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Imagine you made the computer crash

Imagine you made the computer crash. André de Zutter & Robert Horselenberg Faculty of Law, Maastricht University. Conclusions. It is possible to induce false confessions solely based on imagination (38%) Those with a higher IQ inclined more to falsely confess in the imagination condition

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Imagine you made the computer crash

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  1. Imagine you made the computer crash André de Zutter & Robert Horselenberg Faculty of Law, Maastricht University

  2. Conclusions • It is possible to induce false confessions solely based on imagination (38%) • Those with a higher IQ inclined more to falsely confess in the imagination condition • No other relation with individual differences was found

  3. Expert wittness • “Imagine you committed the crime” • “Think about this question” • “When you are back in your cell, think deeply about what happened and we’ll talk further about it tomorrow” • Etc.

  4. Imagination • Imagine low plausible rated events • Rescore those events on plausibility after a certain amount of time • Those events become more plausible Imagination inflation effect! Merely imagining false events can create more confidence (Garry et al., 1996) and false memories (Mazzoni & Memon, 2003)

  5. False confessions in the lab Kassin & Kiechel’s Computer crash paradigm (1996) : “Try to type the letters you’ll hear as quickly as possible, but don’t hit the Alt-key” Then the computer crashed, false incriminating evidence was given, and participants were prompted to sign a confession

  6. Instructions and conditions Two conditions: • Imagine you made this computer crash (n =21) • Type as quickly as possible… (n =21)

  7. Participants • 26 males, 16 females • Law students • Average IQ 102 • Mean age 21.3 • No differences on age or IQ per group

  8. Method • Source monitoring task • Alt-key paradigm • Just imagine; no actual contact with the computer! • False confession: handwritten note that they made the computer crash • Individual differences tests: Memory distrust, fantasy proneness, compliance, suggestibility, Eysencks personality, and IQ

  9. Results • In the computer-group, 71% confessed, whereas in the imagination group 38% did • Those falsely confessing in the imagination group, had higher IQ-scores • No further individual differences

  10. Conclusions Do you want to read your confession before or after? • It is possible to induce false confessions solely based on imagination (38%) • Those with a higher IQ inclined more to falsely confess in the imagination condition • No other relation with individual differences was found

  11. Thank you!Questions? Correspondence to: Andre.DeZutter@maastrichtuniversity.nl Robert.Horselenberg@maastrichtuniversity.nl

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