Deck 3: The Police: Selection, Training, and Evaluation

Question 1

A study by Ostrov (1985)showed a relationship between several of the Drug Scale items on the IPI and positive urine-analysis results of applicants to the Chicago Police Department.What conclusion was made in light of this relationship?

A) Candidates had tampered with their urine samples.
B) Candidates had cheated when taking the IPI.
C) Candidates had,in responding to the IPI,provided only socially acceptable answers.
D) Candidates had,in responding to the IPI,admitted to some illegal behaviours.

Answer 1

Candidates had,in responding to the IPI,admitted to some illegal behaviours.

Question 2

What factor did Jerome Skolnick (1966)conclude was most influential in determining how rookie police officers view their work and the public?

A) their interactions with experienced officers*
B) their socioeconomic status
C) their race
D) their interactions with the public in general

Answer 2

their interactions with experienced officers*

Question 3

Why did Katherine W.Ellison (1985)use the concept of stakeholders in selecting police officers?

A) to make the police force more heterogenous
B) to make the police force more representative
C) to foster communication between the police and the community
D) to foster interactions between police and lawyers

Answer 3

to make the police force more representative

Question 4

Bartol (1991)found that police officers who scored high on the L scale of the MMPI demonstrated poor judgment in the field,particularly under high levels of stress.What is the L Scale used to detect?

A) paranoia
B) the likelihood of deferring to authority
C) attempts of respondents to present themselves in a favourable light
D) cheating on the MMPI by using someone else's response set

Question 5

German (1969)estimated that as much as 90 percent of entry-level police training is devoted to "crook-catching." Approximately how much of their time do police actually spend doing so?

A) 2 to 3 percent
B) 10 to 15 percent
C) 30 to 40 percent
D) 45 to 60 percent

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT a problem associated with the interview process for police applicants?

A) the questionable validity of the process
B) no agreed-upon format for the interview
C) the high number of police academy applicants who qualify for admission
D) the variability between clinicians' ratings of an applicant

Question 7

What is an outcome of using the MMPI and the IPI in combination in regards to police selection?

A) It increases the accuracy rate of police selection decisions to 85 percent.
B) It decreases the accuracy of selection decisions to 50 percent.
C) It is accurate only for male applicants.
D) It is accurate only for female applicants.

Question 8

Which of the following factors on the IPI did NOT yield significant sex differences among police officers?

A) Factor I: Rigid Type,Undue Suspiciousness,Antisocial Attitudes
B) Factor II: Substance Abuse,Hyperactivity,Alcohol,Depression
C) Factor III: Phobic Personality,Lack of Assertiveness,Depression,Loner Type
D) Factor IV: Substance Abuse,Lack of Assertiveness,Antisocial Attitudes

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons described by White and Honig (1995)for police officers often having antagonistic attitudes toward psychologists?

A) watching psychologists testify on the behalf of criminals
B) watching psychologists protect police officers who are claiming disability and appear to be abusing the system.
C) viewing psychologists as an enemy with the power to keep an officer off the force
D) the favourable portrayal of forensic psychologists by the mass media

Question 10

What is the most commonly used psychological inventory for police selection?

A) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
B) Maslow Hierarchical Inventory
C) Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator
D) Rorschach Inkblot Technique

Question 11

What is the first step in screening applicants for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police?

A) completion of basic cadet training
B) completion of the Physical Abilities Requirement Evaluation (PARE)
C) completion of the RCMP Police Aptitude Test
D) completion of an interview

Question 12

Which of the following describes the nature of the "guardedness" scale on the IPI?

A) an extraordinary concern for one's physical safety
B) a strong need to appear unusually virtuous
C) a deep concern for safeguarding public welfare
D) an unusually high degree of authoritarianism

Question 13

Hargrave and Hiatt (1987)found that people portray themselves more positively in face-to-face interviews than on personality tests.What is the result?

A) Better applicants are hired.
B) Worse applicants are hired.
C) More poor risks are hired.
D) Fewer poor risks are hired.

Question 14

Which of the following profiles from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI)best explains the differences between problematic police officers and those who show few serious problems?

A) Class I (poise,ascendancy,self-assurance,interpersonal adequacy)
B) Class II (maturity,responsibility,self-control,and personal values)
C) Class III (achievement potential)
D) Class IV (intellectual and interest modes)

Question 15

According to the study by Shusman,Inwald,and Knatz (1987),which of the following most accurately assigns optimal police candidates?

A) MMPI
B) CPI
C) IPI
D) MBTI

Question 16

Which of the following situational tests was shown to be the most highly correlated with success at the police academy?

A) Foot Patrol Observation test
B) Clues Test
C) Bull Session
D) Discipline Test

Question 17

Which of the following psychological instruments was specifically developed to measure law enforcement candidates' personality attributes and behaviour patterns?

A) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
B) California Psychological Inventory
C) Inwald Personality Inventory
D) Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator

Question 18

How many RCMP officers and officers from the RCMP's predecessor the "North West Mounted Police" have been killed in the line of duty since the 1870s ?

A) 111
B) 222
C) 333
D) 444

Question 19

According to the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals,which of the following should receive the most time during police training?

A) laws
B) administration
C) human values and problems
D) patrol and investigation procedures

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a trait associated with problem police officers?

A) impulsivity
B) risk taking
C) being easily bored
D) low intelligence

Question 21

Which of the following is NOT a reason police should be cautious in enlisting a psychologist to assist in hostage negotiation?

A) Psychologists have little formal training on the topic.
B) Predictors of probable dangerousness in a given person are very poor.
C) Psychologists may side with the hostage taker,reflecting the Stockholm syndrome.
D) Statistical methods are more accurate predictors of outcome than is clinical judgment.

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT one of the guidelines that should be followed by psychologists conducting fitness-for-duty evaluations?

A) A written report documenting the findings of the evaluation should be provided.
B) The evaluation should be completed by the psychologist who usually counsels the police officer.
C) The evaluator should be familiar with research and testing in the field of police psychology.
D) Consent should be obtained from the police officer before starting the evaluation.

Question 23

The research literature from industrial/organizational psychology on the use of the clinical interview process in police selection gives no indication that the interview is a valid predictor of job performance.

Question 24

Describe three different personality inventories used for police selection and describe the validity of each.

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT one of the basic types of hostage taker?

A) criminal
B) political activist or terrorist
C) mentally disturbed person
D) dedicated family member

Question 26

In Canada,approximately what percentage of women who had ever been married reported being subjected to violence by their partner?

A) 1
B) 10
C) 20
D) 30

Question 27

Describe examples of types of police corruption.

Question 28

If a hostage taker is talking more and talking about his or her personal life,it is a danger signal for hostage negotiations.

Question 29

Traditional police training programs have been criticized for narrowly focusing upon aspects of the job associated with criminal activity while ignoring human relations skills.

Question 30

What are the typical procedures used in selecting recruits for police training?

Question 31

Who are the clientele for the police psychologist?

Question 32

Outline some of the major requirements used by the RCMP for selecting potential police recruits.

Question 33

What personality characteristics,identified by inventories,are detrimental to effective police performance?

Question 34

Which of the following is the LEAST effective method of apprehending a hostage taker?

A) face-to-face
B) public address system
C) bullhorn
D) telephone

Question 35

Situational tests have proven to be superior predictors of job performance compared to the use of personality inventories.

Question 36

Is the interview a useful part of the process for selecting police recruits for training?

Question 37

Explain the term "driving while black" with reference to policing in Canada.

Question 38

Outline the most common types of police deviance by its two main categories with examples for each.

Question 39

What is the evidence that law-enforcement officers carry out race-based profiling?

Question 40

Training programs for police on spousal assault should include all of the following EXCEPT which one?

A) social costs of wife assault
B) statistics on prevalence
C) methods to help the husband "save face"
D) information on why victims stay or return

Question 41

What is the unique feature of the Inwald Personality Inventory?

Question 42

What is the psychologist's main role in hostage negotiation?

Question 43

Describe police reactions to spouse assault.

Question 44

What is community policing? How effective is it?

Question 45

Describe some of the major findings between the "Big Five" and policing.

Question 46

Describe police response to hostage taking.

Question 47

Describe some activities of a psychologist employed by a police department.

Question 48

How are situational tests used in police selection?