Which of the following is FALSE?

Question

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Question and options restated:
- Question: Which of the following is FALSE?
- Options:
  1) People overestimate how reasonable it would be to deny a “consent search” requested by an officer
  2) Police demonstrate selective attention toward Black faces when the concept of “crime” is activated
  3) Stereotype-based decision making is at least partly responsible for observed racial bias in the criminal justice system
  4) Police officers underestimate the age of Black boys compared to white boys

Now, let's evaluate each option carefully:

Option 1: "People overestimate how reasonable it would be to deny a consent search requested by an officer." This statement suggests that when asked to judge the reasonableness of denying a consent search, people tend to think it would be more reasonable than it actually is. In bias research, laypeople often misjudge the reasonableness of police requests, sometimes perceiving consent searches as more legally justified or reasonable than jurors or legal standards would support. Therefore this option can be considered plausible and not false, depending on the specific studies referenced. It is not the clearly false claim in typical discussions of consent search perceptions.

Option 2: "Police demonstrate selective attention toward Black faces when the concept of ‘crime’ is activated." This aligns with well-documented findings in social cognition and criminology showing perceptual biases: when crime-related schemas are activated, people tend to disproportionately notice or recall Black faces, reflecting selective attention linked to stereotype activation. This option reflects a supported phenomenon.

Option 3: "Stereotype-based decision making is at least partly responsible for observed racial bias in the criminal justice system." This is a central claim in bias and criminology literature: stereotypes influence judgments and decisions at multiple stages of the justice process, contributing to racial disparities. It is widely accepted as true and well-supported.

Option 4: "Police officers underestimate the age of Black boys compared to white boys." This statement asserts that officers judge Black boys to be younger than they actually are relative to white boys. However, substantial evidence in the literature on policing and youth perception indicates the opposite pattern in many contexts: Black youths are often perceived as older, or age misperceptions can lead to harsher responses because age affects admissibility, detainment, or charges. In other words, the common finding is not that officers systematically underestimate the age of Black boys; rather, they may perceive them as older, or age misperception can be biased in ways that contribute to heightened policing, which would make the statement as written false.

Why the others are not false (and how they align with established ideas):
- Option 1 is consistent with research on lay judgments about police requests, where people may overestimate the defensibility or legitimacy of consent searches due to authority cues and risk perceptions.
- Option 2 matches findings on perceptual bias under task- or context-driven activation of crime schemas.
- Option 3 reflects the consensus that stereotypes shape many criminal justice decisions, contributing to racial bias.

Summary in plain terms: Options 1–3 describe well-supported bias phenomena in policing and judgment. Option 4 makes a claim about age perception that contradicts much of the evidence indicating Black youths are often perceived as older, not younger, than their white counterparts. Therefore, Option 4 is the false statement among the four.

2261 PSY 0105 SEC1000 Final Exam- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

Which of the following is FALSE?

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