Comments on: The persuasive power of false confessions http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/ Neuroscience and psychology news and views. Mon, 20 May 2013 15:51:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: rationalrevolution http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-21086 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:05:04 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-21086 To me this indicates that witnesses and experts should be very clearly advised that their role is not to try and solve the crime or to try and identify the perpetrator, but simply to provide a single point of evidence. They should make their judgement irrespective of the other points of evidence in the case.

Of course this is already probably well know, the problem is that in practise police and prosecutors intentionality pressure people, knowing that it underlines the validity of the testimony, just to get “some” conviction.

The real problem is that the system is set-up to incentivize successful prosecution over actual crime solving.

]]> By: Jennifer R. Ewing http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5163 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:45:38 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5163 Dr. Rovner,
You will note I said “likely”, not “always”. I will defer to your assertion that polygraph “evidence” is admissible in several states. That doesn’t change the fact I’m still surprised that Vaughan seems to treat the “false confession” idea as a new concept :-) .

]]> By: Louis Rovner, PhD http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5162 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:16:52 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5162 Vaughan,
Here are a few references:
Honts, Charles R., Raskin, David C. & Kircher, John C. (1985)
Effects of Socialization on the Physiological Detection of Deception. Journal of Research in Personality, 19, 373-385.
Patrick, Christopher J. & Iacono, William G. (1989)
Psychopathy, Threat and Polygraph Test Accuracy. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 347-355.
Raskin, David C. & Hare, Robert D. (1978)
Psychopathy and Detection of Deception In a Prison Population. Psychophysiology, 15, 126-136.

]]> By: Vaughan http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5161 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:09:51 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5161 “There is actually a good deal of published scientific research which shows that sociopaths and psychopaths cannot beat a polygraph test”.
References?
I could only find one study on PubMed using the search terms ‘polygraph (psychopath* OR sociopath*)’
Link:
http://tinyurl.com/y95lmw8
It found the opposite:
Verschuere et al (2005) PMID 15787861
“prisoners scoring high on the Impulsive Antisociality factor of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI-II) exhibited reduced electrodermal responding. This finding indicates that the sensitivity of the concealed information test may be decreased in antisocial offenders.”

]]> By: lerandia http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5160 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:29:01 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5160 While I cannot say that I am surprised by the report, it still chilling in light of recent history. Moreover, the connection, and potential invalidity, of ‘high-pressure interrogation’ and torture as a means to extract information can’t be ignored.
Moral imperative aside, both means of extracting information or confession seem to be fundamentally flawed. Perhaps I’m mistaken, but shouldn’t investigators and interrogators pursue other venues of information extraction that correlate to more accurate and reproducible results? By that I refer to evidence that memory and perception are susceptible to a variety of influences.
Additionally, interrogation also seems unethical given that some individuals may suffer a range of psychological problems resulting from this form of information gathering. Not only that, but the manpower and other resources seem to wasted when a more efficient, and effective, method can be found.
It just seems illogical and barbaric.
~Nichole

]]> By: Louis Rovner, PhD http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5159 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:27:11 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5159 Jennifer,
There is actually a good deal of published scientific research which shows that sociopaths and psychopaths cannot beat a polygraph test. It may be counterintuitive, but facts are facts.
Also, you may be interested to learn that polygraph tests have been admitted in criminal courts in several states in the past few years.

]]> By: Jennifer R. Ewing http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5158 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:47:56 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-persuasive-power-of-false-confessions/#comment-5158 This post seems to suggest that you’re surprised by the results. False confessions are not a new phenomenon in criminology. On a related note, that’s why “lie detector” (i e polygraph) tests are inadmissible in American court; if you’re innocent but scared you’ll likely fail, but if you’re a sociopath with no sense of remorse or empathy for your actions you’ll likely pass.

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