CHAPTER 3
INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. From a psychological perspective, three fundamental questions characterize all
criminal investigations. Which of the following is NOT one of these fundamental
questions?
a) What are the important characteristics of any eyewitnesses?
b) What are the important behavioral features of the crime that may help identify and
successfully prosecute the perpetrator?
c) What inferences can be made about the characteristics of the offender that may
help identify him or her?
d) Are there any other crimes that are likely to have been committed by the same
offender?
2. Sketching the significant psychological and demographic features of a person or
persons is:
a) composite sketching
b) profiling
c) a psychological autopsy
d) crime prevention
3. The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS) was created after:
a) September 11, 2001
b) many plane hijackings began to occur
c) the midair explosion of TWA flight 800
d) D.B. Cooper’s hijacking of and escape from a Northwest Airlines flight
4. Airlines, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland
Security all make use of:
a) CAPPS
b) surveillance of people who buy one-way tickets
c) computerized composite sketching
d) profiling
5. Using CAPPS (the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System):
a) did flag two of the September 11 hijackers
b) did not flag any of the September 11 hijackers
c) avoids temporary detention of numerous innocent individuals
d) is so precise that other countries have now adopted it
6. To improve their ability to identify potential terrorists, profile researchers would
examine which of the following aspects of previous airline terrorists?
a) income
b) destination
c) cultural and social backgrounds
d) employment
7. A notable aspect of D.B. Cooper’s hijacking of a Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 is
that:
a) he was never found after parachuting out of the plane
b) the bomb he carried exploded without injury to other passengers
c) profiling led to his speedy apprehension
d) the hijacked flight made it safely into Mexican airspace before he parachuted
out of the plane
8. Due to the contagion effect, some hijackers after D.B. Cooper asked for parachutes,
but none actually:
a) survived the jump
b) attempted to jump
c) successfully escaped after jumping
d) were successful in obtaining money during the hijacking
9. Not long after the hijacking by D.B. Cooper, the FAA required searching or denying
boarding to passengers who fit a certain profile. This profile eventually was recognized as
inadequate and incomplete because:
a) it was repeatedly challenged as unconstitutional
b) cultural, social, and security forces are always in a state of flux
c) it was not helpful, even from the beginning of its use
d) it was constantly being revised
10. Psychiatrist David Hubbard’s skyjacking profile:
a) was dogmatic and offensive
b) identified hijackers as weak, longtime losers
c) was never established as valid by systematic empirical research
d) was based on valid research
11. Profiling is:
a) well accepted and widely used
b) used comfortably and frequently by most police psychologists
c) not a frequent investigative activity of police psychologists
d) not questioned by any police psychologists
12. The primary goal of criminal profiling is:
a) to identify the actual perpetrator of a crime
b) to identify demographic factors of victims
c) to predict subsequent crime
d) to narrow the field of possible suspects within a population
13. To a very large extent, the profiling process:
a) is dictated by the quality of the data collected on previous offenders who have
committed similar crimes
b) is extremely effective in narrowing the field of possible suspects to a single
individual
c) if done competently can identify a suspect, but not provide statistical probabilities
d) is best at predicting future crime, but fails in narrowing a field of possible
suspects to a reasonable number
14. The text refers to criminal profiling as:
a) a behavioral sketch of an individual who may or may not be a suspected offender
b) identifying and describing essential information about a suspected offender
c) developing a rough behavioral or psychological sketch of an offender based on
clues identified at the crime scene
d) weaker than psychological profiling
15. The text refers to psychological profiling as:
a) a behavioral sketch of an individual who may or may not be a suspected offender
b) identifying and describing essential information about a suspected offender
c) developing a rough behavioral or psychological sketch of an offender based on
clues identified at the crime scene
d) weaker than criminal profiling
16. The text refers to criminal investigative analysis and crime scene investigation as:
a) a behavioral sketch of an individual who may or may not be a suspected offender
b) identifying and describing essential information about a suspected offender
c) developing a rough behavioral or psychological sketch of an offender based on
clues identified at the crime scene
d) being weaker than criminal and psychological profiling
17. Psychological profiling has been in use:
a) only since World War II
b) only since serial homicide was first investigated
c) informally, for over 100 years
d) since it was first used by the FBI in 1971
18. Criminal profiling has gained popularity in law enforcement circles:
a) only since World War II
b) only since serial homicide was first investigated
c) for hundreds of years
d) since it was first used by the FBI in 1971
19. TV shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation depict criminal profiling:
a) accurately in terms of actual success rates
b) as more successful than it is in reality
c) as less sophisticated than it is in reality
d) as lower in terms of actual success rates
20. If the number of actual success stories in profiling is compared to the total number of
misses or failures, the ratio of hits to misses:
a) is extremely high
b) is about 50/50
c) might be close to chance
d) clearly validates the usefulness of profiling
21. Students who aspire to become employed as full-time professional criminal profilers
should:
a) expect to readily find employment after appropriate training
b) expect to find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain full-time
employment in this area
c) specialize early on in their training, and network with the many agencies who
employ full-time criminal profilers
d) look for universities that provide education in the area
22. An area that drastically needs attention from forensic psychologists is:
a) the applied aspect of criminal profiling
b) criminal profiling
c) profiling research
d) educating the public regarding criminal profiling
23. Criminal profiling ________ restricted to serial murder and serial sexual assaults.
a) is
b) should be
c) in the future will be
d) is not and should not be
24. Computer based profiling:
a) may show considerable promise in advancing accuracy
b) could never be reliable
c) has been shown to be reliable and valid
d) reduces the error rate in profiling
25. Risk factors that change over time and situation are called ______ risk factors.
a) static
b) dynamic
c) acute
d) stable
26. All of the following could be dynamic risk factors except:
a) attitudes
b) values
c) ethnic background
d) beliefs
27. Stable dynamic factors:
a) do not change
b) change rapidly
c) include anger and attitudes about women
d) change slowly
28. Acute dynamic factors:
a) change rapidly
b) do not change
c) change slowly
d) include anger and attitudes toward women
29. Static factors include all of the following except:
a) gender
b) attitudes
c) biological parents
d) birth order
30. Which of the following factors have been shown to be better predictors of the
tendency of sex offenders to reoffend?
a) static
b) stable dynamic
c) acute dynamic
d) past abuse
31. The MO (modus operandi) that an offender uses to commit a crime successfully can
be considered a(n) _________ factor.
a) static dynamic
b) acute dynamic
c) stable dynamic
d) macro dynamic
32. An offender’s signature:
a) is thought to be related to the unique cognitive processes of the offender
b) is relatively inconsistent in its characteristics
c) has less stability than the MO
d) is a static dynamic factor
33. A symbolic communication by the offender that goes beyond what is necessary to
commit the crime is known as a:
a) modus operandi
b) signature
c) static dynamic factor
d) criminal communicator
34. A crime scene that suggests planning and premeditation is called a(n) __________
crime scene.
a) organized
b) disorganized
c) mixed
d) regulated
35. A crime scene showing that the offender committed the crime without premeditation
or planning is called a(n) __________ crime scene.
a) organized
b) disorganized
c) mixed
d) unregulated
36. A crime scene showing that the crime began as carefully planned but deteriorated into
a chaotic situation is called a(n) ___________ crime scene.
a) organized
b) disorganized
c) mixed
d) multi-regulated
37. An offender who kills a victim and then places the body in bed with the head on the
pillow, or in a similar natural-looking state is engaged in:
a) ritual
b) trophy taking
c) staging
d) undoing
38. An offender who kills a victim and takes something away from the scene is engaged
in:
a) ritual
b) trophy taking
c) staging
d) undoing
39. Intentional alteration of a crime scene prior to the arrival of the police is:
a) ritual
b) trophy taking
c) staging
d) undoing
40. _________ often occurs following an autoerotic asphyxiation.
a) Ritual
b) Trophy taking
c) Staging
d) Undoing
41. Postmortem psychological analysis is called a(n):
a) victimology
b) dead mind reading
c) psychological autopsy
d) characteristic mapping
42. Deciding whether a death was natural, accidental, a suicide, a homicide, or
undetermined is __________.
a) the modus operandi
b) a psychological autopsy
c) determining the manner of death
d) profiling
43. The vast majority of psychological autopsies have been done in:
a) the United States
b) Europe
c) Australia
d) Canada
44. Psychological autopsies have:
a) been found to be categorically conclusive
b) not been demonstrated to be highly reliable and valid
c) not yet been used by the U.S. Military
d) been demonstrated to be highly reliable and valid
45. Poythress et al. (1993) recommended forensic psychologists conducting
psychological autopsies not do all of the following, except:
a) not use these procedures in nondeath situations
b) not make conclusions about the precise mental state or actions of the deceased
c) not state an opinion
d) not mislead
46. Geographical ________ refers to the analysis of locations associated with the spatial
movements of a single serial offender.
a) analysis
b) profiling
c) mapping
d) topography
47. Geographical _______ is concerned with analyzing the spatial patterns of crimes
committed by numerous offenders over a period of time.
a) analysis
b) profiling
c) mapping
d) topography
48. The primary goal of the Criminal Geographic Targeting (CGT) computer program is
to:
a) take into account known movement patterns of an offender
b) determine possible comfort zones of an offender
c) hypothesize “hunting patterns” for victims by an offender
d) pinpoint the location of an offender’s residence and/or base of operations
49. Serial offenders who commit their crime near their place of residence or
neighborhood can be classified as:
a) hunters
b) poachers
c) trollers
d) trappers
50. Serial offenders who usually travel some distance from their residence in serach of
victims can be classified as:
a) hunters
b) poachers
c) trollers
d) trappers
51. Serial offenders who randomly encounter their victims during the course of some
activity, rather than by searching for them can be classified as:
a) hunters
b) poachers
c) trollers
d) trappers
52. Serial offenders who create situations to draw victims in can be classified as:
a) hunters
b) poachers
c) trollers
d) trappers
53. Many professional profilers tend to rely on:
a) unsubstantiated assumptions about personality theory
b) person by situation interactions in generating behavior
c) hard science instead of “gut feelings”
d) the power of the situation to influence behavior
54. Ultimately profiling is based on:
a) reliable and valid scientific evidence
b) the assumption that behavior is consistent across time and place
c) the interaction between offender and victim
d) the assumption that behavior is inconsistent across time and place
55. _________ behaviors are consistent across both time and place.
a) No
b) Most
c) Some
d) All
56. The search for general principles, relationships, and patterns by examining and
combining data from many individuals is _________ research.
a) situational
b) temporal
c) nomothetic
d) idiographic
57. The intensive study of one individual is ________ research.
a) situational
b) temporal
c) nomothetic
d) idiographic
58. Research has continually revealed that __________ research is far more accurate.
a) situational
b) temporal
c) nomothetic
d) idiographic
59. The fact that police investigators sometimes select those aspects of a profile that they
perceive of as fitting a suspect, while ignoring other aspects that do not seem to fit is an
example of ____________.
a) the need for profiling
b) a confirmation bias
c) person by situation interaction
d) a suspect bias effect
60. The polygraph:
a) detects lies or deception
b) has been in use for about 25 years now
c) accurately measures and records physiological responses
d) is admissible in court
61. For the most part, the major use of polygraph examination is by:
a) law enforcement agencies
b) defense lawyers
c) pre-employment screening by private companies
d) pre-employment screening by government agencies
62. Those employed as polygraphers:
a) may not have had training in psychology and research
b) typically hold doctoral level degrees
c) are licensed
d) are always graduates of accredited polygraphy schools
63. The most commonly used procedure for lie detection in criminal investigations is the:
a) control question technique (CQT)
b) relevant/irrelevant question technique (RI)
c) computerized polygraph system (CPS)
d) countermeasure detection technique (CDT)
64. Detecting countermeasures may be:
a) done relatively easily whether they are mental or physical
b) relatively easy if they are mental
c) done only if they are physical
d) relatively easy if they are physical
65. Of the following crimes, which would many professional polygraphers believe might
be easiest to detect?
a) theft
b) burglary
c) vandalism
d) assault
66. Hypnosis is usually established by:
a) an induction procedure
b) having the person stand
c) having the person avoid focusing on any one thing
d) using relaxation medication
67. Which of the following is NOT an important factor in inducing hypnosis?
a) the subject’s motivation and desire to cooperate
b) subject’s losing awareness of who and where he or she is
c) subject’s level of trust in the hypnotist
d) subject’s preconceived ideas about hypnosis
68. The one feature of hypnosis that is most troubling to forensic investigators and
researchers is the:
a) induction procedure
b) ethics of using hypnosis
c) induced confidence in memories
d) fact that it is an altered state
69. Which of the following theoretical perspectives contends that hypnosis is not a
special state of consciousness?
a)
b)
c)
d)
hypnotic trance
hypermnesia
repression
cognitive-behavioral
70. A police officer who is convinced of the powers of hypnosis may:
a) inadvertently suggest events, details or behaviors that were not actually details of
the crime
b) fail to take into account that hypnosis is a special state of consciousness.
c) be the single most important person to interrogate a suspect
d) not be a good candidate to effectively learn induction procedures
71. Martin Orne became a well known authority on hypnosis as a result of his skillful
examination of ____________.
a) Jeffrey Dahmer
b) Kenneth Bianchi (The Hillside Strangler)
c) David Berkowitz (Son of Sam)
d) Richard Speck
72. When forensic hypnosis is used as a method to recall events that may be hours or
years old, the fundamental assumption is that human memory:
a) functions like a videotape
b) cannot be altered by suggestion
c) cannot be manipulated
d) does not make up information
73. Research reveals that the accuracy of facial recognition greatly depends on:
a) motivation to recall the face
b) the type of face being recalled
c) the face not being extremely attractive or unattractive
d) the face being average
74. When a person who has been seen in one situation is confused with the face of an
offender in another situation, it is called:
a) source confusion
b) the limits of facial recall effect
c) unconscious transference
d) unconscious malleability
75. According to the own-race bias:
a) people may unconsciously be biased toward their own race, and thus be less
motivated to identify the face of an offender of their own racial/ethnic group
b) people make the most errors in identifying people from their own ethnic/racial
group, because their familiarity with their own group makes them less likely to
pay attention to specific facial features
c) eyewitnesses can provide the most accurate facial identifications when they are
questioned by an investigator of their own racial/ethnic group
d) people are much better at discriminating between faces of their own racial/ethnic
group than faces of other races or groups of people
76. The differential experience hypothesis explains the own race bias as a result of:
a) the greater familiarity individuals have with members of their own race
b) frequent casual exposure to those of other races
c) outdated racial biases
d) the fact that television has resulted in greater familiarity with members of other
races
77. The functional size of a lineup is:
a) greater the more individuals are in the lineup
b) limited to the number of participants who resemble the suspect
c) greater if a small number of individuals are in the lineup
d) the actual number of participants in the lineup
78. The nominal size of a lineup is:
a) the minimum number of participants legally allowed
b) limited to the number of participants who resemble the suspect
c) greater if a small number of individuals are in the lineup
d) the actual number of participants in the lineup
79. When a witness has initially identified a face, even an incorrect one, he or she will be
more likely to choose that face again. This is called:
a) a commitment bias
b) an identification bias
c) a confidence bias
d) an overconfidence bias
80. A lineup in which police present a single suspect to the eyewitness is:
a) illegal
b) a show-up
c) high in nominal size
d) legal as long as the eyewitness is confident
81. The American Psychology-Law Society Lineups White Paper:
a) is a training manual
b) is a document that outlines the legal rights of eyewitnesses
c) was published in an effort to promote ways to improve lineup procedures
d) a set of legal standards that must be followed to avoid dismissal of an eyewitness
identification by the courts
82. Before viewing a lineup it is recommended that a witness be told that:
a) the suspect is in the lineup
b) their identification of the suspect is critical
c) that the person conducting the lineup knows which one is the actual suspect
d) that the suspect may not be in the lineup