies?

- Relative judgement

Describe Cauffman and Steinberg's concept of psychosocial maturity. Does research support this framework? (11 points)

- Responsibility. (1) This involves the adolescent's capacity to make autonomous choices, independent of external influences, including adults but particularly peers. (1) • - Temperance. (1) Temperance involves the ability to control impulses and exercise self-restraint. - Perspective. (1) This involves the ability to see both short- and long-term consequences (time perspective), (1) the ability to understand how one's actions might affect others (perspective taking), (1) and the ability to weigh costs and benefits of a decision - Researchers found that individuals did differ significantly on the three domains of psychosocial maturity as a function of age. - These results provide support for the conclusion that psychosocial maturity does develop over the period of adolescence. (1) - Other researchers found that temperance may be more predictive of offending behaviour than the other elements of psychosocial development. - (1) But age alone does not account for differences in decision-making abilities, as there was considerable variation in judgment within each age group. (1 point)

Asking a witness to report the crime under investigation from a variety of perspectives is a prompt used in the Cognitive Interview. Upon which principle of cognitive psychology does it rest?

- Several retrieval routes

An expert has been asked to conduct a CBCA analysis of a child who reported having been abused by her step-father. There is a criminal charge pending. The immediate issue concerns child protection, however. Do you think the expert will be permitted to testify as to her conclusion on the child's credibility?

- Some provinces have permitted an expert to render an opinion on credibility in these kinds of circumstances.

Sometimes a person reports a suggested detail because they can't recall if the detail was experienced or suggested. What theory explains this?

- Source misattribution

Sometimes, in suggestibility studies, participants report a suggested detail when asked about a past event because they can't remember if they experienced the detail or only heard about it. This is an example of ______________.

- Source misattribution

According to Ebbinghaus (1964) the rate of forgetting is:

- Steepest immediately after the event and then levels off

The amount of time is takes for a case to go to court is an example of what kind of variable?

- System variable

Below are four possible ways to start the substantive portion of a forensic interview with a child. Which would you recommend (based on principles discussed in this section of the course)?

- Tell me why you are here today.

Heightened risk-taking behaviour among adolescents is described in which capacity in the theory of psychosocial development.

- Temperance.

Under the current law in Canada, adolescents are not eligible to be tried by a jury except in the following circumstance

- The Crown declares its intention to apply for an adult sentence if the youth is convicted

What was the focus of the famous Sam Stone study?

- The effect of stereotype induction on children's suggestibility

What is the most commonly recommended way to eliminate police bias in a line-up procedure?

- The line-up administrator should be blind to the identity of the suspect

If adult sentences given to young offenders lead to increased offending, what could some causes be? (3 points)

- The negative effects of labeling juveniles as serious offenders. (1) • - Reduced opportunities for employment and community integration due to the conviction and incarceration. (1) - The negative effects of imprisonment. (1)

According to Moffitt and Caspi, what is the "maturity gap?"

- The period between puberty and access to adult responsibilities.

According to Van Tongeren Harvey and Dauns, "[b]efore 1982 sexual offences involving children were virtually impossible to prosecute to conviction" (2001, p. 148). Your book describes three obstacles to successful prosecution. Name each barrier and discuss what impact it could have had on trials involving child witnesses.

- The recent complaint doctrine (1) stated that if any victim of sexual assault (1), whether a child or an adult, did not complain of the assault at the first available opportunity, - the judge was required to draw an adverse inference with respect to credibility (1) or consent (1). - This doctrine would have had a profound impact on prosecutions involving child sexual abuse because up to two-thirds of children delay reporting sexual abuse. (1) - In a case involving an unsworn child (1), the judge was required to warn the trier of fact of the dangers of convicting (1) on the uncorroborated evidence (1) of the child. - Most children testify as unsworn witnesses and in many cases of child sexual abuse there is no evidence other than the (uncorroborated) testimony of the child. (1). There was a pervasive belief that children's evidence is inherently unreliable. (1)

In a recent meta-analysis, Steblay, Dysart, and Wells (2011) confirmed________

- The sequential superiority effect

Children who are asked to report an instance of a repeated event are sometimes more suggestible than children who report a unique event. When is this particularly true?

- The suggestions are consistent with the theme of the events

CCTV must be provided if _______________ and allowing it will not interfere with the proper administration of justice.

- The witness is under the age of 18 at trial

In law, what does "adopt" the contents of the videotape mean?

- The witness recalls making the tape and being honest at the time

If a videotaped statement was taken within a reasonable time after the alleged offence and if its admission will not interfere with the proper administration of justice, the judge must allow it in which of the following circumstances?

- The witness was under the age of 18 at the time of the offence

In trials involving young complainants, the case often rests on perceptions of credibility. Why is this the case?

- There is often no other evidence

The most recent research on the relationship between arousal and memory is that as arousal increases so does memory.

- This statement is true for central details

Why were testimonial supports initially introduced?

- To obtain a full and candid account of the events

When a witness remembers a face but inaccurately attributes the face to a different context it is referred to as __________________.

- Unconscious transference

How do Reisberg and Heuer (2007) explain the finding that the central features of emotionally arousing events are remembered better than central features of neutral events?

- Unusualness

Bob witnesses a robbery in his local convenience store in which an armed man held up the cashier at gunpoint. When Bob provides his statement to police, he is unsure about the physical characteristics of the robber, even though he had a good view of the perpetrator. Which of the following may characterize his fuzzy memory?

- Weapon focus effect

According to Grisso (2003), what are the four questions that should be addressed in forensic evaluations of youth who have been convicted of an offense? (4 points)

- What are the youth's important characteristics? (1 point) • - What needs to change? (1 point) • - What modes of intervention could be applied toward the rehabilitation objective? (1 point) - What is the likelihood of change, given the relevant interventions? (1 point)

The term comorbidity refers to which of the follow?

- When an individual is diagnosed with more than one type of mental disorder

Under what condition may older children be more suggestible than younger children?

- When they engage in discussions about the suggestions with peers.

Retrieval is most likely to be successful if the details reported are consistent with the witness' current mental record. This is a description of what?

- Witness compatible questioning

Research has shown that the use of testimonial supports increases ____________ but decreases __________.

- accuracy, perceived credibility

Statement Validity Analysis consists of three components. Which of the following is not a component?

- an intuitive evaluation of credibility

According to Poole and Lamb (2002) the setting for a forensic interview should be ______________.

- child friendly but not distracting

"To date, __________________is probably the most popular instrument for assessing the veracity of child witnesses' testimony in trials for sexual offences" (Vrij, 2005, p. 3).

- criteria-based content analysis

When evaluating the credibility of a child's report of an instance of a repeated event, assessments based on _________ will probably lead to lower ratings than if the report is of a unique event.

- intuition

Extrajudicial measures may be administered if the youth pleads _____ whereas extrajudicial sanctions may be administered if the youth pleads ________.

- no contest, guilty

According to Reality Monitoring theory, memories of imagined events will contain relatively more ________ than memories of events experienced in the external world.

- reasoning

Suggestive questioning and peer influence can affect children's reports of false details or false events. Select one of these variables (suggestive questions or peer influence) and describe the main study used to support the conclusion. Be sure to describe the methods used in the study including the conditions (i.e., the groups of children), the dependent variable(s), and the general results. You do not have to report the names of the authors or the precise data that was reported. You should, however, describe the results generally.

1) Suggestive questions: Sam Stone visited a day care with children aged 3- to 4- and 5- to 6-years. Sam visited for a short time and nothing unusual happened. (1) - Some of the children were told on four separate occasions before Sam's visit that he was a nice person but kind of bumbling and clumsy (stereotype) (.5). The same children were also told, once a week for four weeks after Sam's visit that he ripped a book and soiled a teddy bear during his visit. (.5) - Other children, who were in a control condition, were not given stereotype or suggestions. - (1) Ten weeks after Sam's visit the children were interviewed about Sam's visit. During the interview, if a child reported that Sam did either of these things they were gently challenged: "Did you see him do it?" If a child responded "Yes," the interviewer challenged the child more strongly by asking "You didn't really see it, did you?" (1) - Children in the control condition almost never reported a misdeed. (1) In the experimental condition, a lot of children reported at least one misdeed (1) and younger children were more likely to err than older children (1) - 2) Peer influence. Preschoolers in the same class went on an "archaeological dig" during which some children observed a research assistant ruin two archaeological props. - (1) To encourage children who observed the misdeeds to talk to their classmates about them, the destruction of the props was staged to be very dramatic. (1) Another group of children went on the same archaeological dig, did not observe the misdeeds, and were not exposed to the peer influence (this was the control condition). (1) - On several occasions after the archaeological dig, half of the children in each observation group were questioned suggestively about the destruction of the two props. (1) - Later, all children were interviewed in a neutral way about what they had seen. (1) Among children in the control condition, those who were questioned suggestively were more likely to report having seen the misdeeds than children who were not questioned suggestively. - (1) Among children who were questioned suggestively and subject to peer influence, children who had not witnessed the misdeeds were as likely as children who had witnessed them to report that the misdeeds had occurred during their archaeological dig. (1)