Forensic Psychology Complete Study Guide:
200 MCQs with Answers & Explanations
1. What is forensic psychology?
a. Study of crime scenes
b. A field of psychology that deals with all aspects of human behavior as it relates to the law or
legal system
c. A branch of law
d. Criminal profiling only
Answer: b
Explanation: Forensic psychology focuses on understanding human behavior in legal contexts,
including assessment, treatment, and research. It bridges psychology and the law to inform
courts, corrections, and law enforcement.
2. Which of the following are the 3 categories of killers according to Browning (Police
Battalion 101)?
a. Laggers, Leaders, Rebels
b. Laggers, Accommodators, Evaders
c. Obedient, Aggressive, Passive
d. Accommodators, Followers, Leaders
Answer: b
Explanation: Browning categorized the members of Police Battalion 101 into Laggers
(resistant), Accommodators (compliant), and Evaders (avoidant), showing variation in individual
responses to group-perpetrated violence.
3. Which psychological perspective is primarily used to explain the behavior of Police
Battalion 101 killers?
a. Cognitive psychology
b. Personality psychology
c. Social psychology
d. Developmental psychology
Answer: c
Explanation: Social psychology is used because it examines behavior in group contexts,
highlighting conformity, obedience, and situational influence rather than individual personality
traits.
4. Which of the following factors from social psychology did Browning use to explain the
behavior of Police Battalion 101?
a. Pavlovian conditioning
b. Milgram Experiment, Asch Conformity, Zimbardo’s Prison Study, Cognitive Dissonance
c. Freudian theory
d. Behaviorist reinforcement
Answer: b
,Explanation: Browning applied classic social psychology studies to understand how ordinary
individuals engaged in mass violence due to conformity, obedience to authority, situational
pressures, and cognitive dissonance.
5. What did Solomon Asch’s conformity experiment demonstrate?
a. People always act independently
b. Individuals conform to group pressure even when the group is wrong
c. Learning occurs only through reinforcement
d. Personality traits predict behavior in groups
Answer: b
Explanation: Asch’s experiment showed that participants often gave incorrect answers to align
with the majority, highlighting the strong effect of social pressure on decision-making.
6. What was the main finding of Milgram’s obedience experiment?
a. People refuse to follow authority in harmful situations
b. Ordinary people can inflict harm when instructed by authority
c. People act aggressively only when provoked
d. Personality traits determine obedience
Answer: b
Explanation: Milgram found that participants continued to administer shocks despite believing
they were causing pain, demonstrating the powerful influence of authority on moral behavior.
7. In Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment, what were the three types of guards
observed?
a. Cruel, compassionate, passive
b. Good guards, Obedient guards, Tormenting guards
c. Aggressive, compliant, indifferent
d. Neutral, reactive, manipulative
Answer: b
Explanation: Zimbardo observed that some guards were genuinely kind, some followed rules
obediently, and some actively tormented prisoners, illustrating situational impact on behavior.
8. What does cognitive dissonance refer to?
a. Conflict between personality traits
b. Discomfort from misalignment of attitudes and behaviors
c. A form of classical conditioning
d. Obedience to authority
Answer: b
Explanation: Cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual’s beliefs conflict with their
actions, often leading to rationalizations or attitude changes to reduce psychological discomfort.
9. Which criticism applies to using social psychology to explain Police Battalion 101
behaviors?
a. It fully excuses individuals from responsibility
b. Findings are not deterministic and do not remove individual responsibility
c. Personality does not matter at all
,d. Social psychology only studies animals
Answer: b
Explanation: While social psychology helps explain group influence, individual differences still
matter, and people retain moral responsibility for their actions.
10. Situationism argues that:
a. Personality traits fully determine behavior
b. The situation dictates behavior
c. Genetics are the primary factor in criminality
d. Behavior is random
Answer: b
Explanation: Situationism emphasizes that context and environmental pressures can shape
behavior more than stable personality traits.
11. What did Mischel (1968) argue regarding personality traits?
a. Traits are perfect predictors of behavior
b. Behavioral consistency is overestimated; situations are more important
c. Personality assessments are highly reliable
d. Only childhood traits matter
Answer: b
Explanation: Mischel suggested that behavior is highly influenced by situational factors, and
personality traits alone are not strong predictors of specific actions.
12. Buss’s Interactionism (1977) proposed which principle?
a. Personality and situation operate independently
b. Personality and situations interact through situational selection, evocation, and manipulation
c. Situations override personality
d. Genetics solely determine behavior
Answer: b
Explanation: Interactionism emphasizes that people shape and are shaped by their
environments, highlighting the dynamic interplay between personality and situational factors.
13. What is situational selection?
a. Choosing the situations in which one finds oneself
b. Evading difficult environments
c. Being passively influenced by the situation
d. Selecting personality traits
Answer: a
Explanation: Situational selection refers to the tendency of individuals to seek or avoid certain
environments that match their personality or preferences.
14. Evocation refers to:
a. Selecting favorable environments
b. Eliciting specific responses from the environment due to personality traits
c. Controlling social outcomes consciously
d. Avoiding responsibility
, Answer: b
Explanation: Evocation occurs when an individual’s traits provoke reactions in others,
influencing how social situations unfold.
15. What does manipulation mean in the context of interactionism?
a. Coercing others through deception only
b. Influencing the social situation through one’s behavior
c. Avoiding social interactions
d. Being manipulated by external factors
Answer: b
Explanation: Manipulation describes the ways individuals actively influence their social
environment through actions, communication, and decisions.
16. Strong situations are characterized by:
a. Ambiguity and flexibility
b. Clear norms and expectations where most people behave similarly
c. Random outcomes
d. Individual preference dominating behavior
Answer: b
Explanation: In strong situations, such as funerals or formal ceremonies, social norms reduce
variability in behavior among individuals.
17. Which is considered a situational risk factor for violence?
a. Genetic predisposition
b. Obedience to authority, deindividuation, conformity, cognitive dissonance
c. Body build
d. Attachment style
Answer: b
Explanation: Social psychological factors such as obedience and deindividuation increase the
likelihood of violent behavior under specific conditions.
18. Deindividuation occurs when:
a. People reflect deeply on their behavior
b. People lose awareness of their individuality and immerse in group behavior
c. Personality dominates situational cues
d. Individuals consciously rebel
Answer: b
Explanation: Deindividuation explains how group immersion can reduce self-awareness and
lead to behavior inconsistent with personal norms.
19. Jeffrey Landrigan’s early life showed which of the following risk factors for antisocial
behavior?
a. Secure attachment
b. Conduct disorder, antisocial tendencies, early arrests, family criminal history
c. No family history of crime
d. Protective community factors
200 MCQs with Answers & Explanations
1. What is forensic psychology?
a. Study of crime scenes
b. A field of psychology that deals with all aspects of human behavior as it relates to the law or
legal system
c. A branch of law
d. Criminal profiling only
Answer: b
Explanation: Forensic psychology focuses on understanding human behavior in legal contexts,
including assessment, treatment, and research. It bridges psychology and the law to inform
courts, corrections, and law enforcement.
2. Which of the following are the 3 categories of killers according to Browning (Police
Battalion 101)?
a. Laggers, Leaders, Rebels
b. Laggers, Accommodators, Evaders
c. Obedient, Aggressive, Passive
d. Accommodators, Followers, Leaders
Answer: b
Explanation: Browning categorized the members of Police Battalion 101 into Laggers
(resistant), Accommodators (compliant), and Evaders (avoidant), showing variation in individual
responses to group-perpetrated violence.
3. Which psychological perspective is primarily used to explain the behavior of Police
Battalion 101 killers?
a. Cognitive psychology
b. Personality psychology
c. Social psychology
d. Developmental psychology
Answer: c
Explanation: Social psychology is used because it examines behavior in group contexts,
highlighting conformity, obedience, and situational influence rather than individual personality
traits.
4. Which of the following factors from social psychology did Browning use to explain the
behavior of Police Battalion 101?
a. Pavlovian conditioning
b. Milgram Experiment, Asch Conformity, Zimbardo’s Prison Study, Cognitive Dissonance
c. Freudian theory
d. Behaviorist reinforcement
Answer: b
,Explanation: Browning applied classic social psychology studies to understand how ordinary
individuals engaged in mass violence due to conformity, obedience to authority, situational
pressures, and cognitive dissonance.
5. What did Solomon Asch’s conformity experiment demonstrate?
a. People always act independently
b. Individuals conform to group pressure even when the group is wrong
c. Learning occurs only through reinforcement
d. Personality traits predict behavior in groups
Answer: b
Explanation: Asch’s experiment showed that participants often gave incorrect answers to align
with the majority, highlighting the strong effect of social pressure on decision-making.
6. What was the main finding of Milgram’s obedience experiment?
a. People refuse to follow authority in harmful situations
b. Ordinary people can inflict harm when instructed by authority
c. People act aggressively only when provoked
d. Personality traits determine obedience
Answer: b
Explanation: Milgram found that participants continued to administer shocks despite believing
they were causing pain, demonstrating the powerful influence of authority on moral behavior.
7. In Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment, what were the three types of guards
observed?
a. Cruel, compassionate, passive
b. Good guards, Obedient guards, Tormenting guards
c. Aggressive, compliant, indifferent
d. Neutral, reactive, manipulative
Answer: b
Explanation: Zimbardo observed that some guards were genuinely kind, some followed rules
obediently, and some actively tormented prisoners, illustrating situational impact on behavior.
8. What does cognitive dissonance refer to?
a. Conflict between personality traits
b. Discomfort from misalignment of attitudes and behaviors
c. A form of classical conditioning
d. Obedience to authority
Answer: b
Explanation: Cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual’s beliefs conflict with their
actions, often leading to rationalizations or attitude changes to reduce psychological discomfort.
9. Which criticism applies to using social psychology to explain Police Battalion 101
behaviors?
a. It fully excuses individuals from responsibility
b. Findings are not deterministic and do not remove individual responsibility
c. Personality does not matter at all
,d. Social psychology only studies animals
Answer: b
Explanation: While social psychology helps explain group influence, individual differences still
matter, and people retain moral responsibility for their actions.
10. Situationism argues that:
a. Personality traits fully determine behavior
b. The situation dictates behavior
c. Genetics are the primary factor in criminality
d. Behavior is random
Answer: b
Explanation: Situationism emphasizes that context and environmental pressures can shape
behavior more than stable personality traits.
11. What did Mischel (1968) argue regarding personality traits?
a. Traits are perfect predictors of behavior
b. Behavioral consistency is overestimated; situations are more important
c. Personality assessments are highly reliable
d. Only childhood traits matter
Answer: b
Explanation: Mischel suggested that behavior is highly influenced by situational factors, and
personality traits alone are not strong predictors of specific actions.
12. Buss’s Interactionism (1977) proposed which principle?
a. Personality and situation operate independently
b. Personality and situations interact through situational selection, evocation, and manipulation
c. Situations override personality
d. Genetics solely determine behavior
Answer: b
Explanation: Interactionism emphasizes that people shape and are shaped by their
environments, highlighting the dynamic interplay between personality and situational factors.
13. What is situational selection?
a. Choosing the situations in which one finds oneself
b. Evading difficult environments
c. Being passively influenced by the situation
d. Selecting personality traits
Answer: a
Explanation: Situational selection refers to the tendency of individuals to seek or avoid certain
environments that match their personality or preferences.
14. Evocation refers to:
a. Selecting favorable environments
b. Eliciting specific responses from the environment due to personality traits
c. Controlling social outcomes consciously
d. Avoiding responsibility
, Answer: b
Explanation: Evocation occurs when an individual’s traits provoke reactions in others,
influencing how social situations unfold.
15. What does manipulation mean in the context of interactionism?
a. Coercing others through deception only
b. Influencing the social situation through one’s behavior
c. Avoiding social interactions
d. Being manipulated by external factors
Answer: b
Explanation: Manipulation describes the ways individuals actively influence their social
environment through actions, communication, and decisions.
16. Strong situations are characterized by:
a. Ambiguity and flexibility
b. Clear norms and expectations where most people behave similarly
c. Random outcomes
d. Individual preference dominating behavior
Answer: b
Explanation: In strong situations, such as funerals or formal ceremonies, social norms reduce
variability in behavior among individuals.
17. Which is considered a situational risk factor for violence?
a. Genetic predisposition
b. Obedience to authority, deindividuation, conformity, cognitive dissonance
c. Body build
d. Attachment style
Answer: b
Explanation: Social psychological factors such as obedience and deindividuation increase the
likelihood of violent behavior under specific conditions.
18. Deindividuation occurs when:
a. People reflect deeply on their behavior
b. People lose awareness of their individuality and immerse in group behavior
c. Personality dominates situational cues
d. Individuals consciously rebel
Answer: b
Explanation: Deindividuation explains how group immersion can reduce self-awareness and
lead to behavior inconsistent with personal norms.
19. Jeffrey Landrigan’s early life showed which of the following risk factors for antisocial
behavior?
a. Secure attachment
b. Conduct disorder, antisocial tendencies, early arrests, family criminal history
c. No family history of crime
d. Protective community factors
