Question 1

When the eyewitness is a child, it is likely that the accuracy of information they can provide is _____ that provided by an adult.

Accepted Answer

Research consistently suggests that children's memory and ability to accurately recall events is less developed than that of adults. Children are more susceptible to leading questions and suggestibility, and their memories can be more easily manipulated or distorted. Therefore, the accuracy of information provided by a child eyewitness is usually less than that provided by an adult.

Question 2

Alternative suspects in the lineup or photo spread are called:

Accepted Answer

Alternative suspects in a lineup or photo spread are called fillers, as their purpose is to create a line-up of potential suspects for the witness or victim to choose from. Accomplices and co-defendants refer to individuals who may have been involved in the crime with the suspect, and bystanders are unrelated individuals who happened to be present at the scene.

Question 3

When doing research, social scientists often look at many factors. Factors that are outside the control of the legal system are referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Estimator variables are factors that are outside the control of the legal system and can affect the outcome of research or studies in social sciences.

Question 4

Research is an important part of understanding how eyewitness accounts are derived. As such, a range of factors are often considered. Those factors that are within the control of the justice system are:

Accepted Answer

System variables are those factors that can be controlled by the justice system, such as the lineup procedure, the way questions are asked during interviews, and the conditions under which the eyewitness viewed the event. Dependent and independent variables relate to the research design, and estimator variables are factors that cannot be controlled by the justice system, such as the characteristics of the eyewitness or the level of stress during the event.

Question 5

The process of having an eyewitness looking at one person or photograph at a time is referred to as _____ lineups.

Accepted Answer

Sequential lineups refer to the process of having an eyewitness look at one person or photograph at a time, while simultaneous lineups involve presenting all options at once. Coinciding and consequential do not accurately describe the process of eyewitness identification lineups.

Question 6

The reassignment of a face that is familiar from another context to the scene of a crime is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

The process described refers to unconscious transference, which occurs when a witness misidentifies a person because they inadvertently transfer a familiar face from one context to another.

Question 7

According to a study completed by Morgan and his colleagues (2004), stress appears to have an effect on eyewitness identification. Based on the results found, the rate of correct identification was _____ in low-stress conditions.

Accepted Answer

The study found that the rate of correct identification was higher in low-stress conditions, indicating that stress has a negative impact on eyewitness identification.

Question 8

When presented with a lineup, Alexis was able to identify the perpetrator of a robbery she had witnessed. She was not sure of her identification at first, but when the investigator mentioned that another witness had also chosen the same suspect, her confidence that she remembered the perpetrator well grew close to 100%. This is an illustration of:

Accepted Answer

This is an example of the post-identification feedback effect, where confirmation from others can increase confidence in a witness's identification, even if it was not initially strong. The other options do not fit the scenario described. Scripts refer to pre-existing mental frameworks for certain situations, while unconscious transference refers to mistakenly identifying a familiar person as the perpetrator. Bias-reducing instructions are given to prevent errors in identification but are not relevant to this example.

Question 9

According to the text, what we generally see and remember is impacted by what we expect to see. This tendency to maintain widely held beliefs about a sequence of expected behaviors is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

The tendency to maintain widely held beliefs about a sequence of expected behaviors is referred to as scripts.

Question 10

Bias-reducing instructions are used to assist eyewitnesses to be accurate in their identification of a suspect. An example of such instructions, as noted in the text, is telling the eyewitness that:

Accepted Answer

Bias-reducing instructions should be neutral and not suggest to the eyewitness that the suspect is definitely in the lineup or photo spread. Option A acknowledges the possibility that the true criminal might not be in the lineup or photo spread, which can reduce the pressure on the eyewitness to make a positive identification even if none of the choices are a good match.

Question 11

Retrieval inhibition occurs when an individual:

Accepted Answer

Retrieval inhibition refers to the process where recalling certain information suppresses the recall of other related information, making it less accessible.

Question 12

As described in the text, techniques for refreshing witness memories include:

Accepted Answer

The text states that techniques for refreshing witness memories include hypnosis and cognitive interview. The other options listed in B, C, and D are not mentioned in the text as techniques for refreshing witness memories.

Question 13

The benefit of a cognitive interview is that:

Accepted Answer

The benefit of a cognitive interview is that it mentally reinstates the context surrounding the crime. This helps the eyewitness to remember more details and provide a more accurate account of what happened. The other options are not benefits of a cognitive interview, in fact, they may lead to inaccurate or false memories.

Question 14

Cognitive dissonance may best be described as:

Accepted Answer

Cognitive dissonance refers to the mental discomfort or psychological stress someone experiences when they hold two or more conflicting beliefs or values at the same time. A is the only choice that accurately describes this concept. B and C are not necessarily related to cognitive dissonance, and D is incorrect as cognitive dissonance does not arise from being certain of being right.

Quiz 7: Section 2: Eyewitness Identification and Testimony