Problem 1: False confessions
Kassin & Drizin (2010): Police-induced confessions: Risk factors and
recommendations
About 15-20% of exonerated cases contained a false confession.
How is a false confession determined?
- It is later discovered that there was no crime
- Additional evidence shows that it was physically impossible for the suspect to
have committed that crime
- The real perpetrator is found
- Scientific evidence is discovered, like DNA.
False confessions are most common in murder cases. They are mostly given by males
under 25 of which 22% is mentally retarded and 10% is diagnosed with a mental
illness.
The purpose of an interrogation is to elicit incriminating statements, admissions or a
confession. This induces stress in the suspect. An often-used technique is the Reid-
technique.
The Supreme Court made 2 rules:
1. Corroboration rule which states that confessions have to be corroborated by
independent evidence
2. Voluntariness rule which states that confessions are excluded from evidence
if they are coerced
Tactics:
- Maximization: The interrogator portrays he knows that the suspect is guilty.
He does not accept denials from the suspect.
- Minimization: The interrogator gives the suspect moral justification and
excuses for having committed the crime.
- Deception: The interrogator tries to trick the suspect by using false evidence.
The objective of an interrogation is to increase the anxiety and despair that is
associated with a denial and reduce the anxiety associated with a confession.
,Types of false confessions
1. Voluntary false confessions are confessions that are given without pressure
from the police. An innocent person claims responsibility for a crime
voluntarily.
- Possible reasons: Desire for fame, need for self-punishment, inability
to distinguish fact from fantasy or a desire to protect the actual
offender.
2. Compliant false confessions are confessions that are induced through
interrogation. The suspect gives in to the social pressure. The short-term
consequences outweigh the long-term consequences.
- Possible reasons: To escape a stressful situation, to avoid punishment,
or to gain a promised or implied reward.
3. Internalized false confessions are confessions that are also induced through
interrogation, but the suspect starts to believe that they could have committed
the crime.
- Possible reasons: Distrusting own memory
Core principles behind false confessions:
o People are highly responsive to reinforcement
o People are subject to the laws of conditioning
o Behaviour is influenced more by short-term consequences than long-term
consequences
o People have a general preference for immediate outcomes
o People are vulnerable to pressure to comply
Risk factors for false confessions
Situational factors
- Physical custody and isolation: Interrogators take suspects away from their
familiar surroundings and isolate them. Isolation increases stress and the
incentive to remove oneself from the situation. The length of an interrogation
is generally over 4 hours, which also increases the likelihood of a false
confession.
- False evidence: The usage of false evidence in an interrogation increases the
likelihood of a false confession. The outcome seems inevitable for the suspect
, and they will try to accept and comply. False evidence can change
judgements, beliefs, perceptions and memory.
- Minimization: It is known that immediate outcomes have a bigger impact on
behaviour than delayed outcomes. Interrogators often use pragmatic
implications, which means that no actual promises are made, but they are
insinuated. This increases the likelihood of a false confession.
Dispositional factors
- Adolescence: Adolescents are less mature on cognitive and psychosocial
levels, which lead them to make impulsive decisions. They have a decreased
ability to consider the long-term consequences of their behaviour.
- Cognitive and intellectual disability: When a suspect has an IQ-score of
below 70, they are more likely to succumb under pressure. In their day-to-day
life, they are very dependent on authority figures, so in a police interrogation,
they will agree with leading questions. They do not have the capacity to
understand the questions and the consequences for answering.
- Personality and psychopathology: People with antisocial personality traits
are more likely to be involved in crime and are less concerned with the
consequences of their actions. People with psychopathology have a faulty
reality monitoring and therefore impaired judgement. False confessions are
higher among ADHD patients.
Kassin & Kiechel (1996): The social psychology of false confessions
Aim was to demonstrate that false incriminating evidence can lead people to accept
guilt for a crime they did not commit.
Method
ALT-key paradigm
1. A participant and a confederate are put together in a room
2. One has to read a list of letters out loud and the other types the letters on the
keyboard
3. Participants are warned not to press the ALT key, because this will cause the
program to crash and the data will be lost.
4. After one minute, the computer ‘crashes’ and a distress experimenter accuses
the subject of having pressed the ALT key
, Independent variables
- Vulnerability was manipulated by varying the pace of the task (slow vs. fast)
- False incriminating evidence was manipulated. The confederate states that
he/she saw the subject press the ALT-key or that he/she did not see what
happened.
Dependent variables
- Compliance was measured by a signed confession
- Internalization was measured by a second confederate asking what happened
in the reception area.
- Confabulation was measured by bringing the subject back in and asking to
reconstruct the event.
Results
o Subjects in the slow-pace/no-witness group were least likely to confess
o Subjects in the fast-pace/witness group were most likely to confess
Limitations
- Every participant is innocent, so this paradigm does not study true
confessions.
- It is possible that people are not sure whether they are guilty or not, but this is
not ecologically valid.
Kassin (2005): Does innocence put innocents at risk?
Actual innocence does not protect the innocent.
Reasons:
1. Investigators commit false-positive errors, because they presume that the
innocent suspects are guilty.
a. This is caused by the Reid-technique. Before the actual interrogation,
the investigator has already decided on the guilt of the suspect. This
causes confirmation bias.
2. Innocent suspects believe naively in the transparency of their innocence and
thus waive their rights to silence and counsel.
a. Adolescents and people with mental disorders are not able to fully
understand these rights.
b. Police often try to overcome Miranda rights by making small talk
Kassin & Drizin (2010): Police-induced confessions: Risk factors and
recommendations
About 15-20% of exonerated cases contained a false confession.
How is a false confession determined?
- It is later discovered that there was no crime
- Additional evidence shows that it was physically impossible for the suspect to
have committed that crime
- The real perpetrator is found
- Scientific evidence is discovered, like DNA.
False confessions are most common in murder cases. They are mostly given by males
under 25 of which 22% is mentally retarded and 10% is diagnosed with a mental
illness.
The purpose of an interrogation is to elicit incriminating statements, admissions or a
confession. This induces stress in the suspect. An often-used technique is the Reid-
technique.
The Supreme Court made 2 rules:
1. Corroboration rule which states that confessions have to be corroborated by
independent evidence
2. Voluntariness rule which states that confessions are excluded from evidence
if they are coerced
Tactics:
- Maximization: The interrogator portrays he knows that the suspect is guilty.
He does not accept denials from the suspect.
- Minimization: The interrogator gives the suspect moral justification and
excuses for having committed the crime.
- Deception: The interrogator tries to trick the suspect by using false evidence.
The objective of an interrogation is to increase the anxiety and despair that is
associated with a denial and reduce the anxiety associated with a confession.
,Types of false confessions
1. Voluntary false confessions are confessions that are given without pressure
from the police. An innocent person claims responsibility for a crime
voluntarily.
- Possible reasons: Desire for fame, need for self-punishment, inability
to distinguish fact from fantasy or a desire to protect the actual
offender.
2. Compliant false confessions are confessions that are induced through
interrogation. The suspect gives in to the social pressure. The short-term
consequences outweigh the long-term consequences.
- Possible reasons: To escape a stressful situation, to avoid punishment,
or to gain a promised or implied reward.
3. Internalized false confessions are confessions that are also induced through
interrogation, but the suspect starts to believe that they could have committed
the crime.
- Possible reasons: Distrusting own memory
Core principles behind false confessions:
o People are highly responsive to reinforcement
o People are subject to the laws of conditioning
o Behaviour is influenced more by short-term consequences than long-term
consequences
o People have a general preference for immediate outcomes
o People are vulnerable to pressure to comply
Risk factors for false confessions
Situational factors
- Physical custody and isolation: Interrogators take suspects away from their
familiar surroundings and isolate them. Isolation increases stress and the
incentive to remove oneself from the situation. The length of an interrogation
is generally over 4 hours, which also increases the likelihood of a false
confession.
- False evidence: The usage of false evidence in an interrogation increases the
likelihood of a false confession. The outcome seems inevitable for the suspect
, and they will try to accept and comply. False evidence can change
judgements, beliefs, perceptions and memory.
- Minimization: It is known that immediate outcomes have a bigger impact on
behaviour than delayed outcomes. Interrogators often use pragmatic
implications, which means that no actual promises are made, but they are
insinuated. This increases the likelihood of a false confession.
Dispositional factors
- Adolescence: Adolescents are less mature on cognitive and psychosocial
levels, which lead them to make impulsive decisions. They have a decreased
ability to consider the long-term consequences of their behaviour.
- Cognitive and intellectual disability: When a suspect has an IQ-score of
below 70, they are more likely to succumb under pressure. In their day-to-day
life, they are very dependent on authority figures, so in a police interrogation,
they will agree with leading questions. They do not have the capacity to
understand the questions and the consequences for answering.
- Personality and psychopathology: People with antisocial personality traits
are more likely to be involved in crime and are less concerned with the
consequences of their actions. People with psychopathology have a faulty
reality monitoring and therefore impaired judgement. False confessions are
higher among ADHD patients.
Kassin & Kiechel (1996): The social psychology of false confessions
Aim was to demonstrate that false incriminating evidence can lead people to accept
guilt for a crime they did not commit.
Method
ALT-key paradigm
1. A participant and a confederate are put together in a room
2. One has to read a list of letters out loud and the other types the letters on the
keyboard
3. Participants are warned not to press the ALT key, because this will cause the
program to crash and the data will be lost.
4. After one minute, the computer ‘crashes’ and a distress experimenter accuses
the subject of having pressed the ALT key
, Independent variables
- Vulnerability was manipulated by varying the pace of the task (slow vs. fast)
- False incriminating evidence was manipulated. The confederate states that
he/she saw the subject press the ALT-key or that he/she did not see what
happened.
Dependent variables
- Compliance was measured by a signed confession
- Internalization was measured by a second confederate asking what happened
in the reception area.
- Confabulation was measured by bringing the subject back in and asking to
reconstruct the event.
Results
o Subjects in the slow-pace/no-witness group were least likely to confess
o Subjects in the fast-pace/witness group were most likely to confess
Limitations
- Every participant is innocent, so this paradigm does not study true
confessions.
- It is possible that people are not sure whether they are guilty or not, but this is
not ecologically valid.
Kassin (2005): Does innocence put innocents at risk?
Actual innocence does not protect the innocent.
Reasons:
1. Investigators commit false-positive errors, because they presume that the
innocent suspects are guilty.
a. This is caused by the Reid-technique. Before the actual interrogation,
the investigator has already decided on the guilt of the suspect. This
causes confirmation bias.
2. Innocent suspects believe naively in the transparency of their innocence and
thus waive their rights to silence and counsel.
a. Adolescents and people with mental disorders are not able to fully
understand these rights.
b. Police often try to overcome Miranda rights by making small talk
