Psychology & Psychiatry

Researcher looks at why innocent people confess

Why would an innocent person accused of a crime tell investigators he's guilty? Saul Kassin, a psychology professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has spent decades researching that question, and says the answer ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Sleep deprivation linked to false confessions

Sleep-deprived people are much more likely to sign false confessions than rested individuals, according to a groundbreaking study that has important implications for police interrogation practices.

Psychology & Psychiatry

Researchers examine how stress may lead to false confessions

Imagine if you were wrongly accused of a crime. Would you be stressed? Anyone would be, but Iowa State University researchers found the innocent are often less stressed than the guilty. And that could put them at greater ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

False confessions may lead to more errors in evidence, a study shows

A man with a low IQ confesses to a gruesome crime. Confession in hand, the police send his blood to a lab to confirm that his blood type matches the semen found at the scene. It does not. The forensic examiner testifies later ...