Terms concepts Definitions examples The Central Park rape A woman who was jogging in Central Park was brutally raped in 1989 case She was white and well educated and there was a lot of media rape DNA attention and pressure to catch the offender The woman couldn t remember anything from the incident because of a head injury 5 teenagers were questioned and confessed They were interrogated separately all had different stories and got some of the basic details wrong The confessions were videotaped but the previous hours of interrogation hadn t been Afterwards the teens said their confessions were not true but people didn t believe them and they went to prison There was no physical link between the teenagers and the victim All that was certain was that they were in Central Park the night of the Later in 2002 an imprisoned rapist confessed and they matched his Why would you confess to a rape you didn t commit Because of the pressure during interrogation Why did the police believe them They were under pressure to catch the perpetrator Confirmation bias at work Central Park case o Looked at information that confirmed theory they committed the offenses o Ignored all the inconsistencies that suggested they did not know important details of offense Video on false A 15 year old girl Katie was murdered near the Trail of Tears confessions The case had remained unsolved for two years A 20 year old Brazilian named Roberto who went to school with Katie volunteered to go in for questioning The police are allowed to lie and threaten jail time Roberto was intensively interrogated and confessed to murdering Katie under the impression that he would be let go if he told the police what they wanted to hear Roberto was in fact out of the country when Katie was killed His passport had been stamped and there was even an X ray from a dentist appointment on the day she was killed but authorities refused to believe him after his confession this is due to confirmation bias o 1 An authority figure insisting on guilt o 2 Lying to suspects about false evidence connecting them to a crime Suspect is under intense pressure why people confess believing their confessions o Stereotypes o Reinforcement operant condition immediate rewards o Motivation deprivation food social needs Saul Kassin research False confession includes two factors o Social Impact conformity obedience o Adolescence more compliant suggestible o Memory malleable o Fundamental Attribution Error other biases Determining the A confession is compelling evidence but caution is needed to avoid accuracy of a confession confirmation bias Factors that increase likelihood of coercion o Age and competency young people or people of low intelligence are more likely to confess o Conditions of custody and interrogation harsh conditions make a confession more likely Are the details consistent Are their facts knowable only to offender Consider the confession in its context not just a videotape obtained without prep Interrogators are told to Nonverbal cues consider Gaze aversion Frozen posture Slouching Anxiousness Unconcerned Guarded And they believe they can tell if someone is lying Who is at risk to believe Innocent people because they trust the justice system false confessions The Reid Technique of Isolate in small bare sound proof room interrogation Develop a theme of guilt Interrupt expressions of innocence Pressure then show sympathy Offer a face saving explanation for crime Increase anxiety associated with denial Reduce the perception of negative consequences for confessing Social psychology of Deindividuation we lose track of ourselves and become part of the large group mob collective group mentality Dehumanization the police may call people pigs animals Halloween in Madison 2004 out of control rioting fires Social Norms how we are supposed to act can be positive or Social Roles negative Group Think 2005 police cracked down students vs police students resisted 2006 cooperation you had to pay to enter police were more friendly and let minor issues go group think not to be violent people were less anonymous deindividuation lessened 2011 2012 Madison Very few arrests perhaps even less than at Badger games protests Pressure to behave well positive social norms solidarity No us vs them mentality with the police Positive group think Social norms were enforced by reminders from others in the group Diversity children the elderly etc reduced mob mentality Social roles were defined behavior Sherif competition breeds hostility while cooperation breeds positive Compared to Arizona riots police were tear gassing people Final 4 loss police were ready for riots but norms had already been established for behavior on State Street March Madness Badgers Sweet 16 win no serious trouble on State Street Hot Science the Eyes Is the honor system enough to pay for coffee Have it article They posted images of eyes vs images of flowers People were more likely to pay with the images of eyes they were mindful of being ethical Real World Making the Speed dating who initiates the first move Move article Women were choosier when men made the first move and men were Cognitive dissonance in the context of the study where people did a boring task and were choosier when women made the first move This indicates that there are possibly no gender differences in choosiness because men tend to make the first move paid 1 or 20 to say they enjoyed it The cognitive dissonance I said I liked the task but I didn t actually like the task 2 Solutions o Solution 1 change your cognition to liking the task o Solution 2 add a justification to your cognition by getting paid a lot to say you liked it Cooperation behavior by 2 or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit Prisoner s dilemma Cooperation by B doesn t Noncooperation by confess B confesses Cooperation by A A and B get 1 year in prison A gets 30 years and doesn t confess B 0 years in prison Noncooperation by A A gets 0 years and B 30 A and B get 10 confesses years in prison years in prison It benefits them to cooperate with each other but if they don t trust each other either they will end up with worse sentences