Reference no: EM132311426 , Length: word count : 1700

Assignment Requirements

The purpose of this assignment is to allow you to more deeply examine a specific aspect of forensic psychology and to gain additional insight into how psychology may be applied to the legal arena.

Specifically, this assignment will demonstrate the continual challenge between the legal system and psychology in terms of identifying the usefulness of psychological knowledge. As such, you are to think about the question below and write an essay that describes how and when related psychological knowledge can best be used to answer this question.

In order to do this effectively, you should:

(1) identify the main area of psychology that relates to the question below and demonstrate how the question "fits" within this area of psychology,

(2) identify and describe the concepts of system and estimator variables as they apply to eyewitness reliability

(3) select one estimator variable and one system variable from the list below and describe the variable as well as relate it a peer-reviewed journal article, and

(4) combine the information from the description of the factors to indicate exactly what role psychology can effectively play in addressing the statement you selected.

Question: Are eyewitness identifications reliable?

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENT ELEMENTS:

Please ensure that your assignment includes the following sub-headings which are in BOLD below (failure to use the below BOLD headings will result in a 5% deduction from the essay):

• Introduction (very short) - what is the question and what is included in your paper.

• Psychological Background - identification of a main area of psychology and a description of how the question fits within this area.

• Eyewitness Reliability: System and Estimator Variables - describe this concept.

• Specific System Variable - Select either line-up construction OR post-line-up feedback and identify how this concept relates to the question above. Identify and summarize one peer-reviewed article on the variable.

o Specific System Variable Description - define the variable and discuss how it is related to the question of eyewitness reliability.

o Specific System Variable Article Summary - summary of what the article was looking at and what was found.

• Specific Estimator Variable - Select either stress/arousal OR lighting conditions/illumination and identify how this concept relates to the question above. Identify and summarize one peer-reviewed article on the variable.

o Specific Estimator Variable Description - define the variable and discuss how it is related to the question of eyewitness reliability.

o Specific Estimator Variable Article Summary - summary of what the article was looking at and what was found.

• Conclusion - summarize the above information and explain how it relates to answering the question.