Lies And False Confessions Summary

The article “Inside Interrogation: The Lie, The Bluff, and False Confessions”, published by Jennifer Perillo, and Saul Kassin, discusses situations and potential contributors that can result in false confessions. Perillo and Kassin focus on what are called situational pressures, the use of false evidence, including the use of a fake witness, or false documented proof of the crime happening-also known as a bluff tactic- as risk factors for why people falsely confess to crimes they did not commit (Perillo & Kassin, 2010). The use of this evidence can result in a false confession through one of two ways: the false evidence could cause a suspect to begin to internally believe that they had committed the crime, or a suspect could believe that if they falsely confess now, they will later be proved to be innocent through the evidence. Perillo and Kassin ran three experiments that dealt with how a …show more content…
In the middle of testing, however, the confederate would ask the bluff group for help on some of the questions (in the control group, the confederate asked for no help). For both group, the experimenter would then come back and state that the questions between the student and the confederate were too similar and would accuse the student of cheating. Then, with half of the students, the experimenter would introduce a bluff of a hidden camera. 57.6% participants confessed to working with the confederate on the questionnaire. Out of them 75% admitted to confessing because of the bluff. Out of those who were innocent and falsely confessed, 88% admitted to doing so because they believed the bluff would prove their innocence (Perillo et. al, 2010). The combination of these three studies offer an insight as to how a bluff tactic can lead to a false confession from an innocent