Problem 1: What are the different motives for false confessions/types of false confession?
False confession = False confessions occur when an innocent person makes a false admission of guilt
and subsequently produces a postadmission narrative, which includes details about how or why the
crime was committed.
1. Why do people falsely confess?
Kassin, S. M., Drizin, S. A., Grisso, T., Gudjonsson, G. H., Leo, R. A., & Redlich, A. D. (2010). Police-
induced confessions, risk factors, and recommendations: Looking ahead
False Confession (Research Definition):
1. It is later discovered that no crime was committed
2. Additional evidence shows, it was physically impossible for the confessor to have committed
the crime
3. The real perpetrator, having no connection to the defendant, is apprehended and linked to
the crime
4. Scientific evidence affirmatively establishes the confessor’s innocence
Types of False Confessions
Type Description Reasons
Voluntary False An innocent person claims responsibility a pathological desire for fame
Confessions for a crime s/he did not commit without need for self-punishment
(= most common) prompting or pressure from the police. desire to protect the actual perpetrator
(Coerced-) A suspect is induced through escape a stressful situation
Compliant False interrogation to confess to a crime s/he avoid punishment (suspect is told that there is
Confessions did not commit. incontrovertible evidence of their involvement)
gain a promised or implied reward.
The suspect knows that he or she is innocent but bows
to social pressure, often coming to believe that the
short-term benefits of confession relative to denial
outweigh the long-term costs.
(Coerced-) Innocent but malleable suspects, people develop such a profound distrust of their
Internalized False capitulate in their behavior but also to own memory that they become vulnerable to
Confessions believe that they may have committed influence from external sources.
the crime in question, sometimes an inability to distinguish fact from fantasy
confabulating false memories in the
process.
Psychological perspectives (reasoning)
Maximize well-being in a current situation
People make choices that they think will maximize their well-being given the constraints they face,
making the best of the situation they are in
Immediate outcomes are preferred over delayed ones
People tend to be impulsive in their orientation, preferring outcomes that are immediate rather than
delayed, with delayed outcomes depreciating over time in their subjective value
Vulnerable to influence
Individuals are highly vulnerable to influence from change agents who seek their compliance
, 2. What predisposes someone to give a false confession? (dispositional factors)
Risk factors:
(1) Dispositional
a. Personality & psychopathology
- ADHD
- Anticocial traits
- Mental ilnesses
- Psychological vulnerability
Low self-esteem
High suggestibility
Compliance
b. Adolescence & immaturity
c. Cognitive & intellectual disability
- Low IQ
- Memory problems
d. Innocense
- Illusion of transperancy
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2002). Unreliable confessions and miscarriages of justice in Britain
Personal factors (dispositional): borderline intelligence, high suggestibility, compliance, personality
disorders, clinical depression, memory problems, poor self-esteem, anxiety problems, psychological
vulnerability, diagnosed psychopathologies combined with compliance, substance disorder,
suggestibility and IQ level.
Gudjonsson, G. H., & Young, S. (2006). An overlooked vulnerability in a defendant: Attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder and a miscarriage of justice.
ADHD is a neglected vulnerability, which can leave a suspect disadvantaged when interviewed by the
police and also during court proceedings. Defendant may blurt out first thing that comes to mind, be
inconsistent and give conflicting evidence. May become emotional labile, distresses and/or angry
when giving evidence. These are vulnerabilities that are likely to be misinterpreted by a jury.
Case study
15-year old boy convicted of murder together with his brother, no forensic evidence, only
circumstantial. Lies during one of the interviews. Was used against him during trial.
Defense argued that because if this, the jury should be instructed not to draw adverse inferences
from the defendant’s failure to give evidence. The Judge disagreed and declines this claim and the
defendant was convicted. Case went to appeal; mental retardation (IQ) was masking his other more
relevant vulnerabilities (ADHD). She wrote a new report outlining the implications of ADHD for the
defendant’s fitness to stand trial which changed the courts mind.
Individuals with an impulsive cognitive style -> more vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation on
false confessions.
Kassin, S. M., Drizin, S. A., Grisso, T., Gudjonsson, G. H., Leo, R. A., & Redlich, A. D. (2010). Police-
induced confessions, risk factors, and recommendations: Looking ahead
Dispositional factors
- Adolescence and immaturity
Juveniles are at risk for involuntary and false confessions in the interrogation room
,Known for suggestibility, heightened obedience to authority, and immature decision-making abilities
Not understanding (Miranda) rights
- Cognitive and intellectual disability
Same as for adolescents + IQ < 70 = more likely to succumb under pressure, very depending on
authority figures, adapting to societal norms, communication, social and interpersonal skills, and self-
direction
- Personality and psychopathology
Persons with antisocial personality disorder, or antisocial traits, are more likely to be involved in
offending, more often interviewed by police, and prone to lie for short-term instrumental gain, and
are less concerned about the consequences of their behaviour
Psychopathology seems to be linked to false confessions in that persons with mental illness are
extremely prone to suggestibility, compliance, faulty reality monitoring, distorted perception,
impaired judgment, anxiety, mood disturbance, poor self-control, and feelings of guilt.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
- Innocence as a risk factor
Innocence itself may put innocents at risk. People who stand falsely accused tend to believe that
truth and justice will prevail and that their innocence will become transparent to investigators, juries,
and others. As a result, they cooperate fully with police, often failing to realize that they are suspects
not witnesses, by waiving their rights to silence and a lawyer, speaking freely to defend themselves.
Illusion of transparency = Tendency to believe that one’s truth/thoughts are transparent to others; if
you feel that you’re innocent, others will be able to see that you are innocent
Narchet, F. M., Meissner, C. A., & Russano, M. B. (2011). Modeling the influence of investigator
bias on the elicitation of true and false confessions.
Five factors should be considered when assessing why suspects confess:
1. Social (e.g., the suspect’s feelings of isolation and their need for approval or
affiliation, authority figure is of extreme relevance)
2. Emotional (e.g., the suspect’s feelings of distress or anxiety)
3. Cognitive (e.g., the suspect’s thoughts and interpretations of the interrogation
situation, including the strength of evidence presented)
4. Situational (e.g., pre-existing circumstances associated with the suspect, such as his
or her experience with the legal system)
5. Physiological (e.g., the suspect’s aroused physical state, including heart rate, blood
pressure, and perspiration)
3. What external circumstances lead someone to give a false confession? (situational factors)
(2) Situational
a. Minimization
- Cheating paradigm
b. Maximization
- Presentation of false evidence
c. Physical custody & isolation
- Food & sleep deprivation
d. Investigator bias
Evidence for situational factors is stronger than for dispositional factors. Experimental designs of
dispositional factors are of poorer quality.
, Gudjonsson, G. H. (2002). Unreliable confessions and miscarriages of justice in Britain
Professionals factors (situational): coercive or oppressive interviewing, failure to caution the detainee
or provide them with lawyer or a call, alteration of interview records, suppression of exculpatory
evidence, perjury, misdirection by a trial judge, fabrication of evidence, alteration of records,
suppressing evidence, professional malpractice
Kassin, S. M., Drizin, S. A., Grisso, T., Gudjonsson, G. H., Leo, R. A., & Redlich, A. D. (2010). Police-
induced confessions, risk factors, and recommendations: Looking ahead.
The US Supreme Court has attempted to prevent false confessions through two rules:
Corroboration Rules: which requires that confessions be corroborated by independent
evidence.
Voluntariness Rules: which states that confessions are excluded from evidence when
coerced.
Situational risk factors:
Physical Custody and Isolation
Human beings have need for affiliation, especially when they are in stressful situation, and if you’re in
isolation for longer period of time, it can heighten the person’s distress. They have a high need to
remove them from the situation and are therefore more likely to confess.
-> increases when addicted to substances
Sleep deprivation may also become a source of concern -> Sleep deprivation impairs many of the
cognitive skills that may be crucial in resisting this type of coercive environment, Sleep deprivation
reduces inhibitory control, leading people to make riskier decisions and interferes with their ability to
anticipate and measure the consequences of their actions. Inhibit behavioral impulses and resist
suggestive influences.
Presentation of false evidence
The forensic literature on confessions indicates that presentations of false evidence can lead people
to confess to crimes they did not commit
Suspects internalize the guilt -> experiment where internalization is measured by confederate who
was waiting outside lab after experiment, participants thought experiment was already over, if s/he
told confederate that s/he done it (pressing ESC button) confession was internalized -> however
really minor confession
Minimization
= Underplay the seriousness of the crime, false sense of security by offering sympathy, moral
justification for why he or she might have committed the crime.
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.
Russano, M. B., Meissner, C. A., Narchet, F. M., & Kassin, S. M. (2005). Investigating true and false
confessions within a novel experimental paradigm. Psychological Science, 16, 481–486.
Study Aim: Develop an ethical laboratory paradigm with which to study the effects of psychologically
based interrogation techniques on the likelihood of true and false confessions.
