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Why would an innocent person confess to a crime he or she didn't commit? It sounds unbelievable, but it happens more often than most people realize. In this episode, we explore the psychology behind false confessions, beginning with the remarkable case of 13-year-old Tyler Edmonds, who confessed to helping murder his brother-in-law in an effort to protect his sister. We'll also examine other well-known cases, including the Central Park Five, the Norfolk Four, and Marty Tankleff. What makes people vulnerable to interrogation pressure? How can suggestion, isolation, fear, and repeated questioning cause someone to admit to something that never happened? And can an innocent person actually come to believe that he or she committed a crime? Then we turn to a much larger ethical question: Have psychologists themselves been involved in war crimes? We examine the controversial role some psychologists played in the development and implementation of interrogation and torture techniques used by the CIA and the military following 9/11. What happens when psychological knowledge intended to help people is instead used to manipulate and harm them? And what responsibilities do psychologists have when governments or military organizations ask them to put their expertise to very different purposes? Two challenging topics, connected by one important question: What happens when our understanding of human psychology is used against us rather than to help us?
