part one
There is an ongoing debate in the field of psychology regarding the validity of children as witnesses. Issues surrounding suggestive questioning and accurate memory recall are just a few of the concerns related to using children as witnesses. According to psychologists, “eyewitness accuracy” is also affected by system variables.
The term “system variable” refers to those factors that are under the control of the criminal justice system. According to the course textbook, the term “estimator variable” refers to the factors that are beyond the control of the justice system. To test witnesses deception to the crime reported is an important step in justifying any crime. Polygraph (or as some refer to it—the “lie detector”) has been used for many years to detect deception. According to the course textbook, the polygraph measures physiological arousal in combination with a specific questioning strategy.
Conduct research on children as witnesses, eyewitness accuracy, and polygraph tests. Based on your understanding, address the following:
- Describe the effects of suggestive questioning.
- Break down several issues surrounding the debate regarding children as witnesses. Describe the ways in which you feel children should or should not be considered credible witnesses. Support your response with examples.
- Describe questioning techniques that are deemed effective when speaking to children as witnesses.
- Compare the term “system variable” with “estimator variable.” Identify the factors that differentiate these two terms.
- Provide an example each of an estimator variable and a system variable, and describe how the respective variables relate to the legal process.
- Explain some of the cues for deceptions that psychologists look for and describe how they assess these cues.
- Analyze and explain whether stereotypes or stereotype beliefs influence perception in assessment.
- List and describe some major concerns regarding the validity of a polygraph and also explain some of the benefits of using a polygraph as part of a legal investigation.
- Describe several ways the polygraph has been advanced as a technique throughout the past decade. Use your textbook, lectures, and external resources (including the South University Online Library or the Internet) to support your response.
- Explain the two ways in which the polygraph record results are used in court.
Part two
For this week, you will review two case studies. Each study has some particular issues regarding ethics in psychology. For each case review the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct and explain which specific ethical standards may be violated in the cases.
Case One:
Jackie made an appointment to see Dr. Roberts, a local psychologist. Over the past 6 months Jackie was having problems sleeping, seemed to get angry at both his family and co-workers with little provocation, and had lost weight. After several tests his physician had ruled out any potential medical issues and recommended that Jackie make an appointment with a psychologist.
At his appointment Jackie completed several forms including information regarding any use of medications, illegal drug use/alcohol consumption, sexual preference, and religion. He also completed some questionnaires regarding his mood state. Dr. Roberts reviewed the information and noticed that Jackie had described his sexual orientation as gay. Upon reading this Dr. Roberts had told Jackie that she will be unable to treat Jackie due to his sexuality. She explained that being gay presents problems that compound any psychological problems that he may have. Dr. Roberts then provided a resource for psychological services that may be a better fit for his type of person.
Case Two:
John recently graduated with his doctorate in psychology and was about to begin his internship hours required for his licensure. He reviewed several potential sites and thought the best one was with Dr. Roberts. According to the information presented on her web site, Dr. Roberts has been a licensed psychologist for over 10 years with specializations in child and adolescent psychology. Her web site was very inviting and listed several advertisements including one to an in-patient treatment center. There were several testimonials from former patients (names not included) regarding how Dr. Roberts was so helpful with their conditions. One of the things that caught John’s attention was Dr. Robert’s information on the use of hypnotism to examine repressed memories in order to get to the truth of a person’s problems. John was curious about digging a bit deeper regarding the information provided on the web source especially in regards to ethical issues.
0 comments