Interrogations & Confessions

Question 1

Of all evidence presented to prosecutors, confessions are least valuable: true or false?

Answer 1

False

(We trust statements that are made against a person’s self-interest; people are more likely to believe someone who confesses to a crime than denies it. Confessions are therefore very powerful, but unfortunately the way in which confession evidence is obtained is equally very controversial.)

Question 2

Police seem to gain satisfaction and prowess from eliciting confessions - some even keeping count of how many confessions they are able to obtain. This is called:

Answer 2

Confession culture

Question 3

Despite “confession culture,” police don’t tend to admit that the aim of interrogating suspects is to elicit confessions. True or false?

Answer 3

False

(One study cited that about 80% police make confessions the aim of their interrogations.)

Question 4

Police tend to focus on getting confessions because people who confess are more likely to then:

a) be incarcerated
b) confess to other crimes
c) plead guilty

Answer 4

c) plead guilty

Question 5

The psychological phenomenon that occurs when we attribute a suspect’s behaviour to their being guilty of a crime (without acknowledging external factors) is called:

Answer 5

The fundamental attribution error

(Ignoring situational factors when evaluating someone’s behaviour for negative things, but doing the opposite for our own)

Question 6

Name the controversial 9-step process designed by Reid & colleagues in 1986 to elicit confessions from suspects:

Answer 6

The Reid Technique

Question 7

Sympathy and “face-saving” are examples of ____ strategies when eliciting confessions:

Answer 7

Minimisation

Question 8

Interrupting denial, overcoming objections and confrontation are examples of ____ strategies when eliciting confessions:

Answer 8

Maximisation

Question 9

According to Reid (1986), being overly polite is a sign that the suspect is:

Answer 9

Guilty

Question 10

According to Reid (1986), the ability to give concise answers means a suspect is probably:

Answer 10

Innocent

Question 11

If a suspect confesses and is actually guilty, then it is a:

1) False negative
2) Hit
3) False positive
4) True negative

Answer 11

Hit

Question 12

If a suspect confesses but is NOT guilty, then it is a:

1) Hit
2) True negative
3) False negative
4) False positive

Answer 12

False positive

Question 13

If the suspect does NOT confess but is guilty, then it is a:

1) False negative
2) False positive
3) Hit
4) True negative

Answer 13

False negative

Question 14

If there is NO confession and the suspect is NOT guilty, then it is a:

1) Hit
2) False negative
3) True negative
4) False positive

Answer 14

True negative

Question 15

Name the 3 types of false confessions:

Answer 15

Voluntary
Coerced compliant
Coerced internalised

Question 16

Name the type of false confession: a person knows they are not guilty, but incriminates himself with no pressure from the police.

Answer 16

Voluntary

Question 17

Name the type of false confession: an innocent suspect confesses after intense interrogation, but knows they are innocent.

Answer 17

Coerced compliant

Question 18

Name the type of false confession: an innocent person confesses after intense interrogation, and believes they are guilty.

Answer 18

Coerced internalised

Question 19

The case of Tom Sawyer, the victim of a coerced internalised false confession, also demonstrates which psychological phenomenon?

Answer 19

The fundamental attribution error

(Tom Sawyer had a plethora of mental health issues, including socialphobia and lower IQ. When interrogated by police, they were more likely to attribute his nervousness to being “guilty” than to his mental health.)

Question 20

US police can lie to suspects. True or false?

Answer 20

True

(Police may use statements such as “we found your fingerprints on the gun” or “we know you did it” in order to elicit confessions from suspects, even if they are innocent. This has implications especially for vulnerable witnesses, for whom original memories may be irretrievable.)

Question 21

Kassin et al (2005) found that police are not very good at identifying when confessions are true or false. They also found that they are most accurate when examining suspects via what?

Answer 21

Audio tapes

(Body language is thought to play role in identifying true or false confessions, even though research suggests that BL actually does not tell us much about whether a suspect is lying. Using audio tapes to examine confessions is therefore believed to be more reliable than using video tapes because police cannot see the suspect’s body language.)

Question 22

Police would rather believe that confessions are true rather than false. This is called:

Answer 22

Positive guilt bias

Question 23

Name the 3 variables measured in Kassin & Kiechel’s (1996) “reaction time task” (later revealed to be a study on false confessions):

Answer 23

Compliance
Internalisation
Confabulation

Question 24

In Kassin & Kiechel’s (1996) false confession study, results showed there was less compliance with the slow-paced condition, and more ____ with the fast-paced condition:

1- Compliance
2- Internalisation
3- Confabulation

Answer 24

Confabulation

Question 25

The 2 manipulated variables in Russano et al’s (2005) false vs true confessions study were minimalisation and:

Answer 25

No minimalisation

Question 26

The ratio of true to false confessions is called:

Answer 26

Diagnosticity

(The goal of any interrogation is to have high diagnosticity - that is, more true confessions that false ones.)

Question 27

Name the biggest risk factor for falsely confessing to a crime:

Answer 27

Innocence