Question 1

System variables that influence eyewitness identifications in criminal lineups are most analogous to ____ that influence participant behavior in social psychological experiments.

Accepted Answer

Demand characteristics refer to cues or cues that influence participants to respond in a certain way in a study, even if it is not an accurate representation of their behavior or beliefs. Similarly, system variables, such as lineup composition or instructions given to witnesses, can influence their identification of suspects in a lineup, regardless of their true guilt or innocence. Therefore, demand characteristics are the best analogy.

Question 2

Own-race bias refers to the observation that ____.

Accepted Answer

Own-race bias refers to the phenomenon that people are better at recognizing faces of their own race than faces of other races, and are more likely to make mistakes when identifying faces of other races. It does not necessarily refer to trust or beliefs about criminality, or the likelihood of victimization.

Question 3

The jury pool in the United States is known as a(n) ____.

Accepted Answer

The term used for the group of potential jurors is venire. This group is randomly selected from a pool of eligible citizens in the area in which the trial is taking place. Voir dire refers to the process of questioning potential jurors to determine if they are fit to serve on the jury. An implicit panel and a challenger board are not terminology used in the U.S. jury system.

Question 4

According to the text, when police use lineup procedures to obtain identifications of criminals from eyewitnesses, which is better, the match-to-suspect approach or the match-to-culprit approach?

Accepted Answer

The text states that the match-to-culprit approach is better because it is less likely to "lead" suspects. It also notes that the match-to-suspect approach can result in eyewitnesses feeling "burned" if they pick the wrong person, whereas the match-to-culprit approach minimizes this risk.

Question 5

Dana says she was terrified when she was assaulted and is not sure she can identify who did it, especially since her glasses were knocked off early during the assault. She views a lineup in which the "true" perpetrator is known to be present. Dana, however, cannot pick the individual out of the line-up, resulting in a(n) ____.

Accepted Answer

Dana's inability to identify the perpetrator in the lineup, despite the perpetrator being present, results in an incorrect rejection.

Question 6

In a target-absent lineup, it is impossible for an eyewitness to make an identification decision that qualifies as a(n) ____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In a target-absent lineup, it is impossible...

Question 7

When criminal psychologists distinguish between system variables and estimator variables as two sources of inaccuracy in eyewitness reports and identifications, they are distinguishing between variables ____.

Accepted Answer

System variables are those that the criminal justice system can control, such as lineup procedures, while estimator variables are beyond control, like lighting conditions during the crime.

Question 8

When instructions to individuals viewing the lineup include a warning that the perpetrator may not be in the lineup, there is a(n) ____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of When instructions to individuals viewing the lineup...

Question 9

Suppose that, during jury selection for a criminal trial, defense lawyer Wickens decides that she does not want a potential juror named Bob Strange on the jury. He seems unpredictable to her, but potentially likely to favor the prosecution. She therefore tells the judge that she would like to have Bob removed from the jury panel (without stating her reasoning). It would appear that Bob is being removed via the process of ____.

Accepted Answer

Bob is being removed via a peremptory challenge, which allows attorneys to remove potential jurors without stating a reason. The other options (A) venire refers to the group of potential jurors summoned for a trial, (B) voir dire refers to the process of questioning potential jurors to determine their suitability for the jury, and (C) challenge for cause refers to the removal of a potential juror due to a specific reason, such as a conflict of interest or bias.

Question 10

Rossi is suspected of committing a robbery and appears in a lineup in which the store clerk claims that he is the robber. As it turns out, Rossi simply looks remarkably like the person who committed the crime, but did not, himself, commit the crime. Rossi has been a victim of ____.

Accepted Answer

Rossi has been falsely identified as the robber, making it a case of false identification.

Question 11

Suppose that Danielle was an eyewitness to a store robbery. She gives the police a description of the criminal: "30-35 year-old male, brown hair, light eyes, about 5'10", with a missing finger on his left hand." A few weeks later, police track down a suspect. He fits Danielle's description, and additionally has a lazy eye and a huge tattoo on his neck. If police use the match-to-suspect approach in constructing a lineup for eyewitness identification, then the foils in the lineup ____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Suppose that Danielle was an eyewitness to...

Question 12

Research on estimator variables has found that _____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Research on estimator variables has found that...

Question 13

In general, jurors ____.

Accepted Answer

Jurors often respond to expert testimony about the unreliability of eyewitness accounts by becoming more skeptical of such testimony, even if they do not completely reject it.

Question 14

When it comes to eyewitness identifications in police lineups, sequential lineups are generally preferred to simultaneous lineups-especially when witnesses ____.

Accepted Answer

When witnesses do not know how many people are in the lineup, sequential lineups are preferred to avoid the witness feeling pressured to choose someone even if they are not completely sure. In simultaneous lineups, there is a higher likelihood of mistaken identifications or false positive identifications, which can lead to wrongful convictions.

Question 15

In the ____ lineup procedure, witnesses view each lineup member in turn, making a decision about whether that lineup member is the culprit before viewing the next member of the lineup.

Accepted Answer

This procedure is known as sequential lineup procedure, where witnesses view each lineup member in turn before making a decision about whether that lineup member is the culprit or not. This is in contrast to the simultaneous lineup procedure (A), where all lineup members are viewed at once. Signal detection (B) and decision-based (D) are not lineup procedures.

Question 16

Suppose that Danielle was an eyewitness to a store robbery. She gives the police a description of the criminal: "30-35 year-old male, brown hair, light eyes, about 5'10", with a missing finger on his left hand." A few weeks later, police track down a suspect. He fits Danielle's description, and additionally has a lazy eye and a huge tattoo on his neck. If police use the match-to-culprit approach in constructing a lineup for eyewitness identification, then the foils in the lineup ____.

Accepted Answer

The match-to-culprit approach requires that the foils in the lineup match the description given by the eyewitness. Since Danielle described the criminal as having brown hair and a missing finger, these features must be present in the foils. The tattoo, however, was not part of her original description, so it is not necessary for the foils to have it.

Question 17

What is an example of a system variable that might lead to inaccuracies in eyewitness identifications in lineups?

Accepted Answer

The number of people chosen to appear in the lineup alongside the suspect is a system variable because it is controlled by the criminal justice system and can influence the accuracy of eyewitness identifications.

Question 18

In general, which of the following best summarizes how convincing eyewitness testimony is to jurors?

Accepted Answer

Eyewitness testimony is often very convincing to jurors, even when there are reasons to question the reliability of the eyewitness, such as impaired vision.

Question 19

In a properly conducted lineup, wherein eyewitnesses are asked to identify criminals who they saw commit a crime, the foils in the lineup are people who ____.

Accepted Answer

The foils in a lineup should be people who are known to be innocent of the crime being investigated. This helps to prevent false identifications by the eyewitnesses. If all the foils were suspects or matched the physical description or the psychological profile of the suspect, it would make it easier for the eyewitnesses to identify an innocent person.

Question 20

Lineup members other than the suspect who are known to be innocent of the crime are called ____.

Accepted Answer

Lineup members who are known to be innocent of the crime serve as fillers, and their purpose is to prevent the suspect from standing out as the only one who matches the description. Foils are lineup members who resemble the suspect in some way, and false flags and validators are not typically used in lineup procedures.

Quiz 18: Applying Social Psychology to the Law