Lesson 4.3.9.1

4.3.9.1 Offender profiling Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.3.9.1, Offender profiling: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Psychology (7182), Unit 3: Issues and options in Psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which profiling approach classifies offenders into organised or disorganised categories?

    • Investigative psychology
    • Geographical profiling
    • Top-down approach
    • Bottom-up approach

  2. Which characteristic is typical of an organised offender according to the top-down approach?

    • Low IQ
    • Planned crime
    • Unplanned crime
    • Random victim

  3. Which characteristic is typical of a disorganised offender according to the top-down approach?

    • Impulsive behaviour
    • Vehicle used
    • High intelligence
    • Premeditated target

  4. Which approach to offender profiling relies on statistical analysis of crime data?

    • Biological approach
    • Top-down approach
    • Typology approach
    • Bottom-up approach

  5. Which approach is most associated with investigative psychology?

    • The typology approach
    • The data-driven approach
    • The deprivation approach
    • The priming approach

  6. What does geographical profiling use to predict an offender's likely base?

    • Personality traits
    • Victim profiles
    • Genetic markers
    • Crime locations

  7. What is a major limitation of the top-down typology approach?

    • Time consuming
    • Overly simplistic
    • Too objective
    • Requires computers

  8. What is a key strength of bottom-up offender profiling compared to top-down profiling?

    • More objective
    • Ignores statistical data
    • Uses fixed types
    • Relies on intuition

  9. A detective maps crime locations to find an offender's base. Which technique is this?

    • Top-down profiling
    • Geographical profiling
    • Genetic profiling
    • Typology profiling

  10. Which offender type leaves a clean crime scene with weapon and evidence removed?

    • Disorganised offender
    • Impulsive offender
    • Organised offender
    • Opportunistic offender

  11. What is the primary purpose of offender profiling in police investigations?

    • Predict future crimes
    • Prove guilt directly
    • Narrow suspect field
    • Replace police work

  12. Which approach to offender profiling originated from the FBI in the USA?

    • Geographical profiling
    • Investigative psychology
    • Bottom-up approach
    • Top-down approach

  13. Which branch of bottom-up profiling applies psychological theories to legal evidence?

    • Geographical profiling
    • Typology approach
    • Investigative psychology
    • Top-down profiling

  14. Why was the original FBI sample for top-down profiling criticised?

    • High ecological validity
    • Small sample size
    • Double-blind design
    • Large sample size

  15. Why is geographical profiling helpful to police during an investigation?

    • Guarantees conviction
    • Prioritises search areas
    • Identifies exact DNA
    • Replaces forensic evidence

  16. Why can an offender profile alone never be used to establish guilt in court?

    • It is unscientific
    • It is illegal
    • It lacks validity
    • It gives probabilities

  17. What type of profiling approach is investigative psychology?

    • Data-driven approach
    • Biological approach
    • Top-down approach
    • Typology approach

  18. Why is presenting offender profiles as evidence in court controversial?

    • Risk of prejudice
    • High financial cost
    • Lack of speed
    • Illegal status

  19. Which behaviour is characteristic of an organised offender at a crime scene?

    • High level planning
    • Leaving evidence
    • Random victim selection
    • Impulsive action

  20. Which profiling approach predicts that an offender lives near the centre of their crimes?

    • Investigative psychology
    • Typology approach
    • Clinical profiling
    • Geographical profiling

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