To counteract the attraction toward complex stories featuring evil villains, it is useful to keep three “razors” in our cognitive hygiene bag. The term razor is used to describe certain heuristics, or cognitive shortcuts, that can help to quickly “shave” away unnecessary information and complexity and get us more quickly to the truth. We discussed two of them above: the slightly modified Hanlon’s razor, “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by human fallibility,” and Occam’s razor,

Three Razors

“The simplest explanation is the one we should favor, until it is proven to be inadequate.” To these we can add Hitchens’ razor, named after Christopher Hitchens, the late literary critic, journalist, contrarian, and staunch atheist: “What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.” Together, these three tools can prevent us from falling into a spiral of misbelief. They invite us to ask questions such as: Is it reasonable to assume malicious intent over stupidity, human fallibility, or chance? Is it sensible to propose a complex web of ill intention?

Questions

Do I have the necessary evidence to support such an extraordinary claim? If the things we’re trying to explain don’t pass the test of these three razors, it’s a sign that we should take a step back and suspect that we’re onto the wrong explanation. We can also use these three razors in conversations with others to challenge their biases toward intentionality, complexity, and insufficient evidence.

Test

Misinformation affects us daily, from social media to politics and even personal relationships. Policing social media alone cannot solve the complex problem shaped by partisan politics and subjective interpretations of truth. In Misbelief social scientist Dan Ariely explores the behaviour of 'misbelief' that leads people to distrust accepted truths and embrace conspiracy theories. Misinformation taps into something innate in all of us, regardless of political affiliation. By understanding this psychology, we can mitigate its effects. Grounded in research and Ariely's personal experience as a target of disinformation, the book analyses the psychological drivers behind adopting irrational beliefs. Ariely reveals the emotional, cognitive, personality, and social elements that drive people towards false information and mistrust. Despite advanced AI generating convincing fake news, Ariely offers hope. Awareness of the forces fuelling misbelief makes individuals and society more resilient. Combating misbelief requires empathy, not conflict. Recognising misbelief as a human problem allows us to be part of the solution.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

education

Learning & Education

mentalhealth

Mental Health

problemsolving

Problem Solving

books

Books

Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He also holds an appointment at the MIT Media Lab where he is the head of the eRationality research group. He was formerly the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management.Dan Ariely grew up in Israel after birth in New York. He served in the Israeli army and when 18 suffered third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body from an accidental magnesium flare explosion during training.Ariely recovered and went on to graduate from Tel Aviv University and received a Ph.D. and M.A. in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in business from Duke University.

Dan Ariely

Misbelief

The terms forensic investigator and forensic investigation are part of our cultural identity. They can be found in the news, on television, and in film. They are invoked, generally, to imply that highly trained personnel will be collecting some form of physical evidence with eventual scientific results that cannot be questioned or bar-gained with. In other words, they are invoked to imply the reliability, certainty, and authority of a scientific inquiry.This can be a good thing, the authors would agree, when there are well-educated and properly trained professionals involved in the process.

Forensic Investigator

There are some problems, however. First, not everyone knows what these terms actually mean, so their use can be inappropriate or even misleading. This means there are those in the justice system using these terms to create a false impression about what has or will be done with the evidence.Second, not everyone involved in the justice systems wants the facts or evidence on the record. As one gains experience with criminal investigation and the courts, one learns there are those who would prefer certain evidence not be documented, examined, or made public.

Problems

Motives vary, including apathy, incompetence, politics, and fear of consequences (e.g., jail time, civil liability, or both).These concerns have been ever present motivators in the authors’ casework and teachings. They have also served to drive the completion of this project. Our belief is simple: as more people understand what a forensic investigation is, and what it requires, there will be fewer capable of abusing or ignoring the evidence that it puts on the record. We understand that this will take some explaining.

Our Belief

And those readers who do not yet fully understand the landscape of what we have experienced in the justice system are about to.The purpose of this textbook is to help students and professionals rid themselves of the myths and misconceptions they have accumulated regarding forensic investigators, and the subsequent forensic investigations they help to conduct. This text will help the reader understand the role of the forensic investigator; the nature and variety of forensic investigations that take place in the justice system;

The Purpose

and the mechanisms by which such investigations become worthy as evidence in court. The goals are no more lofty than that. However, they could not be more necessary to our understanding of what justice is, how it is most reliably achieved, and how it can be corrupted by those who are burdened with apathy and alternative motives.

The Goals

The terms forensic investigator and forensic investigation are part of our cultural identity. They can be found in the news, on television, and in film. They are invoked, generally, to imply that highly trained personnel will be collecting some form of physical evidence with eventual scientific results that cannot be questioned or bargained with. In other words, they are invoked to imply the reliability, certainty, and authority of a scientific inquiry. Using cases from the authors’ extensive files, Forensic Investigations: An Introduction provides an overview of major subjects related to forensic inquiry and evidence examination. It will prepare Criminal Justice and Criminology students in forensic programs for more specialized courses and provide a valuable resource to newly employed forensic practitioners. Written by practicing and testifying forensic professionals from law enforcement, academia, mental health and the forensic sciences, this work offers a balanced scientific approach, based on the established literature, for broad appeal. The purpose of this book is to help students and professionals rid themselves of the myths and misconceptions they have accumulated regarding forensic investigators and the subsequent forensic investigations they help to conduct. It will help the reader understand the role of the forensic investigator; the nature and variety of forensic investigations that take place in the justice system; and the mechanisms by which such investigations become worthy as evidence in court. Its goals are no loftier than that. However, they could not be more necessary to our understanding of what justice is, how it is most reliably achieved, and how it can be corrupted by those who are burdened with apathy and alternative motives.<ul> <li>A primary text for instructors teaching forensic courses related to criminal and forensic investigation</li> <li>Written by forensic professionals, currently in practice and testifying in court</li> <li>Offers applied protocols for a broad range of forensic investigations</li> <li>Augments theoretical constructs with recent, and relevant case studies and forensic reports</li> <li>Based on the most recent scientific research, practice, and protocols related to forensic inquiry</li></ul>

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

Brent E. Turvey

Stan Crowder

Forensic Investigations

Despite its persuasiveness and potential power, eyewitness testimony can be inaccurate. In 1976, the British government’s Devlin Report tried to explain why honest eyewitnesses can be mistaken (Clifford & Bull, 1978). More recently, the introduction of DNA testing procedures has shed further light on this issue. DNA forensic analysis has been conducted on people who were convicted prior to its introduction in the 1990s.

Eyewitness Testimony

These tests have resulted in the exoneration of people innocent of the crime for which they were convicted. Wells et al. (1998) described the first 40 cases in the USA in which DNA was found to exonerate a previously convicted person (five of these persons were sentenced to death). Of these 40 cases, 36 (90 percent) involved eyewitness identification evidence in which one or more witnesses falsely identified a person. One person was identified by five separate witnesses.

In a more recent analysis, Scheck, Neufield and Dwyer (2000) described 62 exoneration cases (eight persons were sentenced to death). In 52 of these 62 cases, mistaken identification occurred, involving, in total, 77 mistaken eyewitnesses. These findings led Wells et al. (1998: p. 605) to conclude that ‘‘eyewitness identification evidence is amongst the least reliable forms of evidence and yet it is persuasive to juries‘‘. While the DNA studies generally support this conclusion, Wells et al. (2000) point out that we do not know how representative these case studies are.

DNA exoneration is only possible in a fraction of cases, mostly sexual assault cases. Crimes such as murders, muggings and robberies rarely leave DNA trace evidence, so it is not possible to use this type of evidence in these crimes to question the reliability of witness evidence (Wells et al., 2000). A large part of what we know about eyewitness identification comes from empirical research on the factors influencing eyewitness performance.

Psychology and Law shows how psychological research and theory can be used in a legal context. Written with advanced undergraduate students in mind, it focuses upon the pre-trial or investigative phase of the legal process. Obtaining and assessing witness evidence is a key part of any criminal investigation. Topics include witness accuracy and credibility, covering issues such as assessment of witness credibility, interviewing suspects and witnesses, eyewitness testimony, false beliefs and memory, the role of experts and juries. This second edition has been revised and updated to reflect the large amount of new research in the area, making it the essential guide for all courses with a legal component. Comment on the first edition: "This is an excellent appraisal of the psychology of evidence...it provides thorough, substantial and up-to-date accounts of modern developments." —Denniss Howitt, Loughborough University, UK <ul> <li>Written by well known and respected authors</li> <li>Suitable as an introductory, undergraduate text</li> </ul>

Aldert Vrij

Amina A Memon

Ray Bull

Psychology and Law

It seems that people believe that the emotions they attribute to liars will be evident in their behaviour – a notion we can call the leakage hypothesis. In the psychological literature, this idea can be traced to Freud (1905, cited in Bond & DePaulo, 2006, p. 215), who wrote, ‘No mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his finger-tips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore’.

The Leakage Hypothesis

In more recent times, psychological theories of leakage have primarily been explored by Ekman and colleagues (Ekman, 2001; Ekman & Friesen, 1969; see also Porter, Ten Brinke, & Wallace, 2013; Ten Brinke & Porter, 2012).It is possible that laypeople’s belief in the leakage of cues is grounded in naïve morality, much like the belief that liars experience negative emotions. More specifically, it could be rooted in a general belief in the fairness of the world.

The theory of a belief in a just world posits that people have a need to perceive the world as a fair place, in which people get what they deserve (Lerner, 1980). Translated to the current context, the notion that lies will be evident in behaviour fits with a general notion of deservingness: to the extent that lying is perceived as bad behaviour, liars deserve to be found out. Expressed differently, the notion that people can lie effortlessly and without behavioural traces may violate the belief in a just world.

The Theory of A Belief In A Just World

Detecting Deception offers a state-of-the-art guide to the detection of deception with a focus on the ways in which new cognitive psychology-based approaches can improve practice and results in the field. <ul> <li>Includes comprehensive coverage of the latest scientific developments in the detection of deception and their implications for real-world practice</li> <li>Examines current challenges in the field - such as counter-interrogation strategies, lying networks, cross-cultural deception, and discriminating between true and false intentions</li> <li>Reveals a host of new approaches based on cognitive psychology with the potential to improve practice and results, including the strategic use of evidence, imposing cognitive load, response times, and covert lie detection</li> <li>Features contributions from internationally renowned experts</li> </ul>

communication

Communication

Pär Anders Granhag

Bruno Verschuere

Detecting Deception

When writing your script, try to include as many of the five senses as possible: sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste.Always use positive, active wording (for example, excited, energized, anxious, happily, and so on).Make all suggestions believable.Include confidence, self-esteem, and relaxation statements.Use pictures and imaginative phrases. The subconscious mind reacts better to pictures rather than just words. Use your imagination as much as possible, seeing the end result as having already been attained rather than the progression of reaching it.

Script

Include emotions. Whatever emotions or feelings can be associated with the subject will help the script be more effective.A script can be as long or as short as you like, but it should be long enough to get the point across. You can write a script for any area that you can improve in.

Getting that promotion at work or losing those last five pounds can be a struggle, but goals like these can be accomplished - with self-hypnosis! Whatever obstacles you want to overcome or goals you aim to achieve, this book can help you do it. With this informative resource, you will learn to: break bad habits like nail biting; ease severe pain, such as from migraines or labor during childbirth; ensure confidence and success in business and personal matters; quit smoking for good; lose weight and keep it off; improve memory retention; and reduce stress - in relationships, at home, and at work; and more! Written by a board-certified hypnotherapist, this authoritative guide can help you create your own self-hypnosis scripts to create the life you always wanted. From tearing down mental roadblocks to making permanent changes, readers will be on their way to success in no time!

mindfulness

Mindfulness

writing

Reading & Writing

creativity

Creativity

meditation

Meditation

Rene A Bastaracherican

The Everything Self-Hypnosis Book

People tend to underestimate their own ability to lie (Elaad, 2003).There are several reasons why people think they are worse liars than they actually are. First, they tend to overestimate the extent to which their own thoughts, emotions, and other mental states are transparent to others (e.g., illusion of transparency, Gilovich, Savitsky, & Medvec, 1998). In other words, people mistakenly believe that their lies shine through. Second, self-perceptions are typically characterised by positive illusions (Taylor & Brown, 1988),

Good Liars

and people typically think of themselves as being more moral than most others (Kaplar & Gordon, 2004).Admitting to being a good liar does not match with this positive self-image. Third, although people tell more white lies than serious lies, they remember their serious lies better than their white lies (Elaad, 2003).

Finally, perhaps people remember better those times when their lies failed than when they lied successfully, particularly if these failed lies resulted in negative consequences.By forgetting the times they lied successfully, they may underestimate how often their lies succeed.People tend to overestimate their own ability to detect lies (Elaad, 2003) and more lies remain unnoticed than they generally think.

Poor Lie Detectors

There are many reasons why lies remain undetected, and they can be clustered into three main categories (Vrij, 2007): poor motivation; difficulties associated with lie detection; and common errors made by lie detectors.

Why do people lie? Do gender and personality differences affect how people lie? How can lies be detected? Detecting Lies and Deceit provides the most comprehensive review of deception to date. This revised edition provides an up-to-date account of deception research and discusses the working and efficacy of the most commonly used lie detection tools, including: <ul> <li>Behaviour Analysis Interview</li> <li>Statement Validity Assessment</li> <li>Reality Monitoring</li> <li>Scientific Content Analysis</li> <li>Several different polygraph tests</li> <li>Voice Stress Analysis</li> <li>Thermal Imaging</li> <li>EEG-P300</li> <li>Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)</li> </ul> All three aspects of deception are covered: nonverbal cues, speech and written statement analysis and (neuro)physiological responses. The most common errors in lie detection are discussed and practical guidelines are provided to help professionals improve their lie detection skills. Detecting Lies and Deceit is a must-have resource for students, academics and professionals in psychology, criminology, policing and law.

Detecting Lies and Deceit

There has been increasing recognition in recent years that false confessions occur and no legal system should ignore the risk of false confession. In order to prevent future miscarriages of justice, complacency, lack of open-mindedness, ignorance, unwillingness to accept mistakes and judicial cover-up must be replaced by a more positive approach to a problem that will not go away unless we actively confront it. There are various steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of false confessions and prevent miscarriages of justice.

These steps, including judicial, educational and psychological means, are equally applicable to legal systems of Britain, USA, Australia and on the continent of Europe.

This volume, a sequel to The Psychology of Interrogations, Confessions and Testimony which is widely acclaimed by both scientists and practitioners, brings the field completely up-to-date and focuses in particular on aspects of vulnerability, confabulation and false confessions. The is an unrivalled integration of scientific knowledge of the psychological processes and research relating to interrogation, with the practical investigative and legal issues that bear upon obtaining, and using in court, evidence from interrogations of suspects. * Accessible style which will appeal to academics, students and practitioners * Authoritative integration of theory, research, practical implications and vivid case illustration * Coverage of topical issues like confabulation, false memory, and false confessions Part of the Wiley Series in The Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law

Gisli H. Gudjonsson

The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions

After allegedly failing a polygraph test and being subsequently interrogated, Reilly was persuaded that he had murdered his mother, of which he was innocent, using words like: ‘Maybe I did do it’, ‘I believe I did it’, ‘It really looks like I did it’, and then saying ‘Yes’ when asked directly, ‘You did it?’. Reilly then signed his written confession statement (Connery, 1977, pp. 65–67; Gudjonsson, 2003a).

Reilly's Case

What is apparent is that Reilly had become confused by the result of the ‘failed’ polygraph test and intensive interrogation, believing that he might have murdered his mother, but he always remained unsure (i.e. he was never completely confident that he had murdered his mother; in fact, he harboured serious doubts about it).Whatever the appalling deficiencies of Peter’s interrogation, it was at least recorded on tape. Indeed, it might be said that one of the factors leading to Peter Reilly’s eventual vindication was the audiotape made during his ruthless grilling;

Test And Interrogation

it clearly revealed the browbeating methods of coercion used upon an exhausted boy, and helped many people make up their minds about the police and their subtle brutality.In the 1980s the main obstacle to preventing and correcting miscarriages of justice involving confession evidence was that people found it hard to believe that anyone would confess to a serious crime of which they were innocent (Gudjonsson, 2003a). That misguided attitude changed considerably after the acquittal of the ‘Guildford Four’ in October 1989 (Ewing & McCann, 2006; Gudjonsson & MacKeith, 2003),

Guildford Four

a case that opened the gate to other miscarriage of justice cases involving disputed confessions in the UK (Gudjonsson, 2010a). The case represented a long and hard battle (Kee, 1989; McKee & Franey, 1988), but justice prevailed in the end (Victory, 2001). Persistence does pay.

A part of the early battle was to change negative attitudes and misconceptions by educating police officers, lawyers, and judges about the growing evidence base of false confessions and the need for improved police interview training and practice (Gudjonsson, 1992a, 2003a). The science of the psychology of false confession emerged in the 1980s and 1990s and has continued to develop over time. It has paid dividends in the form of changing the legal landscape in the UK and Norway, but other countries have been slower to respond (Walsh, Oxburgh, Redlich, & Myklebust, 2016).

Need Of Improvement

A solid theoretical foundation, supported by empirical evidence and case studies, helps us understand the underlying causes of false confessions and how they may be identified, researched, and prevented.

False Confessions

Provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the development of the science behind the psychology of false confessions Four decades ago, little was known or understood about false confessions and the reasons behind them. So much has changed since then due in part to the diligent work done by Gisli H. Gudjonsson. This eye-opening book by the Icelandic/British clinical forensic psychologist, who in the mid 1970s had worked as detective in Reykjavik, offers a complete and current analysis of how the study of the psychology of false confessions came about, including the relevant theories and empirical/experimental evidence base. It also provides a reflective review of the gradual development of the science and how it can be applied to real life cases. Based on Gudjonsson’s personal account of the biggest murder investigations in Iceland’s history, as well as other landmark cases, The Psychology of False Confessions: Forty Years of Science and Practice takes readers inside the minds of those who sit on both sides of the interrogation table to examine why confessions to crimes occur even when the confessor is innocent. Presented in three parts, the book covers how the science of studying false confessions emerged and grew to become a regular field of practice. It then goes deep into the investigation of the mid-1970s assumed murders of two men in Iceland and the people held responsible for them. It finishes with an in-depth psychological analysis of the confessions of the six people convicted. <ul> <li>Written by an expert extensively involved in the development of the science and its application to real life cases</li> <li>Covers the most sensational murder cases in Iceland’s history</li> <li>Deep analysis of the ‘Reykjavik Confessions’ adds crucial evidence to understanding how and why coerced-internalized false confessions occur, and their detrimental and lasting effects on memory</li> </ul> The Psychology of False Confessions: Forty Years of Science and Practice is an important source book for students, academics, criminologists, and clinical, forensic, and social psychologists and psychiatrists.

The Psychology of False Confessions

Psychological factors in criminality relate to genetic and constitutional causes and to personality and other sources of individual differences . Such factors have often been misunderstood, and even more frequently misinterpreted, in the context of crime and crime prevention. To say, as we shall do as a result of a very extensive body of evidence, that genetic factors are powerfully involved in criminal activity, is not the equivalent of saying that "crime is destiny" and that for a given person such behavior may be predestined and inevitable.

Psychological Factors In Criminality

It is not crime itself or criminality that is innate; it is certain peculiarities of the central or the autonomic nervous system that react with the environment, with upbringing, and many other environmental factors to increase the probability that a given person would act in a certain antisocial manner. No social determinism is involved in such estimates of probability, and the evidence is now conclusive that some such interactionist view is more in line with the evidence than a purely environmentalistic (or a purely genetic) one. <warningtag>﻿</warningtag>

Many Other Factors

Similarly, to find that certain traits of personality-such as impulsivity, anxiety, sociability, or whatever-are correlated with antisocial behavior is not to say that they inevitably produce such behavior. As we shall note, they might also produce success in certain types of sport or praiseworthy behavior on the battlefield.

Traits Of Personality

The infinite complexity of human behavior in modern society allows only probabilistic estimates, but these can be powerful instruments in understanding behavior and providing us with a better theoretical insight into criminality than other relevant factors. Indeed, it is only by acquiring such an understanding that we shall be able to undertake the task of reforming the criminal and altering the criminal's patterns of behavior for the better.

Complexity Of Human Behavior

The title that the authors have chosen for this book, The Causes and Cures of Criminality, suggests that it may be just another book specu lating on the sociological evils that need to be put right for "everything in the garden to be lovely." If this is the expectation, the reader could not be more mistaken. The recurrent theme, in fact, is a strong accent on psychological experiments. Both authors have tackled the theoretical and practical side of crime through an exhaustive literature review of past experi mental work. Hans J. Eysenck has concentrated on the constitutional and biological theory of criminality, whereas Gisli Gudjonsson has con cerned himself more with a review of ongoing research into therapy and possible prevention of antisocial behavior. Part I goes into considerable detail on the causes of criminality, stressing much of the strangely neglected area of individual differences in personality. Research studies point to a very heavy involvement of heredity in the causation of criminality, but the authors are careful to acknowledge that much can be done environmentally to discourage a life of crime once those persons who are at risk have been identified.

Hans J. Eysenck

The Causes and Cures of Criminality

If we take in our hand any volume, let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames; for it can contain nothing but sophistry and delusion.

Misbelief

Forensic Investigations

Psychology and Law

Detecting Deception

The Everything Self-Hypnosis Book

Anastaska