Personality Characteristics And Criminal Behavior

Assignment 2: RA 2: Personality Characteristics and Criminal Behavior

A particular set of personality characteristics does not turn a person into a criminal. However, a criminal will have the same set of characteristics. This concept may not be easy to understand. Here is another example: all college graduates have attended college, but not everyone who attended college is a college graduate. The mistake “if A then B” is the same as “if B then A” is a common one in research, criminal investigation, and profiling.

Criminal profiling is a difficult task. Complete the following three parts and present it in your report.

Part I

Identify at least five offense characteristics of each of the following crimes: sex offense, murder, acquisitive crime, organized crime, and terrorism.

Part II

Choose two offenses for those listed in Part I. Using the selected characteristics, complete the following for each of the two offenses you selected:

  • Analyze the selected characteristics to develop a forensic profile for that particular type of offense. For example, how would you use the two offense characteristics you have selected for murder to develop inferences regarding the personality of a murderer?
  • Explain how an offender’s level of cognitive and emotional functioning, as well as social and environmental factors, could contribute to his or her maladaptive behavior in each of the above offenses.
  • Identify and justify the types of tests and/or personality measures that might be used to gather additional information for each of the two offenses.
  • Identify and justify the type of collateral information you would need to learn about the offender in the case of each of the two crimes.

Part III

  • Identify the differences in ethical standards between a criminal investigation and a psychological interview.
  • Offer your recommendations for future research needed to advance the science and research of psychological profiling techniques.
  • Discuss the different ethical considerations one must follow as an investigator and as a psychologist.

Support your responses giving reasons and examples from 8–10 scholarly resources.

Write a 7- to 9-page report in a Microsoft Word document. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

Your paper should be written in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Making Difficult Ethical Decisions.

Karen is a Latina, lesbian woman who decided to come out to her family and classmates when she started her second year in her psychology doctoral program. She thought that things would be easier now that she could be her “true self” around her family and friends. However, several people were not as accepting of her as she would have liked, including her parents and four siblings. As a result, she struggles to keep up with schoolwork, is tearful during class, and becomes upset while in conferences with professors. The faculty at her school are talking about requiring her to start psychological treatment to deal with these issues, and are even considering removing her from the program.

What does the code say about what suggestions of the faculty? What are the cultural implications of doing what they are suggesting? Apply the ethical decision-making model discussed in Fisher (2013) to this situation and make a decision about how to handle Karen’s situation.

Response Guidelines

Examine the work of at least two other learners and comment on the following elements:

  1. Their perspective on what the ethical code says about the scenario.
  2. Their analysis of the cultural implications of doing what they are suggesting.
  3. Their application of all steps of the ethical decision-making model discussed in Fisher (2013) to this situation.
  4. Their resulting decision on how to handle Karen’s situation.

Your response may include comparing and contrasting several elements of the components or the outcome of your initial post.

Note: Remember, all of your discussion posts are expected to be written at a graduate level, be free from typos and spelling errors, and follow standard English grammar. You will need to support your points with in-text citations and references in APA style. This may include your readings for this course, but also outside scholarly sources that you obtain relevant to this discussion from our library.

Discuss the behavioral genetics of individual differences, being sure to focus on common misunderstandings about heritability estimates

1. Discuss the behavioral genetics of individual differences, being sure to focus on common misunderstandings about heritability estimates.
2 Two brain structures have been most frequently linked to human emotion. Which are they? Describe research that has implicated each in human emotion.
3. Explain color constancy. What important points does it make about the mechanisms of color vision? Describe a theory of color vision that can explain color constancy, focusing on the evidence that led to the theory.
4. Compare set-point and positive-incentive theories of hunger and eating. Compare their ability to predict two major research findings.
5.Describe and discuss sexual dimorphisms of the mammalian brain. How do they develop? Include cyclic gonadotropin release, the sexually dimorphic nucleus, and the aromatization hypothesis in your answer.

6.What distinguishes biopsychology from the other subdisciplines of neuroscience?

A.its focus on the study of behavior
B.its focus on animal subjects
C.its focus on psychiatric disorders
D.its focus on psychoactive drugs

7.Structure of the nervous system is to function of the nervous system as
A.biopsychology is to psychology.
B.neuroanatomy is to neurophysiology.
C.neuropathology is to clinical psychology.
D.neuroscience is to biopsychology

8.In the study of heritability estimates, increasing the genetic diversity of the subjects without introducing other changes would likely
A.decrease the heritability estimate.
B.confound the experiment.
C.increase the accuracy of the heritability estimate.
D.increase the heritability estimate.

9.The sensitive period for the development of a particular trait is the period
A.of chronic pain.
B.of sexual receptivity.
C.of fertility.
D.during which a particular experience must occur to have a major effect on the development of the trait.

Deterioration of the pathway from the substantia nigra to the striatum is often found in cases of
A.Korsakoff’s syndrome.
B.Parkinson’s disease.
C.autism.
D.Alzheimer’s disease.

Which of the following are multipolar cortical neurons with long axons, apical dendrites, and triangular cell bodies?
A.stellate cells
B.chandelier cells
C.pyramidal cells
D.granule cells

Many self-stimulation sites
A.contain serotonergic neurons.
B.are part of the mesotelencephalic dopamine system.
C.are adrenergic.
D.are glutaminergic

Which of the following drugs produces Buerger’s disease?
A.tobacco
B.morphine
C.marijuana
D.cocaine

Darwin believed that
A.expressions of emotion evolve from behaviors that indicate what an animal is likely to do next.
B.expressions of emotion evolve in ways that enhance their communicative function and that their original function may be lost.
C.opposite messages are often signaled by opposite movements and postures.
D.all of the above

The pattern of behavior that is observed in monkeys after their anterior temporal lobes have been removed is called
A.sham rage.
B.the Kluver-Bucy syndrome.
C.hippocampal rage.
D.septal rage.

Many studies have found structural and functional brain pathology in patients suffering from affective disorders. Although there is little consensus about the exact location of the brain pathology, it is most commonly observed in three structures. These structures include the
A.amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex.
B.hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex.
C.amygdala and hippocampus.
D.all of the above

Clinical depression and anxiety are comorbid disorders, which means that they
A.both increase the likelihood of suicide.
B.both increase susceptibility to terminal illness.
C.have the same effect on neurochemicals.
D.tend to occur together in the same individuals.

A.T. is a woman with selective damage to her dorsal visual stream. She has
A.little difficulty making accurate movements under visual control.
B.substantial difficulty making accurate movements under visual control.
C.substantial difficulty consciously recognizing objects.
D.lost all ability to respond to moving images.

In general, information in the primary visual cortex is thought to flow from __________ to __________ to __________.
A.lower layer IV; simple cells; complex cells
B.lower layer IV; complex cells; simple cells
C.simple cells; lower layer IV; complex cells
D.simple cells; complex cells; lower layer IV

In the classic transection experiments of Lawrence and Kuypers, monkeys with all their dorsolateral motor pathways transected sat with their arms hanging limply by their sides. However, these same monkeys had no difficulty
A.picking up pieces of food and then releasing them.
B.using their arms for standing, walking, and climbing.
C.reaching for moving objects.
D.moving their fingers independently.

According to current theory, the sensorimotor system
A.is largely ballistic.
B.is largely, if not entirely, ipsilateral.
C.comprises a hierarchy of central sensorimotor programs.
D.all of the above

The three phases of energy metabolism are, in sequence,
A.eat, fast, and absorb.
B.absorptive, cephalic, and fasting.
C.cephalic, absorptive, and fasting.
D.fasting, absorptive, and cephalic.

Set-point theories of hunger and eating are inconsistent with
A.eating-related evolutionary pressures as we understand them.
B.the major effects on eating of taste, learning, and social factors.
C.the failure of researchers to confirm that energy deficits are the usual stimuli for eating.
D.all of the above

Which of the following statements is true?
A.Men and women have fundamentally different anterior pituitaries.
B.Men and women have fundamentally different posterior pituitaries.
C.A male pituitary transplanted into a female displays a cyclic pattern of hormone release.
D.A female pituitary transplanted into a male displays a cyclic pattern of hormone release.

The external reproductive organs of males and females develop
A.from different tissue.
B.from the same bipotential tissue.
C.under environmental control.
D.under direct genetic control.

Assignment 2: Federalism

The system of federalism was instituted with the writing and authorization of the Constitution in 1787. In dividing power between states and the national government, federalism has undergone challenges to the placement of power. Should power reside primarily in national or in state government? The Civil War was the most dramatic challenge to the placement of power. Southern states argued, under the leadership of John C. Calhoun, that states’ power superseded national power, while northern states, under the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln, stressed the need for union under the leadership and direction of the national government.

In the more than two hundred years since the Constitution’s adoption, there have been many changes to the meaning of federalism, with power shifting between state and national governments. In the twentieth century, the shifts of power became largely associated with the national government’s ability to provide increased funding sources. With more funding available, the national government has expanded its impact on all areas of state governments. This increased power has had many advocates and many detractors, each with strong justifications.

Research federalism using your textbook, the Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet. Write a paper on federalism. Structure your paper as follows:

  • Define federalism.
  • Explain three advantages of federalism.
  • Explain three disadvantages of federalism.
  • Identify and describe at least two ways in which American federalism has changed since the ratification of the Constitution.
  • Discuss one advantage or disadvantage of federalism most relevant to you.
  • Describe the relationship between contemporary politics and trends in the size and power of the federal government.

Write a 2–3-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards for writing style to your work. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M2_A2.doc.

By Wednesday, June 4, 2014, deliver your assignment to the M2: Assignment 2 Dropbox.

Assignment 2 Grading Criteria
Maximum Points
Significant advantages and disadvantages of federalism are identified and explained.
20
Significant changes in American federalism are identified and explained.
16
Impact of federalism to your life is identified and discussed objectively.
12
Impact of size and power of the federal government of contemporary politics is accurately identified and explained.
20
Statements are supported by reasons and research information.
12
Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
20
Total:
100