Criminal Psychology | OCR A-Level Psychology (H567)

Criminal Psychology

305 questions
28 subtopics
Component 03: Applied psychology
Component 03

Criminal Psychology is examined on component 03 of OCR Psychology, Applied psychology.

It is one of the four applied options, of which a student studies two. 305 recall questions across 28 subtopics.

Sample questions from Criminal Psychology

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Physiological explanations of criminal behaviour

Explain how reduced prefrontal functioning could make violent offending more likely.

Show the answer
The prefrontal cortex controls planning, impulse control and the regulation of emotion, so when it is underactive anger is more likely to be acted on without thought of consequences.
Raine et al. (1997) brain abnormalities in murderers: further findings, conclusions and evaluation

Give one methodological weakness of the sample.

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All the offenders had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and most had brain injury or a mental disorder, so they cannot be taken as typical of violent offenders in general.
Hall and Player (2008) emotional context and fingerprint analysis: results, conclusions and evaluation

What proportion of each group said they had been affected by the context?

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About 52% of those in the high emotional context group said they were affected, compared with about 6% in the low emotional context group.
Memon and Higham (1999) review of the cognitive interview: aims and components

Why is 'report everything' a useful instruction?

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Details the witness thinks are trivial may cue other memories, and the witness cannot know which details will prove important to the investigation.
Persuading juries: speech style, expert witnesses, order of evidence and publicity

Outline the story model of juror decision making.

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Jurors do not weigh each item of evidence separately but construct a narrative that best accounts for what they have heard, then choose the verdict that fits that story.
Strategies to influence jury decision making

A defence barrister's client speaks with a strong low-prestige regional accent. What does research suggest the barrister should do?

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Limit the amount the client speaks in front of the jury where possible, and use evidence and framing that build the client's perceived status and credibility to offset the accent stereotype.
Wilson and Kelling (1982) broken windows: the argument, recommendations and evaluation

Give one strength of the broken windows article.

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It offered a clear, testable mechanism linking the everyday environment to crime and had enormous influence on policing policy in Britain and the United States.
Effects of imprisonment and reform as responses to offending

Name three non-custodial responses to offending.

Show the answer
A community order with unpaid work, a fine, and a curfew enforced by electronic tagging.

The 28 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Physiological explanations of criminal behaviour	Recall questions on physiological and non-physiological explanations, the prefrontal cortex and amygdala in violent offending, serotonin and testosterone, Lombroso's atavistic form, and evidence that a tendency to offend is inherited.	9
Genetic factors and non-physiological explanations of criminal behaviour	Recall questions on the MAOA gene and XYY chromosome claims, social learning theory, differential association, labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy, hostile attribution bias, Kohlberg and moral reasoning in offenders, and interactionist accounts of criminal behaviour.	9
Raine et al. (1997) brain abnormalities in murderers: background, procedure and brain findings	Recall questions on the aim of Raine et al.'s 1997 brain imaging study of murderers, the experimental and control groups, medication screening, PET scanning and the continuous performance task, the quasi-experimental design, and reduced glucose metabolism and asymmetries in the murderers.	9
Raine et al. (1997) brain abnormalities in murderers: further findings, conclusions and evaluation	Recall questions on Raine et al.'s findings on task performance and the corpus callosum, their conclusion and what it does not show, and the evaluation of method, sample, causation, social sensitivity and what makes a criminal.	9
Biological strategies for preventing criminal behaviour	Recall questions on biological strategies for preventing crime, including dietary supplement trials, serotonin-raising drugs and anti-androgen treatment, ethical and practical objections, applying strategies to scenarios, screening, neurosurgery, and judging whether a strategy works.	15
Motivating factors and bias in collecting and processing forensic evidence	Recall questions on confirmation, contextual and role bias in forensic evidence, motivating factors, top-down processing, ACE-V verification, Dror's research, wrongful fingerprint identifications, fingerprint types and ridge patterns, chain of custody, contamination and the sixteen-point standard.	18
Hall and Player (2008) emotional context and fingerprint analysis: background and method	Recall questions on the aims, method and design of Hall and Player's 2008 study of emotional context and fingerprint analysis, the fingerprint examiners sampled, the examination packs, the low and high emotional contexts, and the ambiguous mark.	8
Hall and Player (2008) emotional context and fingerprint analysis: results, conclusions and evaluation	Recall questions on Hall and Player's follow-up questionnaire, how many experts read the report and felt affected, the finding on actual decisions, their conclusion, differences from Dror's findings, and the strengths, artificiality and self-report limitations of the study.	10
Strategies for reducing bias in collecting and processing forensic evidence	Recall questions on strategies for reducing bias in forensic evidence, including sequential unmasking, case managers, blind verification, evidence line-ups, removing case information, bias training, contamination controls, applying them to scenarios, and testing whether they work.	15
Collecting and using evidence from witnesses and suspects	Recall questions on eyewitness testimony and reconstructive memory, leading questions, post-event information, weapon focus, anxiety, own-race bias, identity parades, confidence and accuracy, the cognitive and enhanced cognitive interviews, PEACE, interrogation tactics, false confessions and the polygraph.	18
Memon and Higham (1999) review of the cognitive interview: aims and components	Recall questions on the nature and aim of Memon and Higham's 1999 review of the cognitive interview, the four issues it examined, its material, and the reasoning behind context reinstatement, report everything, and changing order and perspective.	8
Memon and Higham (1999) review of the cognitive interview: findings, conclusions and evaluation	Recall questions on the cognitive interview components Memon and Higham found most beneficial, structured interviews as a control, gains in correct recall and errors, interviewer training, reporting memory performance, their conclusion, and the strengths and weaknesses of the review.	10
Police interview strategies: the cognitive interview and the PEACE model	Recall questions on police interview strategies based on the cognitive interview, including context reinstatement, free recall, witness-compatible questioning, transferring control, rapport and open questions, when it is unsuitable, the PEACE model for suspects, and evaluating and costing training.	15
How juries are persuaded by the characteristics of defendants and witnesses	Recall questions on the halo effect and defendant attractiveness, baby-faced appearance, the similarity-leniency effect, accent, the chivalry effect, and how witness confidence and attractiveness influence juries.	9
Persuading juries: speech style, expert witnesses, order of evidence and publicity	Recall questions on powerful and powerless speech, expert witnesses, primacy and recency, the story model, inadmissible evidence, pre-trial publicity, the problem of defendant characteristics for justice, predicting jury responses, and the limits of mock jury research.	9
Dixon et al. (2002) accent and perceptions of guilt: background and method	Recall questions on the aim, design and variables of Dixon et al.'s 2002 study of accent and perceptions of guilt, the sample, the recorded interview, how accent, race and crime type were manipulated, the guilt rating and the additional speech ratings.	10
Dixon et al. (2002) accent and perceptions of guilt: results, conclusions and evaluation	Recall questions on Dixon et al.'s findings on accent, the highest guilt ratings, speech ratings and guilt, their conclusion, and the evaluation of method, ecological validity, sample and relevance to persuading juries.	8
Strategies to influence jury decision making	Recall questions on strategies to influence jury decision making, including story order, expert witnesses, preparing witnesses, defendants' appearance and accents, jury selection, note-taking and written directions, structuring a case, ethical problems and testing effectiveness.	15
Neighbourhood features, broken windows and defensible space	Recall questions on physical and social incivilities, the broken windows idea, informal social control, collective efficacy, Newman's defensible space, natural surveillance and territoriality.	9
Zero tolerance policy and its influence on crime	Recall questions on anonymity on large estates, zero tolerance policing in New York and its criticisms, why falling crime does not prove it worked, community policing, predicting outcomes from broken windows, and whether disorder causes crime.	8
Wilson and Kelling (1982) broken windows: foot patrols and the abandoned car demonstration	Recall questions on the nature and aim of Wilson and Kelling's 1982 broken windows article, the Newark foot patrol programme and its evaluation, an officer's beat, and Zimbardo's abandoned cars in the Bronx and Palo Alto.	9
Wilson and Kelling (1982) broken windows: the argument, recommendations and evaluation	Recall questions on the broken window metaphor, regulars and strangers, Wilson and Kelling's recommendations for police resources, and the strengths, methodological weaknesses, weak evidence and social and ethical criticisms of the article.	9
Environmental strategies for crime prevention	Recall questions on environmental crime prevention, including crime prevention through environmental design, natural surveillance, alley gating, target hardening, repairing damage, street lighting, neighbourhood watch, CCTV, displacement, diffusion of benefits, and evaluating schemes.	15
Aims of punishment	Recall questions on the aims of punishment, individual and general deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, reform, reparation and restorative justice, operant conditioning conditions for effective punishment, and recidivism.	9
Effects of imprisonment and reform as responses to offending	Recall questions on short custodial sentences, prisonisation, institutionalisation, prisons as schools for crime, psychological effects of imprisonment on inmates and families, non-custodial responses, therapeutic community prisons, and punishing versus reforming.	9
Haney et al. (1973) simulated prison study: background, procedure and the prisoners' rebellion	Recall questions on the aim and method of Haney, Banks and Zimbardo's 1973 simulated prison study, sample screening, random role allocation, making the prison realistic, deindividuating prisoners, the guards' role, and the prisoners' rebellion and its aftermath.	9
Haney et al. (1973) simulated prison study: results, conclusions and evaluation	Recall questions on the guards' worsening behaviour, the prisoners' psychological reactions, why the study was stopped, Haney et al.'s conclusion, and the evaluation of method, findings, Zimbardo's dual role, ethics and relevance to imprisonment.	9
Strategies for reducing reoffending	Recall questions on strategies for reducing reoffending, including the stages and evidence for anger management, restorative justice conferences and their conditions, token economies, education and housing, recommending a package, and evaluating programmes.	15

Criminal Psychology is 305 of the 3,537 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.