AQA A Level Psychology Forensic
Psychology (paper 3)| Questions with
100% Correct Answers Rated A+
What is the Bottom-Up approach? - ✔Where profilers work up from evidence collected
from the crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, motivations and
social background of the offender
Bottom-Up approach evaluation - ✔Wider application- An advantage the bottom up
approach has over the top down approach is that it can be applied to a wide range of crimes.
Techniques such as spatial consistency can be used in the investigation of crimes ranging from
theft to murder
Scientific basis- Canter believes the bottom up approach is more scientific compared to the
top down approach as it is grounded in evidence and is less driven by speculations and
hunches
What is investigative psychology? - ✔Establishes patterns of behaviour forming a
statistical 'database'.
1) Interpersonal coherence: behaviour at scene reflect everyday behaviour
2) Time and place: may suggest dwelling place
,3) Forensic awareness: suggests previous crimes
What is Geographical profiling? - ✔Crime mapping may reveal the offender's "centre
of gravity" aka their operational base and whether they are:
- a marauder who operates in close proximity to their home
- a commuter who is likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence
Evidence for geographical profiling (Bottom-Up approach evaluation) - ✔Samantha and David
Carter 2001 collected information regarding 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the USA.
Smallest space analysis revealed spatial consistency in the behavior of the killers. The location
of where the body was disposed was in a different position to the previous forming a center
of gravity
Spatial information is key in determining the base of a offendor
Biological explanations: what is Atavistic Form? - ✔A historical approach to offending by
Lombroso: criminals are genetic throwbacks who cannot cope with the demands of civilised
society and so commit crime
What are atavistic characteristics? - ✔strong jaw, high cheekbones, asymmetric face,
dark skin, extra toes
What did Lombroso research? - ✔Analysed the facial and cranial features of 383 dead
criminals and 3839 living ones. Concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be explained by
atavistic characteristics.
, Atavistic Form evaluation - ✔1)Contribution to criminality-
Lombroso brought the study of criminology into science. In trying to describe how
particular people are more likely to commit particular crimes he started criminal profiling
2)Scientific racism-
Many of the facial features he identified were associated with people of Black African origin.
Whether this was Lombroso's intentions remains unknown and is a matter of debate
3) Poor control in Lombroso's research-
The lack of a control group meant that we don't know if the characteristics were unique to
criminals or a similar number might have been found in any population.
There was also no control for the fact that some of the criminals had other psychological
disorders and the atavistic characteristics might have been related to such disorders
Genetic explanations: what are genetics? - ✔Genes consist of DNA strands which
produce "instructions" for general physical features of an organism (eye colour, height),
and specific physical features (neurotransmitter levels and size of brain structures). These
may impact psychological features (intelligence and mentality). Genes are transmitted
from parents to offspring
Define the neural explanation of crime - ✔Any explanation of behaviour in terms of
functions of the brain and the nervous system. This includes the activity of brain structures
such as the hypothalamus, and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine
What did the twin studies find? - ✔Christianson found that 33% of concordance rates
for criminality in MZ and 12% DZ twins
Psychology (paper 3)| Questions with
100% Correct Answers Rated A+
What is the Bottom-Up approach? - ✔Where profilers work up from evidence collected
from the crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, motivations and
social background of the offender
Bottom-Up approach evaluation - ✔Wider application- An advantage the bottom up
approach has over the top down approach is that it can be applied to a wide range of crimes.
Techniques such as spatial consistency can be used in the investigation of crimes ranging from
theft to murder
Scientific basis- Canter believes the bottom up approach is more scientific compared to the
top down approach as it is grounded in evidence and is less driven by speculations and
hunches
What is investigative psychology? - ✔Establishes patterns of behaviour forming a
statistical 'database'.
1) Interpersonal coherence: behaviour at scene reflect everyday behaviour
2) Time and place: may suggest dwelling place
,3) Forensic awareness: suggests previous crimes
What is Geographical profiling? - ✔Crime mapping may reveal the offender's "centre
of gravity" aka their operational base and whether they are:
- a marauder who operates in close proximity to their home
- a commuter who is likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence
Evidence for geographical profiling (Bottom-Up approach evaluation) - ✔Samantha and David
Carter 2001 collected information regarding 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the USA.
Smallest space analysis revealed spatial consistency in the behavior of the killers. The location
of where the body was disposed was in a different position to the previous forming a center
of gravity
Spatial information is key in determining the base of a offendor
Biological explanations: what is Atavistic Form? - ✔A historical approach to offending by
Lombroso: criminals are genetic throwbacks who cannot cope with the demands of civilised
society and so commit crime
What are atavistic characteristics? - ✔strong jaw, high cheekbones, asymmetric face,
dark skin, extra toes
What did Lombroso research? - ✔Analysed the facial and cranial features of 383 dead
criminals and 3839 living ones. Concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be explained by
atavistic characteristics.
, Atavistic Form evaluation - ✔1)Contribution to criminality-
Lombroso brought the study of criminology into science. In trying to describe how
particular people are more likely to commit particular crimes he started criminal profiling
2)Scientific racism-
Many of the facial features he identified were associated with people of Black African origin.
Whether this was Lombroso's intentions remains unknown and is a matter of debate
3) Poor control in Lombroso's research-
The lack of a control group meant that we don't know if the characteristics were unique to
criminals or a similar number might have been found in any population.
There was also no control for the fact that some of the criminals had other psychological
disorders and the atavistic characteristics might have been related to such disorders
Genetic explanations: what are genetics? - ✔Genes consist of DNA strands which
produce "instructions" for general physical features of an organism (eye colour, height),
and specific physical features (neurotransmitter levels and size of brain structures). These
may impact psychological features (intelligence and mentality). Genes are transmitted
from parents to offspring
Define the neural explanation of crime - ✔Any explanation of behaviour in terms of
functions of the brain and the nervous system. This includes the activity of brain structures
such as the hypothalamus, and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine
What did the twin studies find? - ✔Christianson found that 33% of concordance rates
for criminality in MZ and 12% DZ twins
