BAPSY Intersection of Psychology and Legal System 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Drug courts are an example of which legal concept that uses psychological principles to promote rehabilitation over punishment?
- Restorative justice
- Problem-solving courts (Correct answer)
- Diversion only programs
- Retributive justice
Correct answer: Problem-solving courts
Problem-solving courts like drug courts apply behavioral and psychological science to address the root causes of criminal behavior and reduce recidivism.
Question 2: Which concept from social psychology best explains why people on a jury may make harsher judgments about a defendant who is physically unattractive?
- In-group bias
- Physical attractiveness stereotype (Correct answer)
- Just world hypothesis
- Implicit egotism
Correct answer: Physical attractiveness stereotype
The physical attractiveness stereotype (halo effect) leads people to attribute more negative traits to unattractive individuals, influencing legal judgments.
Question 3: A psychologist conducting a civil commitment evaluation must determine that the person poses:
- Any risk of harm to others
- A serious and imminent danger to self or others due to mental illness (Correct answer)
- A history of prior hospitalization
- Non-compliance with outpatient treatment
Correct answer: A serious and imminent danger to self or others due to mental illness
Civil commitment requires that mental illness causes a person to be a danger to themselves or others or unable to care for themselves, meeting a legally defined threshold.
Question 4: Which bias occurs when a forensic evaluator's findings are unconsciously shaped by which side retained them for the evaluation?
- Confirmation bias
- Allegiance effect (adversarial bias) (Correct answer)
- Anchoring bias
- Hindsight bias
Correct answer: Allegiance effect (adversarial bias)
The allegiance effect or adversarial bias refers to evaluators producing findings that favor the party that hired them, even unconsciously.
Question 5: In a mock jury study, participants who deliberated to a unanimous verdict were more likely to demonstrate which effect compared to non-deliberating individuals?
- Conformity leading to leniency bias
- Leniency bias shifting toward conviction
- Group polarization of pre-deliberation views (Correct answer)
- Social loafing reducing verdict harshness
Correct answer: Group polarization of pre-deliberation views
Group polarization in jury deliberation tends to push the group's final verdict in the direction of the members' dominant pre-deliberation inclinations.
Question 6: Which legal concept allows for the civil detention of individuals convicted of sexually violent offenses after they complete their criminal sentence?
- Mandatory supervision
- Sexually violent predator laws (Correct answer)
- Extended probation statutes
- Habitual offender statutes
Correct answer: Sexually violent predator laws
Sexually violent predator (SVP) laws permit civil commitment of individuals deemed likely to reoffend after release from prison based on mental disorder.
Question 7: Which approach to police interviewing, developed in the UK, focuses on gathering accurate information rather than obtaining a confession?
- Reid Technique
- Cognitive interview
- PEACE model (Correct answer)
- Motivational interviewing
Correct answer: PEACE model
The PEACE model (Preparation, Engage, Account, Closure, Evaluate) is a non-coercive investigative interviewing framework designed to gather reliable information.
BAPSY Intersection of Psychology and Legal System 5
Drug courts are an example of which legal concept that uses psychological principles to promote rehabilitation over punishment?