Observation and Memory Recall Flashcards
7 cards from real PPAER practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Observation and Memory Recall flashcards as text
An officer reads the following description: 'Male, approximately 40 years old, 6 feet tall, 200 lbs, bald, brown eyes, wearing a green jacket and carrying a black duffel bag.' How many physical descriptors (excluding clothing/items) are listed?
Answer: 5
Physical descriptors are: sex (male), age (~40), height (6 ft), weight (200 lbs), bald (hair), brown eyes — totaling 5 descriptors before clothing and items.
Which technique is recommended by cognitive interview protocols to improve witness memory retrieval?
Answer: Asking the witness to recall events in reverse chronological order
The cognitive interview uses reverse-order recall (describing events backward) to disrupt schema-based retrieval and surface overlooked details.
An officer is dispatched to an address described as 'the third house on the left, past the fire hydrant, before the stop sign.' The officer passes 2 houses before the hydrant and then counts 3 more on the left. Which house is the target?
Answer: The 3rd house after the hydrant
The description anchors counting from the fire hydrant; the target is the third house on the left AFTER that hydrant, regardless of houses before it.
A bystander witness to an assault says, 'I saw the whole thing — it lasted maybe 10 minutes.' The actual event lasted 90 seconds. This overestimation is BEST explained by:
Answer: Emotional arousal expands perceived time duration
Stressful or emotionally arousing events are consistently judged as lasting longer than they actually did, a well-documented phenomenon called time expansion under stress.
An officer is recalling the order in which four suspects fled a scene: first a tall man in red, then a woman in blue, then a short man in grey, then a teenager in white. Who fled SECOND?
Answer: Woman in blue
The sequence given places the woman in blue as the second individual to flee the scene.
Which of the following practices MOST undermines the integrity of eyewitness memory before a formal interview?
Answer: Allowing witnesses to discuss the event with each other
When witnesses discuss an event with each other before formal interviews, their memories can merge, with dominant accounts overwriting individual perceptions.
A police exam memory passage states: 'A blue Chevy sedan, license plate MKP-2291, was parked facing north outside 412 Elm Street at 9:47 AM.' What was the license plate number?
Answer: MKP-2291
The passage explicitly states the license plate as MKP-2291; careful attention to digit and letter sequence is essential in recall-based police exam questions.