PSYC3402 Criminal Behaviour Midterm Exam
UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Define crime - CORRECT ANSWER a social construct, intentional behaviour that
violates the criminal code
What exception is there to the definition of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER child-
perpetrated antisocial behaviour
Why care about the definition of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER it impacts how new
Canadians adapt, crime statistics, and how we evaluate the impact of criminal justice
interventions
What is prevalence? - CORRECT ANSWER number of cases/events at one points in
time (ex. on July 1st, 12 murders occurred in Canada)
What is prevalence rate? - CORRECT ANSWER number of cases divided by the
relevant population (ex. ,000)
What is incidence? - CORRECT ANSWER number of cases/events occurring during a
specific time period (ex. from July 1st-7th there was 12 murders in Canada)
What is incidence rate? - CORRECT ANSWER number of incidents by the relevant
population
What is crime rate? - CORRECT ANSWER the number of crimes committed per
100,000 population
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program - CORRECT ANSWER publishes an annual
summation of the incidence and rate of reported crimes throughout the US
,General Social Survey (GSS) - CORRECT ANSWER survey of a random sample of
about 1,500 U.S. adults and is available for many researchers to analyze
National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) - CORRECT
ANSWER longitudinal and cross-sectional self-report study investigating the extent of
delinquency among young people (0-25 y/o)
Approximately 540,000 youth across Canada admitted to at least _____ act of delinquency
during the previous year - CORRECT ANSWER one
What is the "dark figure" of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER the amount of unreported
or undiscovered crime
What are some weaknesses with victimization surveys? - CORRECT
ANSWER underreporting, overreporting, age limitations, understanding of questions,
Why should we measure crime? - CORRECT ANSWER impacts policy & behaviour,
aids in evaluation of the CJS, facilitates theory construction and evaluations
What is a correlate of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER a variable that is positively
associated (correlated) with criminal behaviour
How do we discover a correlate of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER cross-sectional
research designs, statistics (correlations)
What are some problems with correlates? - CORRECT ANSWER cannot infer
causality
What is a risk factor (predictor)? - CORRECT ANSWER a variable that precedes the
outcome of interest and increases the probability that the outcome will occur
, How do we discover a predictor of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER longitudinal design,
statistics
What are some problems with risk factors (predictors)? - CORRECT ANSWER cannot
infer causality, typically correlated with multiple risk factors that could also predict outcome
of interest
What is a causal risk factor? - CORRECT ANSWER a risk factor that when
changed/manipulated results in changes in the outcome of interest
Central Eight - CORRECT ANSWER criminal history, c.personality, c.associates,
c.attitudes, substance abuse, martial status, education/employment deficits, unstructured
leisure time
Big Four - CORRECT ANSWER criminal history, criminal personality, criminal
associates, criminal attitudes
Who published On the Origin of Species in 1859? - CORRECT ANSWER Charles
Darwin
What was the main tenet of Darwin's work? - CORRECT ANSWER humans evolved
from ancestral species via natural selection
How does natural selection work? - CORRECT ANSWER potential adaptation in
organism's genes by change (ex. mutation) → organism's reproductive success enhances →
selection pressures decide whether mutation becomes a successful adaptation
How long ago was the hunter and gathering era? - CORRECT ANSWER 1.8 million -
10,000 years ago
The Hunter and gathering era was defined by: - CORRECT ANSWER foraging, living
off wild planets and hunting animals, harsh living conditions
UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Define crime - CORRECT ANSWER a social construct, intentional behaviour that
violates the criminal code
What exception is there to the definition of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER child-
perpetrated antisocial behaviour
Why care about the definition of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER it impacts how new
Canadians adapt, crime statistics, and how we evaluate the impact of criminal justice
interventions
What is prevalence? - CORRECT ANSWER number of cases/events at one points in
time (ex. on July 1st, 12 murders occurred in Canada)
What is prevalence rate? - CORRECT ANSWER number of cases divided by the
relevant population (ex. ,000)
What is incidence? - CORRECT ANSWER number of cases/events occurring during a
specific time period (ex. from July 1st-7th there was 12 murders in Canada)
What is incidence rate? - CORRECT ANSWER number of incidents by the relevant
population
What is crime rate? - CORRECT ANSWER the number of crimes committed per
100,000 population
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program - CORRECT ANSWER publishes an annual
summation of the incidence and rate of reported crimes throughout the US
,General Social Survey (GSS) - CORRECT ANSWER survey of a random sample of
about 1,500 U.S. adults and is available for many researchers to analyze
National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) - CORRECT
ANSWER longitudinal and cross-sectional self-report study investigating the extent of
delinquency among young people (0-25 y/o)
Approximately 540,000 youth across Canada admitted to at least _____ act of delinquency
during the previous year - CORRECT ANSWER one
What is the "dark figure" of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER the amount of unreported
or undiscovered crime
What are some weaknesses with victimization surveys? - CORRECT
ANSWER underreporting, overreporting, age limitations, understanding of questions,
Why should we measure crime? - CORRECT ANSWER impacts policy & behaviour,
aids in evaluation of the CJS, facilitates theory construction and evaluations
What is a correlate of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER a variable that is positively
associated (correlated) with criminal behaviour
How do we discover a correlate of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER cross-sectional
research designs, statistics (correlations)
What are some problems with correlates? - CORRECT ANSWER cannot infer
causality
What is a risk factor (predictor)? - CORRECT ANSWER a variable that precedes the
outcome of interest and increases the probability that the outcome will occur
, How do we discover a predictor of crime? - CORRECT ANSWER longitudinal design,
statistics
What are some problems with risk factors (predictors)? - CORRECT ANSWER cannot
infer causality, typically correlated with multiple risk factors that could also predict outcome
of interest
What is a causal risk factor? - CORRECT ANSWER a risk factor that when
changed/manipulated results in changes in the outcome of interest
Central Eight - CORRECT ANSWER criminal history, c.personality, c.associates,
c.attitudes, substance abuse, martial status, education/employment deficits, unstructured
leisure time
Big Four - CORRECT ANSWER criminal history, criminal personality, criminal
associates, criminal attitudes
Who published On the Origin of Species in 1859? - CORRECT ANSWER Charles
Darwin
What was the main tenet of Darwin's work? - CORRECT ANSWER humans evolved
from ancestral species via natural selection
How does natural selection work? - CORRECT ANSWER potential adaptation in
organism's genes by change (ex. mutation) → organism's reproductive success enhances →
selection pressures decide whether mutation becomes a successful adaptation
How long ago was the hunter and gathering era? - CORRECT ANSWER 1.8 million -
10,000 years ago
The Hunter and gathering era was defined by: - CORRECT ANSWER foraging, living
off wild planets and hunting animals, harsh living conditions
