Chapter 1: What is the psychological basis for false confessions?
This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam. There is a reasonable assumption we make as we go through life. Groups act in their own self-interest. Merchants sell things in order to make money. Employers want to hire the best employees. Sports teams want to win matches. The assumption of self-interest is also the lens through which we understand how individuals behave.
We can see why someone might lie on a resume in order to get ahead. We also know that no one would lie on their resume to make themselves look worse. When people are accused of wrongdoing, it makes perfect sense that the guilty would claim to be innocent. But every ounce of common sense tells us no innocent person would ever confess to doing something wrong.
We understand as a matter of common sense and intuition that people behave in ways that favor their self-interest. How in God's name does that favor your self-interest?
How and why people come to betray their self-interest This week on Hidden Brain. In the sixth grade, Saul Kassin received an assignment from his teacher to write a book report. It took him about a nanosecond to decide to write about his hero, Mickey Mantle.
I was a huge Yankees fan. And I wanted to do a really good job.
The baseball star was not the only object of Saul's affections. His sixth grade teacher was up on a pedestal too.
I loved Mrs. Avery. I had a crush, to be honest, on Mrs. Avery. I wanted to impress Mrs. Avery. And so I spent a lot of time on this book report. I just remember being excited to get the grade back. I thought it was a really good paper. I'd spent a lot of time on it. And when she called me up, she would call people and they'd come up and get their paper. This was toward the end of the school day.
And I just remember her glaring at me in such a way that I looked at the grade and there was, with a circle around it, a big red F. I said, I don't understand. And she says, well, you plagiarized it.
Saul found himself dumbfounded. He loved Mrs. Avery, and he loved Mickey Mantle, and he had poured his heart and soul into the book report.
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Chapter 2: How did Saul Kassin become interested in false confessions?
And you just left her laying in the bushes? Yes.
Did you try to hide her so she wouldn't get found? You cannot look past those statements on video. They got some of the facts right. They're basically telling the same story. There are some annoying disparities and contradictions between them, but they get enough facts right.
None of the boys had attorneys present. In the video confession of 16-year-old Corey Wise, he's sitting in what looks like a classroom. It's past midnight. His knees are shaking with nervous energy. A prosecutor grills him with questions.
What's your last name, please?
Wise. Wise. 16.
Do you go to school? Yes, ma'am. Where do you go to school?
LeBron Stevenson High School. And what grade are you in there?
He said he was involved in the rape. He was present and he played a minimal role. I believe he said he had held her legs while someone else pulled her pants down.
I wasn't doing as much as they was doing. Were you going after her crotch? No. I was about to. I said no. I could see the expression on her face that I felt kind of bad. This is my first treatment I did to any type of female in the street.
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