Saul Kassin

Then the experimenter turns and says, turns to the subject. Before you start typing, I should warn you. There's a problem with the hardware in this computer. Whatever you do, don't hit the alt key. If you hit the alt key, we may lose all our data. The computer will crash. So whatever you do, don't hit the alt key. Subject says, I get it.

Then the experimenter turns and says, turns to the subject. Before you start typing, I should warn you. There's a problem with the hardware in this computer. Whatever you do, don't hit the alt key. If you hit the alt key, we may lose all our data. The computer will crash. So whatever you do, don't hit the alt key. Subject says, I get it.

Then the experimenter turns and says, turns to the subject. Before you start typing, I should warn you. There's a problem with the hardware in this computer. Whatever you do, don't hit the alt key. If you hit the alt key, we may lose all our data. The computer will crash. So whatever you do, don't hit the alt key. Subject says, I get it.

About a minute or two in, the experimenter erupts and says, oh my God, what just happened? looks across the table at the subject and says, did you hit the Alt key? Subject says, no, I never touched it.

About a minute or two in, the experimenter erupts and says, oh my God, what just happened? looks across the table at the subject and says, did you hit the Alt key? Subject says, no, I never touched it.

About a minute or two in, the experimenter erupts and says, oh my God, what just happened? looks across the table at the subject and says, did you hit the Alt key? Subject says, no, I never touched it.

So what happened was that in the presence of false evidence, when the Confederates said, I saw him or her hit that key, we got a substantial increase in the number of people who then falsely confessed and agreed to sign the paper to hitting the alt key. Some sub-number of them also then internalized the belief.

So what happened was that in the presence of false evidence, when the Confederates said, I saw him or her hit that key, we got a substantial increase in the number of people who then falsely confessed and agreed to sign the paper to hitting the alt key. Some sub-number of them also then internalized the belief.

So what happened was that in the presence of false evidence, when the Confederates said, I saw him or her hit that key, we got a substantial increase in the number of people who then falsely confessed and agreed to sign the paper to hitting the alt key. Some sub-number of them also then internalized the belief.

Was she here the whole time? Ninety-some percent of the time they said, yeah, she was here the whole time. I would have seen her, heard her go out. You know, we were chatting away.

Was she here the whole time? Ninety-some percent of the time they said, yeah, she was here the whole time. I would have seen her, heard her go out. You know, we were chatting away.

Was she here the whole time? Ninety-some percent of the time they said, yeah, she was here the whole time. I would have seen her, heard her go out. You know, we were chatting away.

Are you sure she was here the whole time? And the subject now drops from being absolutely certain that this other person never left the room to I'm not so sure anymore. Now more than 50% of them cannot vouch for her presence in the room with them, even though she was there breathing at the other side of this wall.

Are you sure she was here the whole time? And the subject now drops from being absolutely certain that this other person never left the room to I'm not so sure anymore. Now more than 50% of them cannot vouch for her presence in the room with them, even though she was there breathing at the other side of this wall.

Are you sure she was here the whole time? And the subject now drops from being absolutely certain that this other person never left the room to I'm not so sure anymore. Now more than 50% of them cannot vouch for her presence in the room with them, even though she was there breathing at the other side of this wall.

They could no longer vouch for her presence because they heard that she had confessed. And they didn't even get to see or read a compelling confession. They were simply given a secondhand account of the fact that she confessed. And that's what we've seen in actual cases. Once a false confession is out of the bag, it corrupts everything around it. It corrupts eyewitnesses. It corrupts alibis.

They could no longer vouch for her presence because they heard that she had confessed. And they didn't even get to see or read a compelling confession. They were simply given a secondhand account of the fact that she confessed. And that's what we've seen in actual cases. Once a false confession is out of the bag, it corrupts everything around it. It corrupts eyewitnesses. It corrupts alibis.

They could no longer vouch for her presence because they heard that she had confessed. And they didn't even get to see or read a compelling confession. They were simply given a secondhand account of the fact that she confessed. And that's what we've seen in actual cases. Once a false confession is out of the bag, it corrupts everything around it. It corrupts eyewitnesses. It corrupts alibis.

It corrupts informants. It corrupts, believe it or not, forensic examiners, forensic science examiners. When you look at wrongful convictions in the Innocence Project involving confessions, almost 80% of them contained one or more other errors in evidence, and almost invariably those other errors came after the confession.

It corrupts informants. It corrupts, believe it or not, forensic examiners, forensic science examiners. When you look at wrongful convictions in the Innocence Project involving confessions, almost 80% of them contained one or more other errors in evidence, and almost invariably those other errors came after the confession.