Assignment 5: Forensic Psychology
1. What percentage of cases will actually plead insanity?
a) 11%
b) 25%
c) 1%
d) 15%
2. What famous U.S. murder case hired a trial consultant?
a) Mad Bomber
b) O.J. Simpson
c) J. Brussel
d) M. Reid
3. ERPs are now being used to help detect lies, but what does it stand for?
a) Event Related Potential
b) Enterprise Resource Program
c) Effective Reasoning Potential
d) Effective Refractory Period
4. What is the PEACE model?
a) An attempt to make world peace
b) An interrogation method
c) A personality factor
d) An episode of Criminal Minds
5. In the U.S. approximately how many people go to prison each year for crimes they didn't
commit based on eyewitness testimony?
a) 77,000
b) 620
c) 8300
d) 4500
Fill in the Blanks (1 pt/blank)
6. Police officers go through an application process that tests to see if they are able to deal
with the __________ of the job, how they'd __________ to situations, and how they could
__________ with victims.
7. Criminal profilers assume that personality traits are __________ after a person's late teen
years, and __________ across activities.
8. Profiling is based on a simple premise: your __________ directs your _________, and your
thinking is based on personality traits, ________, __________, your peers and ________.
Short Answer
9. What 5 things are criminal profiles used for?
10. Provide an example, not mentioned in the lesson, for 5 of the 6 factors of analysis (crime
type, motive/intent, victimology, offender risk, location factors, time factors). You can give a
specific example, or expand on one of the examples given. I just don't want to see the
definition of the factors copied and pasted here!
Extra Credit 5
Part A - worth 25 points. Imagine you are a criminal profiler who has just been called in to
help with a case. The following is the description of the crime scene. Using the factors of
analysis and a bit of common sense, pick out the details you think are important and make a
profile. Some of the details are ambiguous, some details are left out - it's up to you to make a
hypothesis and back it up with a few facts. Can be essay form or it can be written in point
form.
A 6 year old female, Anastasia, was walking home from her friend's house at 4pm, when she
disappeared. The walk was about 1.5km through an urban neighborhood, and the weather
was overcast. There were no witnesses to the kidnapping, but the child's backpack was found
on the sidewalk with a note attached to it. The note was printed on regular 8.5x11 inch paper,
and in black ink read:
"I have Anastasia. Gather $1,000,000 by tomorrow @ 6pm, or she dies. Drop-off instructions
will be given then."
There are no fingerprints or DNA on the envelope or paper. When questioned, the parents do
not know who could've done this. When probed further the father says that his estranged
brother used to ask him often for money, but hasn't heard from him in over 8 years. The lead
investigator tells you that there was one other recent kidnapping of a young girl from this
neighborhood, but that there was no ransom note, and her body was discovered 20km away
from Anastasia's house.
Part B - 5 points. Read the following mystery and see if you can solve the puzzle. And again, I
can't take full credit for the idea of this story (but I can't tell you where it's from!).
Alexia and Kyrie were playing Quidditch in the woods one day, running around with brooms
between their legs passing a scarlet tennis ball to each other when they heard a loud shout
from Kyrie's next door neighbor, Mrs. Bee. They looked at each other, dropped everything and
ran towards her home. They noticed her standing by her reading shed so they went over to
her. She'd had this shed built a few years ago so that she could escape the noise of the
telephone, radio, TV and just read a book in quiet comfort.
"What happened Mrs. Bee?" Kyrie asked.
"I was in my shed for all of 30 seconds, when I realized I left my oven on in my kitchen. So I
walked back to the house to turn if off and when I came back my piggy bank where I keep my
special silver dollars was broken and everything from it missing!"
Alexia and Kyrie peeked in the door and saw all the scuff marks that had been made in the
dust on the floor, and the glass fragments on the table. Other than that though, it was hard to
tell that any robbery had occurred. None of the furniture had been moved as it was all bolted
to the floor. This was not the first time Mrs. Bee had been robbed and the last time she
replaced the furniture in the shed she had it bolted so that it couldn't be taken again.
"I normally keep the piggy bank right up here," Mrs. Bee said as she stretched up tall to point
at the top shelf of a bookcase.
Looking at the dust on the floor Alexia pointed out a pattern by the chair. "It looks like
someone was kneeling here by the chair." She knelt down in the same spot as the prints and
looked around. A glint of silver caught her eye. She could see what looked to be one of the
missing silver dollars. She wriggled her arm in between the couch and the wall, and just as
she thought it would get stuck, her fingertips touched the coin and she pulled it back out to
hand over to Mrs. Bee.
"Nice work Alexia!" Kyrie said. "And look at the tread on this shoeprint. This is the brand new
Converse 2010 model! I bet we could ask the owner of the shoe store who has recently
purchased these new shoes." Alexia nodded her agreement and the two set off to the shoe
store, with a promise to Mrs. Bee that they would find out who took her silver dollars.
When they got to the store they asked Mr. Kay if he remembered who he had sold the shoes
to.
"Of course I remember! We only got those shoes in 3 days ago, and already I've sold 3 pairs!!
Let's see. I sold the first pair to Edward Ryan. I think he goes to your school, perhaps you
know him?" Alexia nodded. Edward was one of the star basketball players on the school
team. He was tall and lanky, and his limbs tended to flop all over. He had earned the
nickname "Beanpole."
"Then the second pair I sold to Austin Bobby." Kyrie hummed under her breath. Both girls had
met Austin before. He was known as the town bully. He had been picked on as a kid for being
small, and when he never grew taller he started bullying kids that were younger than him.
"And then I just sold a pair this morning to Craig Turtle." The girls looked at each other. Craig
was one of the newest stars on the football team at school. He'd always been athletic, tall and
naturally good at football. But over the summer he'd spent countless hours at the gym and
had gained almost 40lbs of muscle! They called him the "Immovable Force" because he was
so solid and beefed up no player could get by him.
"Thanks for your help Mr. Kay!" The girls left the store and headed back to Mrs. Bee's home.
When she answered the door she looked sad to see no silver dollars in their hands, but
instantly cheered up when Alexia and Kyrie told her where she was most likely to find her
coins.
Was it Edward, Austin or Craig that most likely took Mrs. Bee's silver dollars?