Forensic Psychology Flashcards
7 cards from real ASPPB practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Forensic Psychology flashcards as text
A civil commitment requires that an individual be found to be:
Answer: Mentally ill and a danger to self or others, or gravely disabled
Civil commitment standards across U.S. jurisdictions require mental illness combined with dangerousness to self/others or grave disability.
The Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology (2013) were developed by which organization?
Answer: American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS) and APA
The Specialty Guidelines were jointly developed by Division 41 (AP-LS) and the APA to guide ethical forensic practice.
Which Supreme Court case established that criminal defendants have a constitutional right to a competency hearing when there is a bona fide doubt about competency?
Answer: Pate v. Robinson
Pate v. Robinson (1966) held that the trial court violated due process by failing to hold a competency hearing despite clear doubt.
A forensic psychologist is asked to evaluate a capital murder defendant's eligibility under Atkins v. Virginia. The evaluation must focus on:
Answer: Intellectual disability with onset before age 18
Atkins held that executing individuals with intellectual disability (formerly 'mental retardation') constitutes cruel and unusual punishment; onset before 18 is a required criterion.
Which approach to violence risk assessment integrates structured clinical judgment with empirically derived risk factors to guide final conclusions?
Answer: Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ)
SPJ tools like the HCR-20 provide empirically grounded risk factors but allow the evaluator to weight and integrate them clinically.
The 'ultimate issue' opinion in a forensic evaluation refers to:
Answer: A direct opinion on the legal question before the court
The ultimate issue is the legal conclusion (e.g., sane/insane, competent/incompetent) that is properly decided by the judge or jury.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), forensic evaluations ordered by a court are:
Answer: Generally exempt from standard HIPAA privacy protections
Court-ordered evaluations and disclosures required by law fall under HIPAA exceptions that do not require patient authorization.