FOR10001 Study Guide - Final Guide: Operant Conditioning, Free Recall, Electroconvulsive Therapy
10 Jun 2018
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FOR10001 - Introduction to
Forensic Psychology
Completed Notes
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Forensic Psychology
Introduction
FORENSIC AREAS
•Profiling (for investigative purposes)
•Jury decision making
•Prison programming
•Police psychology
INFORMATION DELIVERY STYLE
1. Human Nature (behaviour & cognitions)
2. Basic Psychological Principle/Theory
3. Application of Principle
4. Forensic Application
DEFINITIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY
•Psychology –The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes
•Clinical Forensic Psychology (AU) – application of clinical psychological knowledge to the
treatment and rehabilitation of offenders
•Criminal Psychology (UK) – application of psychological knowledge to the criminal justice
system
•Law & Psychology (US) – the use of psychological knowledge to assist with issues of
importance to the law
•Forensic Psychology – The understanding and production of psychological knowledge that is
applicable, in an integrative fashion, to issues of importance to the criminal and civil justice
systems.
DEBATES IN PSYCHOLOGY
1. Nature/Nurture – revolves around the issue of how people acquire their behaviours and mental
processes.
2. Free Will/Determinism – revolves around the issue of whether our behaviours and mental
processes are a product of our choice or the unavoidable result of precursors.
3. Mind/Body – revolves around the issue of establishing the relationship between the mind
(cognitive processes) and the body (behaviour).
•Emergence – suggests that the mind controls the body (attitudes cause behaviours)
•Epiphenomenalism – suggests that the body controls the mind (behaviours cause
attitudes)
•Interactionism – suggests that the mind and body both causally affect each other
(behaviours cause attitudes and vice-versa)
•Psychophysical Parallelism – suggests that that the mind and body are not causally
related (behaviours and attitudes are not causally related)
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Step 1: Observation – noticing some abnormal aspect of human behaviour
Step 2: Hypothesis Generation – producing a formal statement that represents your belief about
the cause of the observed behaviour
Step 3: Hypothesis Testing – employing non-experimental or experimental methods to test the
veracity of your hypothesis
Step 4: Theory Development – placing your research results within a theoretical framework or
model in psychology
Step 5: Replication & Extension – testing additional hypotheses based on your results and the
accompanying theory
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ETHICAL GUIDELINES: HUMAN SUBJECT RESEARCH
•Protection from Harm
•Right to Privacy
•Deception
•Informed Consent
•Debriefing
•Social Responsibility
LAW: BASIC PRINCIPLES
Law is defined as the rules established by a governing authority to institute and maintain orderly
coexistence.
Important Legal Issues
1. Criminal versus Civil Cases
•Civil cases involves the settlement of a dispute between two parties where one of the
parties perceives that they have been harmed
•Criminal cases involves the prosecution by the state of an individual who has violated a law
2. Appellate versus Lower Court Decisions – appellate decisions are those made by a higher court
usually regarding a claim that an individual’s constitutional rights were infringed upon during a
lower court hearing. These decisions are generally recorded.
3. Mens Rea (Guilty Mind) and Actus Reus (Guilty Act) – two-pronged Common Law standard for
establishing criminal guilt. Based on the Latin phrase “actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” (the
act does not make a person guilty unless the mind be also guilty)
4. Stare decisis – The legal principle of following precedents in deciding a case, the idea that future
decisions of a court should follow the example set by the prior decisions."
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Document Summary
Forensic areas: pro ling (for investigative purposes, jury decision making, prison programming, police psychology. Information delivery style: human nature (behaviour & cognitions, basic psychological principle/theory, application of principle, forensic application. Step 1: observation noticing some abnormal aspect of human behaviour. Step 2: hypothesis generation producing a formal statement that represents your belief about the cause of the observed behaviour. Step 3: hypothesis testing employing non-experimental or experimental methods to test the veracity of your hypothesis. Step 4: theory development placing your research results within a theoretical framework or model in psychology. Step 5: replication & extension testing additional hypotheses based on your results and the accompanying theory. Ethical guidelines: human subject research: protection from harm, right to privacy, deception, informed consent, debrie ng, social responsibility. Law is de ned as the rules established by a governing authority to institute and maintain orderly coexistence.
