Deck 15: Social Psychology in Court

Question 1

A prosecuting attorney learns that a crucial eyewitness to a grocery store robbery correctly remembers trivial details of the crime scene.If the prosecutor hopes to convince the jury that the eyewitness is credible,research suggests

A)he should make the jury aware of the witness's ability to remember trivial details.
B)he should deliberately avoid making the jury aware of the witness's ability to remember trivial details.
C)it will make no difference whether the jury knows that the witness can remember trivial details.
D)he should make the jury aware of the witness's ability to remember trivial details only if the jury is composed of all males.

Answer 1

he should make the jury aware of the witness's ability to remember trivial details.

Question 2

After hearing a television report falsely indicating that drugs may have contributed to a recent auto accident,several eyewitnesses of the accident begin to remember the driver as traveling at a faster rate of speed than was actually the case.This provides an example of

A)flashbulb memory.
B)state-dependent memory.
C)the serial position effect.
D)the misinformation effect.

Answer 2

the misinformation effect.

Question 3

Which of the following statements about eyewitness testimony is FALSE?

A)Eyewitnesses' certainty about what they have seen is closely related to their accuracy.
B)Confident witnesses are more believable to jurors than those lacking confidence.
C)Incorrect witnesses are virtually as confident as correct witnesses.
D)Eyewitness testimony is powerful to juries.

Answer 3

Eyewitnesses' certainty about what they have seen is closely related to their accuracy.

Question 4

In what we now know to be a mistake,the U.S.Supreme Court declared in 1972 that among the factors to be considered in determining an eyewitness's accuracy is "the level of _______ demonstrated by the witness."

A)impartiality
B)interest
C)certainty
D)fluency

Question 5

After the study by Morgan and his team,they found soldiers,during a mock training session on survival,could

A)correctly identify their high-stress interrogator.
B)incorrectly identify their low-stress interrogator.
C)correctly identify their high-stress interrogator 30 percent of the time.
D)correctly identify their high-stress interrogator 70 percent of the time.

Question 6

Research experiments by Wells and others (1979)show that incorrect eyewitnesses are believed _____ of the time.

A)5 percent
B)20 percent
C)50 percent
D)80 percent

Question 7

Jurors think that an eyewitness who can recall trivial details such as how many pictures were hanging in the room probably

A)gained information about these details by a second visit to the crime scene.
B)was paying better attention than one who recalls no details.
C)was not paying attention to the culprit or the crime itself.
D)is no more accurate in recalling important information than witnesses with no memory for details.

Question 8

A prosecuting attorney is uncertain whether her eyewitness will seem credible to the jury.The eyewitness's testimony could help win a conviction,but the witness might be discredited by the defense attorney.What advice should the prosecutor accept?

A)Put the eyewitness on the stand,since even a discredited eyewitness is more convincing than no eyewitness at all.
B)Do not put the eyewitness on the stand,since a discredited eyewitness is worse than no eyewitness at all.
C)Put the eyewitness on the stand but admit your reservations about the credibility of the eyewitness before the defense attorney raises the issue.
D)Put the eyewitness on the stand only if he or she is attractive and similar to the jurors.

Question 9

The process of witnessing an event,receiving misleading information about it,and then incorporating the misleading information into one's memory of the event is referred to as the _______ effect.

A)false memory
B)misinformation
C)inoculation
D)interference

Question 10

Wells and his colleagues (2006)reported that it is the _______ eyewitnesses whom jurors find to be most believable.

A)older
B)younger
C)confident
D)emotional

Question 11

At the University of Washington,Loftus (1979)found that eyewitnesses in a hypothetical robbery-murder case were influential

A)unless their testimony was shown to be useless.
B)even when their testimony was discredited.
C)only if other evidence supported their story.
D)only if they were similar to those making the judgments.

Question 12

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A)Eyewitnesses are often more confident than correct.
B)Confident eyewitnesses are more accurate than uncertain eyewitnesses.
C)Both the gender and race of eyewitnesses have been shown to correlate with their degree of accuracy.
D)Eyewitnesses who pay attention to details are most likely to pay attention to the culprit's face.

Question 13

In the process known as the misinformation effect,individuals

A)give misleading testimony in court.
B)receive wrong information about an event and then incorporate that information into their memory of the event.
C)purposely give wrong information to police.
D)fail to remember any information following a traumatic event.

Question 14

Studies of eyewitness testimony indicate that

A)jurors can discern whether eyewitnesses have mistakenly identified an innocent person.
B)when witnessing conditions are poor,jurors do not usually believe eyewitness testimony.
C)eyewitnesses who are shown to have poor eyesight have little effect on the jurors' judgment.
D)false eyewitnesses are usually recognized by the jury.

Question 15

Research on false memories in children find that children

A)are not very confident about their memories.
B)cannot reliably separate real from false memories.
C)very rarely lie about their memories.
D)are unlikely to make false accusations.

Question 16

Studies of the misinformation effect provide a dramatic demonstration of

A)memory construction.
B)repressed memory.
C)proactive interference.
D)state-dependent memory.

Question 17

Research indicates that eyewitnesses who remember trivial details of a crime scene

A)also tend to overestimate the degree of harm or damage done as a result of the crime.
B)also tend to be particularly suspicious of all unfamiliar faces.
C)are less likely to have paid attention to the culprit's face.
D)are more likely to have paid attention to the culprit's face.

Question 18

City police found that Mr.Caldwell,an eyewitness to a murder in a local bank,correctly remembered many trivial details of the crime scene,including the specific time on the clock and the paintings on the wall.Research findings suggest that Mr.Caldwell's recall of trivial details means

A)it is more likely that he can also correctly identify the murderer.
B)it is less likely that he can also correctly identify the murderer.
C)nothing in terms of his ability to correctly identify the murderer.
D)it is more likely that he can also correctly identify the murderer,provided Mr.Caldwell is also highly educateD.

Question 19

Of the following eyewitnesses to a crime,who would probably appear most believable to a jury?

A)Teddy,a fifth-grader whose father is a lawyer
B)Randy,a radio announcer who appears very confident about what he saw
C)Moira,a retired teacher who has traveled widely to visit other countries
D)Dawn,a shy student who smiles and speaks very softly

Question 20

Loftus (1979)found that when an eyewitness who had testified against the defendant in a hypothetical robbery-murder case was discredited because of having poor vision

A)about half the jurors switched their votes from guilty to innocent.
B)the majority of jurors still voted for conviction.
C)jurors regarded the eyewitness testimony as useless and it had no impact on their verdict.
D)a boomerang effect occurred with all the jurors changing their votes in favor of an acquittal.

Question 21

Eyewitness testimony can be distorted or biased by which of the following?

A)suggestive questions
B)an eyewitness's own retelling of events
C)whether the person is an eyewitness for the defendant or the plaintiff
D)All of the above

Question 22

In a police lineup,the lineup interviewer's feedback

A)has no effect on the witness's confidence.
B)has a very mild effect on the witness's confidence.
C)has a large effect on the witness's confidence.
D)is usually not believed by the witness.

Question 23

Wells,Ferguson,and Lindsay (1981)had eyewitnesses to a staged theft rehearse their answers to questions before taking the witness stand.Doing so

A)increased the accuracy of the eyewitness testimony.
B)decreased the confidence of those who were correct.
C)increased the confidence of those who were wrong.
D)decreased the jurors' confidence in them.

Question 24

Studies have identified the post-identification feedback effect,and suggest that in order to avoid it,

A)witnesses should look for confirmation from interrogators.
B)interrogators should confirm or deny which person is the suspect.
C)interrogators should confirm which person is the suspect.
D)interrogators should be kept ignorant of who is the suspect.

Question 25

Young children's susceptibility to the misinformation effect raises the distinct possibility that

A)some people have been falsely accused in sex abuse cases.
B)many educators overestimate the competence of their students.
C)children forget that they were physically abused.
D)many children are simply unable to experience empathy for dissimilar others.

Question 26

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A)Retelling events accurately makes people less resistant to the misinformation effect.
B)Rehearsing answers before taking the witness stand decreases the confidence of those who are wrong.
C)Retelling events commits people to their recollections,accurate or not.
D)Retelling has no effect on memory.

Question 27

A police interrogator questioning an eyewitness to a robbery hopes to learn whether the assailant was wearing a bright green hat similar to one seen in another robbery.According to research,which of the following questions will elicit the most detailed,undistorted recall from the eyewitness?

A)"Did you see whether the robber was wearing a hat?"
B)"Can you describe the hat the robber was wearing?"
C)"What color was the robber's hat?"
D)"How was the robber dressed?"

Question 28

Which is NOT one of the confidence boosters for eyewitnesses found by Wells and Bradfield?

A)learning that another witness has identified the same person
B)being asked the same question repeatedly
C)preparing for cross-examination
D)not getting feedback confirmation after identification of a suspect

Question 29

Sheppard and Vidmar (1980)had some students serve as witnesses to a fight,while others took the roles of lawyers and judges.When they had been interviewed by the defense lawyer,the witnesses

A)gave testimony condemning the defendant as guilty.
B)gained self-confidence and claimed to remember more details.
C)gave testimony that was favorable to the defendant.
D)were less susceptible to the misinformation effect.

Question 30

The new police interview technique that improves information gathering is called

A)direct interview.
B)cognitive interview.
C)eyewitness interview.
D)verbal overshadowing.

Question 31

Stan was initially uncertain about the man he identified as the burglar in a police lineup.His confidence increased,however,after

A)learning that he was the only eyewitness in the case.
B)being asked the same question repeatedly.
C)viewing a thousand police mug shots.
D)seeing the grainy,inconclusive security camera video.

Question 32

In Wells and Bradfield's study (1999),participants were asked to identify a gunman they had seen on video.After making a false identification but receiving confirming feedback,___ percent rated their initial certainty as very high.

A)94
B)58
C)34
D)5

Question 33

In Wells and Bradfield's study (1999),participants were asked if feedback from the experimenter had influenced their certainty regarding their identification of the gunman.What percentage of the participants denied any influence of the feedback?

A)100 percent
B)75 percent
C)58 percent
D)10 percent

Question 34

In order to promote accurate recall,the "cognitive interview" procedure for questioning eyewitnesses begins with

A)specific questions about the event.
B)guiding eyewitnesses to visualize the scene.
C)advising witnesses about what others have said.
D)flooding witnesses with mug shots right away.

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT a recommended strategy for increasing the accuracy of eyewitnesses and jurors?

A)Train police interviewers to elicit unbiased accounts.
B)Educate jurors about the limitations of eyewitness testimony.
C)Ask witnesses to scan a lineup of several suspects or mug shots simultaneously rather than one at a time.
D)Use scripted and neutral questions during lineups so there are no subtle demands of identification.

Question 36

An eyewitness gains confidence from which of the following sources?

A)being the only person who saw the event
B)being asked the same question repeatedly
C)testifying against a person whose race is different from his or her own
D)disliking the defendant

Question 37

The tendency for witnesses to incorporate misleading information into their memories is especially strong when

A)suggestive questions are repeated.
B)the questioner is female rather than male.
C)the event was a traffic incident rather than a violent crime.
D)the witness is low in need for cognition.

Question 38

When Fisher and his colleagues (1994)trained detectives to use the "cognitive interview" procedure for questioning eyewitnesses,

A)both the accuracy and the confidence of the eyewitnesses increased.
B)the amount of information elicited from eyewitnesses increased 50 percent.
C)the false memory rate increased 50 percent.
D)the false memory rate increased slightly,but confidence increased dramatically.

Question 39

Whose eyewitness testimony is probably the most reliable?

A)Millie's report given immediately after a grocery store robbery.She was simply asked to tell the police what she saw.
B)Fred's report given in court about a bank robbery a month ago.He has been interviewed several times by the defense attorney before appearing in court.
C)Sue's report given immediately after observing an attempted rape.She was asked very specific questions by the police,who had identified a suspect immediately after the assault.
D)All of these would be equally reliable.

Question 40

Research on the memories of young children indicates that they

A)are better at remembering verbal details than visual details.
B)tend to fabricate stories about their own victimization even when asked open-ended questions.
C)are especially susceptible to misinformation.
D)do not react to misinformation.

Question 41

Which of the following has been suggested as a strategy for reducing misidentifications in police lineups?

A)Give eyewitnesses a "blank" lineup that contains no suspects and screen out those who make false identifications.
B)Minimize false identifications with instructions that acknowledge that the offender may not be in the lineup.
C)Include one suspect and several known innocent people in the lineup rather than a group of several suspects.
D)All of the above

Question 42

According to the text,what factor helps explain why in acquaintance rape trials,men more often than women judge the defendant not guilty?

A)similarity
B)height
C)status
D)attractiveness

Question 43

When Amato (1979)had Australian students read evidence concerning a left- or right-wing person accused of a politically motivated burglary,they judged him less guilty if

A)he claimed to have no religious preferences.
B)his political views were similar to their own.
C)he claimed he had been hired to commit the crime.
D)he proved he had not profited by the burglary.

Question 44

Which of the following factors is NOT likely to lead to a lighter sentence for the person convicted?

A)high status
B)baby-faced features
C)height
D)physical attractiveness

Question 45

Researchers have found that eyewitnesses' accuracy can improve when

A)interrogators delay the interview at least one week.
B)the witnesses scan a group of mug shots or a composite drawing before reviewing a lineup.
C)they are presented with a sequence of individual people,one by one,instead of being presented with a group of photos or a lineup.
D)the seriousness of the crime is highlighteD.

Question 46

In an experiment conducted with the help of BBC Television,Wiseman (1998)reported that viewers saw the defendant played by either an attractive or an unattractive actor.How did the viewers react?

A)More viewers "convicted" the attractive defendant.
B)More viewers "convicted" the unattractive defendant.
C)There was no difference in the conviction rates of the attractive and unattractive defendants.
D)Baby-faced defendants were more often found guilty.

Question 47

Nearly all the states in the U.S.now have _______ statutes that prohibit or limit testimony concerning a rape victim's prior sexual activity.

A)inadmissible rape testimony
B)rape protection
C)rape shield
D)no

Question 48

If convicted,_______ people strike people as more dangerous,especially if they are sexual offenders.

A)cute or baby-faced
B)attractive
C)unattractive
D)underage

Question 49

Amato (1979)found that when people play the role of juror,they are more sympathetic to a defendant who

A)shares their political views.
B)is of another race.
C)speaks a different language.
D)is of the other gender.

Question 50

When Efran (1974)gave students a description of a case of students cheating and showed them a photograph of either an attractive or unattractive person accused of the crime,he found that attractive defendants were

A)recommended for least punishment.
B)more likely to be judged as guilty.
C)more respected.
D)perceived as more dangerous.

Question 51

A study of more than 3,500 criminal cases and some 4,000 civil cases found that _______ the judge agreed with the jury's decision.

A)two out of three times
B)three out of four times
C)four out of five times
D)nine out of ten times

Question 52

Which of the following factors has been shown to influence either the likelihood of conviction or the severity of punishment?

A)poverty
B)attractiveness
C)similarity to the jurors
D)both attractiveness and similarity to the jurors

Question 53

Dunning and Perretta (2002)found that those eyewitnesses who made their identifications _______ were nearly 90 percent accurate.

A)after a long deliberation
B)confidently
C)in less than 10-12 seconds
D)and then changed them

Question 54

Research shows that when a judge rules evidence to be inadmissible and admonishes the jury to ignore it,

A)jurors are generally able to follow the judge's instructions.
B)jurors have a hard time ignoring the evidence and its influence on their deliberations.
C)jurors do so if the evidence damages the defendant's case but not if it hurts the prosecution's case.
D)the evidence typically becomes the focus of debate in jury deliberations.

Question 55

Who among the following is likely to receive the most severe sentence for drunk driving?

A)Kim,a good looking real estate agent
B)Tim,an unattractive auto mechanic with long hair
C)Ken,a clean-cut businessman
D)Carol,an attractive single mother

Question 56

All of the following are good procedures to follow when dealing with the lineup process EXCEPT

A)make the witness give a "yes" or "no" judgment in response to a sequence of suspects.
B)let the witness view suspects one at a time.
C)police questions should be spontaneous,not scripted.
D)don't let police say any confidence-inflating post-lineup comments.

Question 57

Someone accused of a crime is judged more sympathetically

A)by females than by males.
B)if he or she appears to have personality characteristics that are complementary to the one who judges.
C)if he or she appears similar to the one who judges.
D)if there was a bystander who watched and did not intervene.

Question 58

Which one of the following is an indicator that can suggest accuracy in lineup identification?

A)being an older eyewitness
B)taking a long time to make an ID
C)being very confident about an ID
D)making a very quick identification

Question 59

Studies have reported that Blacks are _____ as defendants or _____ as victims,or both.

A)undervalued;undervalued
B)overpunished;overvalued
C)undervalued;overvalued
D)overpunished;undervalued

Question 60

In researching over 1,700 defendants appearing in Texas misdemeanor cases,Downs and Lyons (1991)found that the judges _______ less attractive defendants.

A)set lower bails for
B)set greater fines for
C)spent less time reviewing the cases of
D)spent more time questioning

Question 61

Which is NOT true in relation to jurors in court?

A)Jurors are best persuaded when attorneys present evidence as a story of what happened.
B)Many people don't understand the judicial instructions they are to follow.
C)Jurors are reminded to avoid premature conclusions.
D)Premature opinions of jurors don't influence how they interpret information.

Question 62

Support for capital punishment in the United States has _______ since 1994.

A)fallen
B)increased slightly
C)remained stable
D)increased significantly

Question 63

Which is NOT a way to increase jurors' understanding in court?

A)The judge should explain clearly the basic concepts when instructing the jury rather than using legal terminology.
B)The judge should clarify statistical information,when it is used,so that jury members understand the implications of the information.
C)Give jurors access to transcripts rather than have them rely on their memories.
D)Give jurors a chance to excuse themselves when they don't understand things that are happening in court.

Question 64

Research suggests that jurors in the minority will be most persuasive when they

A)change their position.
B)are consistent and self-confident.
C)are aggressive in their attitudes.
D)are similar to the others.

Question 65

Survey researchers sometimes assist defense attorneys by using "scientific jury selection" to eliminate individuals likely to be unsympathetic.Results indicated that in the first nine important trials in which the defense relied on such methods,it

A)won all nine.
B)won two.
C)won seven.
D)lost all nine.

Question 66

Evidence from social science research clearly indicates that

A)death-qualified jurors are more sympathetic to defendants than non-death-qualified jurors.
B)the death penalty is not a significant deterrent to crime.
C)the death penalty undoubtedly is a significant deterrent to crime.
D)there is no difference in homicide rates with states that have the death penalty.

Question 67

Jurors exhibit a tendency to treat racial outgroups

A)more favorably.
B)without bias.
C)less favorably.
D)with a strong negative bias.

Question 68

Jurors have difficulty "erasing" the impact of inadmissible evidence

A)when it is a criminal trial as opposed to a civil trial.
B)when the inadmissible evidence is presented by the defense as opposed to the prosecution.
C)especially when the inadmissible evidence has an emotional impact.
D)when a witness,as opposed to a trial lawyer,blurts out the inadmissible evidence.

Question 69

What is meant by the "two-thirds-majority" scheme?

A)Two-thirds of all people asked refuse to serve on a jury.
B)Two out of three times judges agree with the jury's decision.
C)A two-thirds majority is a better rule than consensus for a jury to follow in reaching a verdict.
D)The jury verdict is usually the alternative favored by at least two-thirds of the jurors at the outset.

Question 70

Research suggests that jurors in the minority will be most persuasive when they are all of the following EXCEPT

A)consistent.
B)self-confident.
C)persistent.
D)well-educateD.

Question 71

You have just been appointed to serve as a new county judge.You are concerned about the effect inadmissible evidence may have on the jury in an upcoming trial of a case involving rape.You anticipate that the defense attorney will seek to introduce evidence regarding the victim's prior sexual history.To minimize the impact of such evidence on the jury,you should

A)say nothing about such inadmissible evidence to the jury.
B)remind the jury before the trial that the victim's previous sexual history is irrelevant.
C)only tell the jury that the evidence is inadmissible after the defense attempts to introduce it.
D)ask the defendant to refute any damaging evidence about her previous sexual history.

Question 72

To minimize the effects of inadmissible testimony,Myers suggests that judges are best advised to

A)wait until jurors have heard the testimony before ruling it inadmissible,so jurors specifically know what they are to disregard.
B)videotape the testimony and cut out the inadmissible parts.
C)meet with jurors during their deliberations after the trial to insure that inadmissible testimony is not influencing their judgments.
D)immediately follow the trial by seeking a verbal pledge from each juror to ignore inadmissible evidence.

Question 73

As a result of the judge's warning that the jury disregard evidence ruled inadmissible,the stricken evidence may have an even greater impact on the jury's decision than if it had not been ruled out.This is probably due to _______ in the jurors.

A)reactance
B)disinhibition
C)self-efficacy
D)self-monitoring

Question 74

Ellsworth and Mauro (1998)reported that gender seems to be linked with verdicts only in

A)racially charged cases.
B)rape and battered woman cases.
C)personal injury awards in suits against businesses.
D)murder cases.

Question 75

Which statement is true?

A)States with the death penalty have lower homicide rates.
B)States with the death penalty do not have lower homicide rates.
C)When states abolish the death penalty homicide rates increase.
D)Homicide rates have dropped when states initiate the death penalty.

Question 76

Research suggests that jury deliberations can be influenced by all of the following processes EXCEPT

A)group polarization.
B)minority influence.
C)deindividuation.
D)informational influence.

Question 77

Death-qualified jurors are

A)more likely to be women.
B)less likely to convict in criminal cases.
C)more likely to convict in criminal cases.
D)more concerned with due process of law than with crime control.

Question 78

In 1986,the U.S.Supreme Court in a split decision

A)ruled that death-qualified jurors are a biased sample.
B)overturned a lower court ruling that death-qualified jurors are a biased sample.
C)ruled that Georgia's five-member juries were as reliable and accurate as twelve-member juries.
D)overturned a lower court decision that six-member juries could decide cases involving the death penalty.

Question 79

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A)Most people will admit that pretrial publicity has influenced their ability to be impartial.
B)The effect of pretrial publicity on jury members can be removed by a judge's instructions to disregard such publicity.
C)A judge's orders to ignore inadmissible testimony can boomerang-adding to the impact of the testimony.
D)Getting jurors to publicly pledge their impartiality eliminates the effect of pretrial publicity.

Question 80

Irene Blair and her colleagues (2004)reported that over a two-decade period,Black males convicted of murdering a White defendant were doubly likely to be sentenced to death if

A)the murder was violent.
B)the jurors were inexperienced.
C)the jurors were older.
D)they had more stereotypically Afrocentric features.