Deck 7: Evaluating Criminal Suspects

Question 1

Bob has long been inspired by sadistic fantasies.To fuel his fantasies and satisfy his need for control and dominance, he tortures and kills prostitutes.According to Fox and Levin, Bob's motivation for his serial murders would best be classified as a need for

A)power.
B)revenge.
C)loyalty.
D)profit.

Answer 1

power.

Question 2

Criminal profilers must possess certain knowledge and experience including

A)an understanding of human psychology
B)investigative experience
C)both A and B
D)neither A or B

Answer 2

both A and B

Question 3

Jim, a disgruntled postal worker, rushed into the post office one Thursday afternoon and sprayed his fellow employees with gunfire, killing ten and wounding many more.According to Chapter 7, what type of multiple murderer is Jim?

A)a spree killer
B)a serial murderer
C)a mass murderer
D)a tormented murderer

Answer 3

a mass murderer

Question 4

Since September 11, 2001, the FBI has focused more on counterterrorism and the profiling of terrorists.Monahan (in press) has identified four "promising" categories of risk factors for terrorism, which include

A)prior criminal history.
B)country of origin.
C)ideology and affiliation.
D)all of the above

Question 5

After a crime has been committed, a member of the investigating team sometimes sketches a general psychological description of the most likely type of suspect.Creating this description is called

A)psychological description analysis.
B)criminal profiling.
C)criminal investigative analysis.
D)both B and C

Question 6

The major source of research and information about criminal profiling in the United States has been

A)the Central Intelligence Agency
B)the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI
C)the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime of the FBI
D)local law enforcement agencies

Question 7

It has been disputed whether psychologists and mental health professionals have the requisite experience to be profilers.According to one study examining psychologists and psychiatrists, ______ of the sample reported having profiling experience, while ______ considered themselves knowledgeable about criminal profiling.

A)25%; 10%
B)50%; 50%
C)10%; 25%
D)15%; 85%

Question 8

Tom goes to an abortion clinic and kills several women.Then he drives to a second abortion clinic and kills several more women.According to Chapter 6, what type of multiple murderer is Tom?

A)a spree killer
B)a serial murderer
C)a mass murderer
D)a political murderer

Question 9

According to Fox and Levin (1998), in order to be considered a multiple homicide,

A)two or more victims are killed simultaneously or sequentially by one or a few individuals.
B)three or more victims are killed simultaneously or sequentially by one or a few individuals.
C)four or more victims are killed simultaneously or sequentially by one or a few individuals.
D)five or more victims are killed simultaneously or sequentially by one or a few individuals.

Question 10

In approximately what percentage of studied mass murders was the assailant related to or well-acquainted with the victims?

A)20%
B)40%
C)60%
D)80%

Question 11

According to Chapter 6, there may be as many as ______ serial murderers in the U.S.

A)100
B)200
C)1,000
D)2,000

Question 12

Profilers have found that murders committed early in the morning rarely involve

A)an offender and victim who knew each other.
B)a gun.
C)a financial motivation.
D)alcohol or drugs.

Question 13

Which of the following is the first stage of the FBI's profiling strategy?

A)crime assessment
B)profiling inputs
C)investigation
D)decision process models

Question 14

According to criminal profilers, brutal facial injuries to the victim suggest killers that

A)are unattractive.
B)are impulsive.
C)knew their victims.
D)none of the above

Question 15

Mass murders are the types of cases that tend to be solved because the mass murderer tends to

A)be killed at the location of the crime.
B)commit suicide.
C)surrender to police.
D)all of the above

Question 16

A careful and comprehensive profile will typically include

A)psychopathology.
B)educational background.
C)family history.
D)all of the above

Question 17

Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990) found that on the lineup identification task, profilers were the

A)most accurate for the homicide case (no differences between groups for the sexual offense case).
B)least accurate for the homicide case (no differences between groups for the sexual offense case).
C)least accurate for the sexual offense case (no differences between groups for the homicide case).
D)most accurate for the sexual offense case (no differences between groups for the homicide case).

Question 18

In a survey of police psychologists, _______ questioned the validity of crime scene profiling.

A)20%
B)35%
C)50%
D)70%

Question 19

Criminal profiling is used to

A)identify a particular suspect.
B)identify suspects only in homicide cases.
C)narrow a pool of suspects based on certain personality and behavior characteristics revealed by how the crime was committed.
D)none of the above

Question 20

At least one study found that ________ of the sampled mental health professionals believed criminal profiling was scientifically reliable and valid.

A)75%
B)more than 50%
C)less than 25%
D)none

Question 21

Truthtellers tend to ________________________; while lying individuals tend to __________________________.

A)provide longer answers and forget certain details; make more speech errors and talk in a higher-pitched voice.
B)make more speech errors and talk in a higher-pitched voice; provide longer answers and forget certain details.
C)maintain full eye contact and talk in a higher-pitched voice; forget certain details and make more speech errors.
D)talk in a higher-pitched voice and provide long answers; forget certain details and avoid full eye contact.

Question 22

A suspect is attached to the lie-detector apparatus and asked questions about the crime.The questions deal with aspects of the crime only known by the police and the actual law-breaker.Which procedure is this?

A)relevant/irrelevant procedure
B)psychological stress evaluator
C)lie-control test
D)concealed knowledge test

Question 23

At least one study has found that brain fingerprinting is ____________ accurate in distinguishing liars from truth-tellers under optimal laboratory conditions.

A)15-25%
B)65-75%
C)35-45%
D)85-95%

Question 24

Tony, currently a murder suspect, is undergoing a test in which the electrical activity in his brain is accessed.The doctor is checking to see if Tony's P300 wave reveals that Tony has details of the murder in his memory.What kind of test is Tony undergoing?

A)brain fingerprinting
B)psychological stress evaluator
C)fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)
D)PET scan (positron emission tomography)

Question 25

Which of the following is usually not measured in a polygraph examination?

A)blood pressure
B)salivary response
C)respiration
D)heart rate

Question 26

In their meta-analysis, Bond and DePaulo (2006) found that people correctly detect deception

A)approximately 25% of the time.
B)approximately 75% of the time.
C)less than 20% of the time.
D)about 50% of the time.

Question 27

According to the Supreme Court's ruling in J.D.B.v.North Carolina, judges should consider a juvenile's __________ when considering whether s/he understood s/he was ______________ and deserved to be read his/her Miranda rights.

A)mental age; under arrest
B)chronological age; under arrest
C)chronological age; in custody
D)mental age; in custody

Question 28

Asking subjects to recall a series of events in reverse chronological order and requiring them to determine whether a figure that reappears on a computer screen is similar to a figure seen earlier would likely be part of

A)an effort to discriminate liars from truthtellers.
B)a cognitive load interview.
C)a polygraph test.
D)both A and B

Question 29

In United States v.Scheffer (1998), the U.S.Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of

A)expert testimony regarding criminal profiling.
B)a confession elicited under minor duress.
C)a confession elicited under moderate, but not major duress.
D)a military rule of evidence which declares that polygraph results and opinions shall not be admitted into evidence.

Question 30

If a polygraph examiner asks a subject, "Did you ever steal anything?" the examiner is administering what type of polygraph test?

A)relevant/irrelevant
B)control question
C)directed lie
D)concealed knowledge

Question 31

Some have argued that the use of brain-based technology to detect deception in suspects or witnesses constitutes a violation of one's ______________ right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

A)1st Amendment
B)5th Amendment
C)4th Amendment
D)6th Amendment

Question 32

Physiological measures, by themselves, can distinguish between guilt and which of the following negative emotions?

A)fear
B)anger
C)both A and B
D)neither A nor B

Question 33

What are some concerns about the use of polygraphs?

A)Polygraphs cannot distinguish between fear or nervousness.
B)Polygraphers lack professional standards and standardized questioning Methods.
C)both A and B
D)neither A or B

Question 34

In Jackson v.Denno (1964) the U.S.Supreme Court held that those accused of a crime are entitled to a pretrial hearing in which the fact-finder (usually the judge) decides whether any confession the defendant has made was

A)voluntarily given.
B)the result of physical coercion.
C)the result of psychological coercion.
D)all of the above

Question 35

The ancient Hindus had suspects chew rice as part of a test of their innocence.For the Hindus, what indicated innocence in this test?

A)The innocent person was able to chew the rice and then spit it out.
B)The innocent person was able to chew the rice but wouldn't be able to spit it out because of the activation of the sympathetic nervous system.
C)The innocent person was expected to refuse to do the task.
D)The innocent person was able to chew the rice but wouldn't be able to spit it out because of the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.

Question 36

In one recent study that attempted to utilize fMRI to detect deception, Mohamed and colleagues (2006) found that

A)lying and truth-telling participants did not demonstrate any significant differences in brain activation patterns.
B)lying participants demonstrated less activation in areas of the brain involved in planning and higher-level executive functioning.
C)lying participants demonstrated more activation in areas of the brain involved in planning and higher-level executive functioning.
D)lying participants utilized less cognitive effort than truth-telling participants.

Question 37

Bert committed a crime, and is currently undergoing a polygraph test.He is trying some countermeasures that he read about on the Internet, and he is hoping that, with the help of these countermeasures (e.g., controlled breathing), he will be able to fool the polygraph examiner.If he succeeds in fooling the examiner, he could be said to be a

A)false negative.
B)false positive.
C)true negative.
D)true positive.

Question 38

One recent study which involved the review of recorded interrogations of juvenile suspects found that _______ of juveniles waived their Miranda rights.

A)15%
B)85%
C)90%
D)50%

Question 39

According to Chapter 7, the polygraph has an overall accuracy rate of ________ or better.

A)45%
B)55%
C)65%
D)75%

Question 40

A polygraph shows that Ken is guilty of murder, when in fact he is innocent.This is an example of a

A)true negative.
B)true positive.
C)false negative.
D)false positive.

Question 41

As a result of a Supreme Court decision, criminal defendants are entitled to a pretrial hearing that determines whether any confession they have made was voluntarily given or the product of coercion.What case was this?

A)Arizona v.Fulminante (1991)
B)Townsend v.Swain (1963)
C)Jackson v.Denno (1964)
D)Reck v.Pate (1961)

Question 42

Trevor was taken to the police station for questioning because he was suspected of committing a robbery.While the police are transporting Trevor to the station, he confesses.The police had not yet begun questioning Trevor and had not yet given him the Miranda warning.Is this confession admissible?

Question 43

In Kassin, Goldstein and Savitsky's (2003) study, interrogators who assumed that the suspect was guilty

A)tried harder to elicit a confession.
B)presented false evidence during the interrogation.
C)had suspects who were later more likely to be identified as guilty of the crime by naïve observers.
D)all of the above

Question 44

Archival analyses of actual cases where false confessors pled not guilty and went to trial revealed jury conviction rates from

A)15-23%
B)73-81%
C)43-51%
D)3-12%

Question 45

The principle of stare decisis reflects the judicial system's preference for maintaining stability in the law by

A)changing the law in accordance with legislative trends.
B)modifying the law based on political pressures.
C)abiding by settled principles whenever possible.
D)none of the above

Question 46

When one does not consider an external situation as a determinant of someone's behavior but rather believes the behavior is caused by internal factors specific to the person, this is an example of

A)behavioral confirmation
B)internalized false confessions
C)fundamental attribution error
D)illusory causation

Question 47

Police detectives often begin an interrogation with a belief that the suspect is guilty.This presumption of guilt can apparently influence the way a detective conducts the questioning.The danger here is that, under these conditions, the detectives will seek out information that verifies that belief and overlook information that does not fit.Suspects, in turn, act more defensively and are more likely to look guilty.This process is referred to as

A)interrogation proper.
B)behavioral confirmation.
C)a preinterrogation "softening up" of the suspect.
D)the interrogator's arsenal.

Question 48

Garrett (2008) analyzed the cases in which the defendant had been exonerated by DNA evidence.What percentage of these defendants had falsely confessed?

A)15-20%
B)25-30%
C)45-50%
D)65-70%

Question 49

Boris has been stopped for drunk driving.Before the police question Boris, must they give him the Miranda warning?

Question 50

Sheri has been charged with the murder of a child that was in her care.When she was first brought in for questioning, she denied doing anything to hurt the child, but after 16 hours of questioning, she starts to believe that she did, in fact, hurt the child (in actuality, she didn't).What type of false confession is this according to Kassin and Wrightsman (1985)?

A)compliant false confession
B)externalized false confession
C)internalized false confession
D)voluntary false confession

Question 51

Criminal profiling is typically used to determine if a suspect is guilty of a crime.

Question 52

Of the 125 proven false confession cases compiled by Drizin and Leo (2004), what percentage involved juveniles?

A)5%
B)12%
C)21%
D)33%

Question 53

Serial killers are capable of presenting themselves as normal members of the community.

Question 54

Jaime has been in and out of psychiatric facilities for most of his life due to his chronic psychological instability, but he has been living at home for the last three months.Jaime has recently been named as a suspect in a rape case, and following an investigation, the police arrest him.As part of their usual procedure, the police read Jaime his Miranda rights, and although Jaime doesn't understand them, he says he does.The police question Jaime for several hours until he confesses.Is Jaime's statement admissible?

A)Yes, in this type of situation the statement is usually admissible.
B)If Jaime's lawyer says that Jaime didn't understand the Miranda warning, then Jaime's statement will not be admissible.
C)If Jaime's lawyer says that Jaime didn't understand the Miranda warning because of his psychological instability, then Jaime's statement will not be admissible.
D)If Jaime's lawyer proves that Jaime didn't understand the Miranda warning because of his psychological instability (he provides Jaime's psychiatric records), then Jaime's statement will not be admissible.

Question 55

In some cases a defendant who had confessed will enter a plea of not guilty and go to trial.If the jury convicts this defendant, judges are likely to sentence the defendant _____________

A)leniently because the judge will focus on the plea.
B)leniently because the judge will try to match what the plea bargain would have been.
C)harshly because they tend to punish offenders who waste resources.
D)none of the above; no relationship has been determined

Question 56

The police are questioning Stuart and they tell him that they have a witness who saw him outside the victim's apartment.This is not true; they have no such witness.Are the police allowed to use a trick like this when they are trying to get a confession?

Question 57

Which of the following has been acknowledged as a way that investigators can be certain that a defendant has falsely confessed to a crime?

A)The suspect confessed to a crime that did not occur.
B)The suspect confessed to a crime that was physically impossible for him or her to commit.
C)The suspect confessed to a crime, but the guilt of another perpetrator has been definitively established.
D)all of the above

Question 58

Kevin, a suspect for murder, is being interrogated at his local police station.The police have Kevin in a small, soundproof room, sitting in an armless chair.The police officer is leaning in and accusing Kevin of doing horrific things to the victim.The police officer says that he doesn't understand why Kevin would do such a horrible thing, but that they have "mounds" of evidence against him (this last part is a lie).Which of these details is not recommended by Inbau et al.in their book Criminal Interrogation and Confessions?

A)Kevin shouldn't be sitting in a small, soundproof room in an armless chair.
B)The police shouldn't make an exaggerated statement about the amount of evidence they have against the suspect.
C)The police shouldn't say that they don't understand why Kevin would do the crime in question.
D)none of the above (all are recommended by Inbau et al.)

Question 59

Recording police interrogations can improve the quality of interrogations by

A)helping to ensure that police detectives are not coercive when interrogating.
B)helping to ensure that suspects cannot inappropriately claim to have been coerced during interrogation.
C)both of the above
D)none of the above

Question 60

Dickerson v.United States (2000) represented a challenge to the Miranda decision.What was the outcome of Dickerson v.United States?

A)The Supreme Court reaffirmed Miranda.
B)The Supreme Court struck down Miranda.
C)The defendant in this case requested a review by the U.S.Supreme Court, but the Court refused to hear the case.
D)A State Court of Appeals reaffirmed Miranda.

Question 61

The compliant false confession occurs when an individual seeks notoriety, wants to cleanse himself from feelings of guilt, or wants to protect the real criminal.

Question 62

Serial killers tend to select vulnerable victims of a certain type that satisfy their need to control people.

Question 63

Brain-based technology has been admitted as evidence to address a witness's truthfulness in only one case in the United States.

Question 64

People who lack experience in the criminal justice system are more likely than those with experience to waive their rights and submit to questioning.

Question 65

Someone who is fidgeting is likely lying.

Question 66

Although torture is aversive, there is evidence that reliable information is obtained from interrogations that involve torture.

Question 67

Serial killers are typically psychotic individuals.

Question 68

A main difference between the Control Question Test (CQT) and the Concealed Knowledge Test (CKT) is that the CQT is designed to detect lying while the CKT is not.

Question 69

According to one study, most psychologists and psychiatrists included in the sample viewed criminal profiling as scientifically reliable and valid.

Question 70

If a suspect confesses and then later recants, the confession can still be introduced into evidence at the trial.

Question 71

Serial killers do not like to "get their hands dirty"; they prefer to kill using remote methods such as a firearm.

Question 72

Polygraph results are not admissible in U.S.courts.

Question 73

In the decision process model phase of the FBI's profiling strategy, profilers organize obtained information into patterns along several, different dimensions of criminal activity.

Question 74

Avoiding eye contact is a sign of lying.

Question 75

Over 200 people confessed to the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's baby.

Question 76

Physical coercion is rarely used in interrogations today.

Question 77

Truthful statements tend to be longer than lies.

Question 78

In Miranda v.Arizona (1966) the Supreme Court held that any confession resulting from an in-custody interrogation was admissible in court only if it was considered voluntary and the police had taken steps to ensure the suspect's protection from self-incrimination.

Question 79

Jurors are highly likely to convict defendants who have confessed even when the confessions are false.