Question 1

The leading cause of wrongful convictions of defendants in a trial is

Accepted Answer

Eyewitness error is often cited as the leading cause of wrongful convictions, as human memory can be unreliable and influenced by various factors.

Question 2

In a study of eyewitness identification, researchers asked a store clerk to identify a confederate who had posed as a customer out of a lineup. The clerks correctly identified the confederate ________ of the time.

Accepted Answer

B

Question 3

The distance from which a witness sees the event and the race of the witness are examples of ________ variables that influence eyewitness identification.

Accepted Answer

Estimator variables are factors that can affect the accuracy of eyewitness identification but are not under the control of the criminal justice system, such as the distance from which the witness sees the event and the race of the witness.

Question 4

Biases in police lineups and suggestive questioning by police officers are examples of ________ variables that influence eyewitness identification.

Accepted Answer

System variables are factors that are under the control of the criminal justice system, such as the way lineups are conducted and the type of questioning used, which can influence eyewitness identification.

Question 5

Imagine that you are walking down the street and witness a man grab the purse off a woman's arm and run away. If your memory is influenced primarily by system variables, which of the following is likely to play a role in your ability to recall the event accurately?

Accepted Answer

System variables are factors controlled by the legal system, such as the way police interviews are conducted, which can influence memory recall.

Question 6

Which is NOT one of the three psychological processes identified in the text as being involved in eyewitness identification?

Accepted Answer

Manipulation of information is not one of the three psychological processes involved in eyewitness identification. The correct processes are acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information.

Question 7

When compared to witnesses who view an event under optimal viewing conditions, witnesses who experience an event under poor viewing conditions

Accepted Answer

The answer of When compared to witnesses who view an...

Question 8

Sarah is mugged at gunpoint. She is least likely to remember

Accepted Answer

The answer of Sarah is mugged at gunpoint. She is...

Question 9

Which of the following is associated with more accurate identifications of perpetrators by eyewitnesses?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following is associated with...

Question 10

Which statement about the "own-race bias" is true?

Accepted Answer

Cross-racial contact can reduce own-race bias by increasing familiarity and exposure to people of other races, improving recognition accuracy.

Question 11

The retention interval refers to

Accepted Answer

The retention interval is the period between witnessing an event and recalling or reporting it, which can affect the accuracy of the memory.

Question 12

The amount of information that people are able to recall about an event they have witnessed declines dramatically after

Accepted Answer

Research shows that memory retention significantly declines after 24 hours, as the initial encoding of information fades and details become less accessible.

Question 13

In a classic study, Loftus and Palmer found that when asked to estimate the speed of a car involved in an accident, participants' estimates were affected by

Accepted Answer

Loftus and Palmer's study demonstrated that the wording of questions, such as using "smashed" versus "hit," influenced participants' speed estimates, showing how language can affect memory recall.

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT a theory about how postevent information affects memory?

Accepted Answer

The story model is not a theory about how postevent information affects memory. It is a model related to how people construct narratives to make sense of information, often used in legal contexts.

Question 15

Source-monitoring theory argues that a person's difficulties recalling events can be a result of

Accepted Answer

Source-monitoring theory suggests that memory errors can occur when individuals misattribute the source of a memory, such as confusing postevent information with the original event.

Question 16

Which of the following provides the best explanation for eyewitness suggestibility effects?

Accepted Answer

Source-monitoring theory explains eyewitness suggestibility by highlighting how individuals may confuse the source of their memories, leading to the incorporation of misleading information.

Question 17

Scientific research on recovered memories suggests that

Accepted Answer

Research indicates that people can "recover" memories for events that never happened, often due to suggestion or influence, leading to false memories.

Question 18

Many adults who have recovered memories of childhood abuse have done so during therapy sessions relying on

Accepted Answer

Recovered memories of childhood abuse during therapy often involve techniques like suggestive questioning, guided imagery, and age regression, which can influence the recall process.

Question 19

George was attacked by a mugger. The police bring him to the precinct, show him an individual and ask him whether this person was the one who mugged him. This is an example of a

Accepted Answer

A show-up is when a witness is presented with a single suspect to identify, rather than a lineup of multiple individuals.

Question 20

Simultaneous lineups are problematic for witness identification of perpetrators because

Accepted Answer

Simultaneous lineups encourage witnesses to compare lineup members to each other and choose the one who looks most like the perpetrator, leading to relative judgments rather than absolute identification.

Quiz 15: Social Psychology and the Law