Question 1

Children's memories are likely to be impacted by all of the following, EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

Children's understanding of court proceedings does not directly impact their memory. Factors like a desire to please adults, stress from interview styles, and the context of a lineup (e.g., culprit-absent) can influence how they remember and report events.

Question 2

According to a study completed by Morgan and his colleagues (2004), stress appears to have an effect on eyewitness identification. Based on the study results, the rate of correct identification was _____ in low-stress conditions.

Accepted Answer

The study by Morgan and colleagues (2004) found that stress negatively impacts eyewitness identification, meaning that the rate of correct identification was higher in low-stress conditions compared to high-stress conditions.

Question 3

Scripts help us to _____ but can also _____ eyewitness memories.

Accepted Answer

Scripts help us process information more efficiently by providing a framework for understanding events, but they can also get mixed in with eyewitness memories, potentially leading to inaccuracies.

Question 4

Most people believe that high stress _____ but empirical studies find that stress has _____ effect on memory.

Accepted Answer

Empirical studies have shown that stress can have a detrimental effect on memory, contradicting the common belief that it might aid memorization.

Question 5

The reassignment of a face that is familiar from another context to the scene of a crime is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Unconscious transference occurs when a person mistakenly places a familiar face from a different context into the scene of a crime, confusing the source of the remembered face.

Question 6

When presented with a lineup, Morgan was able to identify the perpetrator of the robbery she had witnessed. She was not sure of her identification at first, but when the investigator mentioned that another witness also chose the same suspect, her confidence that she remembered the perpetrator well grew close to 100%. This is an illustration of:

Accepted Answer

This scenario illustrates the post-identification feedback effect, where feedback after an identification (e.g., being told another witness identified the same person) increases the witness's confidence in their identification, regardless of the accuracy of that identification.

Question 7

According to the text, what we generally see and remember is impacted by what we expect to see. This tendency to maintain firmly held beliefs about a sequence of expected behaviors is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Preexisting scripts refer to the cognitive frameworks or sets of expectations that individuals have about sequences of actions in particular contexts. These scripts influence what we notice and remember because we tend to pay more attention to information that fits our expectations and overlook information that doesn't.

Question 8

The weapon focus effect means that the eyewitnesses' ability to remember the attacker is _____ if the attacker is holding a _____.

Accepted Answer

The weapon focus effect suggests that an eyewitness's ability to remember an attacker is impaired if the attacker is holding a weapon, such as a gun or knife, because the presence of the weapon draws the witness's attention away from the attacker's other features.

Question 9

Cross-race effect has been shown to maintain consistent strength:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Cross-race effect has been shown to maintain...

Question 10

When doing research on eyewitness memory, social scientists often look at many factors. Factors that are outside the control of the legal system are referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Estimator variables are factors outside the control of the legal system that can affect the accuracy of eyewitness memory, such as lighting conditions, the stress level of the witness, or the time elapsed between the event and the recall.

Question 11

Ashley stopped at the bank to deposit her paycheck, and then stopped at a nearby gas station to pick up a few grocery items. While she was at the gas station, a robber entered with his gun drawn and ordered everybody, including Ashley, to raise their hands and move to the back wall. After the robber gathered all the money from the cash register and collected the customers' wallets, he left. Later, at the police station, Ashley has mistakenly given a description of a bank teller's face when asked to describe the robber. This phenomenon is known as:

Accepted Answer

Ashley's mistake of describing the bank teller's face instead of the robber's is an example of unconscious transference, where memories of faces seen in one context are mistakenly recalled in another context.

Question 12

Bias-reducing instructions are used to assist eyewitnesses to be accurate in their identification of a suspect. An example of such instructions, as noted in the text, is telling the eyewitness that _____ in the lineup or photo spread.

Accepted Answer

Telling the eyewitness that the true criminal might not be in the lineup or photo spread is an example of bias-reducing instructions. This helps to prevent the eyewitness from feeling pressured to make an identification when they are unsure, thereby reducing the likelihood of misidentification.

Question 13

According to the text, the cross-race effect is present in babies as young as _____ old, and _____ from childhood to adulthood.

Accepted Answer

The cross-race effect is present in babies as young as 9 months old and is consistently strong from childhood to adulthood.

Question 14

Certain ways of initial questioning of the eyewitness can significantly alter his recall of the crime scene. Retrieval inhibition occurs when an individual:

Accepted Answer

Retrieval inhibition refers to the phenomenon where recalling certain aspects of an event can inhibit the recall of other aspects. This occurs because focusing on specific details can make it harder to remember other, potentially related details.

Question 15

The process of having an eyewitness look at one person or photograph at a time is referred to as a _____ lineup.

Accepted Answer

The process is referred to as a sequential lineup, where the eyewitness looks at individuals or photographs one at a time, rather than viewing all options simultaneously. This method is believed to reduce misidentification.

Question 16

Oftentimes, the post-indentification boost in an eyewitness's confidence level about his or her testimony can be explained by cognitive dissonance, which is a(n):

Accepted Answer

Cognitive dissonance refers to the discomfort experienced when holding conflicting cognitions (thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or perceptions). In the context of eyewitness testimony, an increase in confidence after identification can be due to the discomfort of conflicting thoughts (e.g., uncertainty about the identification and the need to appear certain) and the subsequent rationalization to reduce this discomfort.

Question 17

A requirement to create an unbiased lineup seems obvious. However, there were many cases of lineups with the fillers not closely resembling the main suspect. Research found that such biased lineups lead to:

Accepted Answer

Biased lineups, where fillers do not closely resemble the main suspect, increase the likelihood of witnesses mistakenly identifying innocent suspects. This is because the suspect stands out from the fillers, making them more noticeable and leading to a higher rate of false identifications.

Question 18

Research is an important part of understanding how eyewitness accounts are derived. As such, a range of factors are often considered. Such factors as the procedures for constructing lineups and questioning witnesses are called:

Accepted Answer

System variables refer to the aspects of the legal process that can be controlled and manipulated by the criminal justice system, such as the methods used for constructing lineups and questioning witnesses. These variables are contrasted with estimator variables, which are factors outside the control of the legal system, such as the lighting conditions during a crime.

Question 19

Research on improving eyewitness identification procedures is especially important in light of considerable human costs to false identification. Which one of the following is NOT among these costs?

Accepted Answer

Misidentified suspects being forced to falsely confess is not a direct cost of false identification by eyewitnesses but rather a potential consequence of further investigative or interrogation processes. The question specifically asks about the costs of false identification itself.

Question 20

When an eyewitness is a child, it is likely that the accuracy of information the child can provide is _____ that provided by an adult.

Accepted Answer

Research indicates that children's memories can be more suggestible and less accurate than adults', especially in stressful or complex situations, leading to generally lower reliability in their eyewitness testimonies.

Quiz 7: Eyewitness Identification and Testimony

Children's memories are likely to be impacted by all of the following, EXCEPT:

According to a study completed by Morgan and his colleagues (2004) , stress appears to have an effect on eyewitness identification. Based on the study results, the rate of correct identification was _____ in low-stress conditions.

Scripts help us to _ but can also _ eyewitness memories.

Most people believe that high stress _ but empirical studies find that stress has _ effect on memory.