Seeing that memories are fabricated by the mind, and can be influenced by suggestion, the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) should be administered by psychologists to individuals to test for suggestibility. This should be done with those who's confession changes from "I didn't do it - I don't think I did it - I might have done it - I guess I did it - I did it" over the course of an interrogation. The reason for this would be the fact that false memories can develop in a high-stress situation (e.g. being accused of a crime), if the individual is prone to suggestion. They, in turn, are more likely to give a confession because of the circumstances that they are placed in and whether they are actually susceptible to this suggestion. This can …show more content…
This scale can be used in forensic and clinical situations where an individual's suggestibility in questioning procedures is in question. It is designed to be used on children, adults, and those with mental disorders, and consists of 40 questions followed by a free recall activity (iResearchNet, 2015). As it can be used in situations other than those involving the legal system and interrogations, it is best used in these cases. Gudjonsson (2003, as seen in Gudjonsson, G., et al., 2014) demonstrated that "don't know" replies from the individuals being interviewed with the GSS suggest that that individual may be prone to suggestibility over time, even in non-manipulative situations. The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale should be used by psychologists, for the courts, as an indirect measure in order to determine suggestibility before any psychological testing should be done in order to determine whether the individual in question is just suggestible, or if they suffer from a combination of suggestion and memory distrust and/or psychological problems that could affect their memory. When a person has previous memory problems, or distrusts their own memories, they are more susceptible to false memories when the circumstances lead to it. The circumstances being discussed here, are high stress situations involving a false accusation, and ultimately can lead to a false …show more content…
With this, certain factors should be evaluated by a psychologist to show that the individual in question was indeed prone to suggestion, and that they have a memory problem that throws out their confession. Past convictions involving false confessions have been analyzed and some of the individuals have been interviewed. In these types of studies, it revealed that initial involvement was denied, but they still ended up confessing, even if they, themselves could not remember the crime in question (Gudjonsson, G., et al., 2014; Kopelman, M., 1999; Gudjonsson, G., et al., 2014). These examples are the reason that psychological testing should be completed when a question in memory is involved. It avoids an innocent individual going to prison for numerous years and being subjected to circumstances they would not have had to be subjected to. Personal circumstances, situational factors, and psychological health should be evaluated. This is backed up by a case study by Brainerd, C. J. (2013), who interviewed convicted individuals after their confessions were ruled to be false, and discovered that if these circumstances and factors were known, it would have been evident that they were innocent and that their confession was no more than a result of memory distrust and/or
In the Norfolk Four case, Ford began his interrogatories by a prior assumption that the four suspects were involved in the case. As Chapman (2013) noted, “ the interrogator will use whatever means necessary to elicit a confession, and not only will the suspect confess, but they will form false memories of the crimes they did not commit,” (p.162). Joseph Dick, one of the four suspects in the Norfolk Four case, claimed that due to the harsh interrogatories, he accepted the label put on him and began to believe that he committed the crime. Accordingly, Joseph Dick and the others began telling false narratives of the way they committed the crime. Even though, their narratives contradicted with evidence and facts of the actual murder, Ford proceeded to psychologically abuse the four suspects in order to hear what he wanted to hear.
Kassin, Saul, and Lawrence Wrightsman (Eds.). The Psychology of Evidence and Trial Procedure. Chapter 3. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1985. Print.
Roediger III, H. L., Watson, J. M., McDermott, K. B., & Gallo, D. A. (2001). Factors that determine false recall: A multiple regression analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8(3), 385-407.
Ewing, C., & McCann, J. (2006). Minds on trial: Great cases in law and psychology. NY: Oxford University. pp. 129-139. Retrieved from http://undergrad.floridatechonline.com/Courses/PSY3100/Critical_Reading_Ewing_McCann.pdf
In conclusion, memory errors can be made by the retrieval stage of memory. The false memory syndrome and coerced confessions can take place in this stage. Both of these concepts can be unconscious
recall and the use of too many leading questions during interviews. Method: Participants were tested to see how affected they were by the treatment. hypnosis, those who were found to be medium to highly susceptible. were shown a film of a bank robbery. They were then split into 3 groups - hypnosis group, relaxation group and wake group. Participants were asked to come back a week later and were individually interviewed by being asked to use either the guiding
False confessions are receiving more public attention now that people are speaking out about having to serve jail time for a crime they did not commit. 2015 was a year to remember for false confessions starting in January when a man was released after serving 21 years in prison. The protocols that interrogators are trained to follow are dangerous because they allow investigators to have complete influence on innocent people to make false confessions.
Jurors opinions can be influenced by an emotional testimony. Deborah W. Denno’s article Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, and the Criminal Justice System is the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law’s publication of a panel at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. The panel had three goals: “examine the interrelationship between neuroscience and substantive criminal law; to incorporate criminal procedure more directly into the examination in a way that past investigations have not done; and to scrutinize cognitive bias in decision-making,” (Denno
False memories being created is obvious through many different ways, such as eye-witness testimonies and past experiments that were conducted, however repression is an issue that has many baffled. There seems to be little evidence on the factual basis of repressed memories, and many argue that it does not exist. The evidence for repression in laboratories is slowly emerging, but not as rapidly as the evidence for false memories. It has been hard to clinically experiment with repressed memories because most memories are unable to be examined during the actual event to corroborate stories. Experimenters are discovering new ways to eliminate this barrier by creating memories within the experiment’s initial phase. This is important for examining the creation of false memories during the study phase. This research study will explore the differences between recovered memories and false memories through research and experiments. Other terms and closely related terms will be discussed, while examining any differences, in relation to repressed memories. The possibility of decoding an actual difference between recovered memories and false memories, through biological techniques. Because false memories can be created, examining these creations in a laboratory setting can shed light on facts overlooked. Exploring these issues will also help with the development of better therapeutic techniques for therapists in dealing with memories. This can lead to an easier process for patients and therapists if they must go through the legal system in relation to an uncovered memory.
Among various arrests, people who are put in jail or prison due to their confession must make them a proven criminal, right? Unfortunately, not everybody who confesses to a crime is in fact guilty. A false confession is an act of confessing to a crime that the confessor didn’t commit. That creates a conflict involving the individual being accused and the trust towards police interrogation. For instance, after nearly eight years in prison, Nicole Harris sued eight Chicago police detectives, alleging that they coerced her confession (Meiser Para.2) The police detectives incorrectly informed Harris in failing “the polygraph test” indicating that she lied about not committing the murder of her son, Jaquari Dancy (Meiser). She felt that there was
Sutliff, Usha. “‘Liars’ Brains Wired Differently.” USC News. USC University of Southern California. 19 Sept. 2005. Web. 11 December 2013.
“More than 1 out of 4 people are wrongly convicted but is not proven until later examination of DNA.” Many factors that can contribute to a false confession is duress, coercion, intoxication, diminished capacity, mental impairment, ignorance of the law, fear of violence, the actual infliction of harm, the threat of a harsh sentence, misunderstanding the situation, and etc. “Timothy Bridges, who wrongly served over 25 years for a rape and burglary charge, based in large part on the erroneous testimony of an FBI-trained state hair analyst who claimed that Bridges’ hair linked him to two hairs found at the scene. His lawyer later discovered materials that showed police and informants and made other threats to the informants. The Crucible was all a game until people started dying.
Perina, Kaja. "Brain scans may be foolproof lie detectors. (Truth Serum)." Psychology Today Jan.-Feb. 2002: \. Student Resources in Context. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
How can one know if an admission of confessional evidence is not false? One test proposed on confession is that without independent evidence which corroborates the admission, the confession should not be admitted in evidence. One viewpoint would suggest this would help the authenticity of confessions and deter people from creating false confessions and protect the innocent from unjust convictions, though the justice system requires a balance between this and the ability to convict those which are guilty. Furthermore, a reform implemented as such would undermine the value that is put on confession as being regarded as the highest form of
The mistaken recollection of information or the recollection of an event that never happened is known as a false memory (Rajagopal & Montgomery, 2011). The study of false memories has been of interest to cognitive psychologists (Otagaar, Smeets & Scoboria, 2013) for many years as it implies that human memory is vulnerable to the influence of external information, it also implies that our ability to recall events may not always be accurate. One major issue that has arisen with the research on false memories is the argued validity of eyewitness testimony (Wade, Green & Nash, 2011). Eyewitness testimony is the verified report made by someone who witnessed a crime (Wade et.al., 2011). False memories can interfere with the correct recollection of criminal offences which can potentially result in inaccurate accusations of a crime (Wade et.al., 2011). Researchers have been interested in studying false memories to develop a better understanding of how false memories work, and to what extent our memories can be assumed accurate (Jou & Flores, 2013).