Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University.
Department of Psychology, Wayne State University.
Law Hum Behav. 2018 Feb;42(1):26-36. doi: 10.1037/lhb0000265. Epub 2017 Oct 9.
Most suspects waive the guaranteed protections that interrogation rights afford them against police intimidation. One factor thought to motivate suspects' inclination to waive their rights stems from the acquiescence bias whereby suspects mindlessly comply with interrogators' requests. However, research bearing on the phenomenology of innocence has demonstrated the power of innocents' mindset, which could motivate some innocent suspects to waive their rights knowingly (instead of mindlessly complying). To test these ideas, participants (N = 178) were (a) rightfully (guilty) or wrongfully (innocent) accused of wrongdoing during an experimental session, (b) administered 1 of 2 forms that by signing either waived or invoked their rights to a student advocate, and (c) given questions to assess their degree of knowing during the decision-making process (i.e., extent to which individuals were cognizant of their decisions). Results demonstrated that unknowing innocent and guilty individuals tended to passively comply, engaging in a pre-interrogation acquiescence bias by signing waive and invoke forms at similar rates. But, as participants became more cognizant of their decisions, they acquiesced at lower rates and their change from acquiescence differed depending on their status. As innocents became more cognizant, they signed the waiver form at higher rates than the invoke form, thereby demonstrating that innocence can motivate some suspects to knowingly forgo their rights. Conversely, as guilty individuals became more cognizant, they signed the invoke form at higher rates than the waiver form. These findings have implications for reforming pre-interrogation protocols, protecting suspects' civil liberties, and preventing innocents from offering false self-incriminating evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record
大多数嫌疑人放弃了讯问权给予他们的免受警方恐吓的保障。促使嫌疑人倾向于放弃权利的一个因素源于默许偏差，即嫌疑人盲目遵守审讯员的要求。然而，关于无罪心态现象学的研究表明了无辜者心态的力量，这可能促使一些无辜的嫌疑人明知故犯地放弃自己的权利（而不是盲目服从）。为了检验这些想法，参与者（N=178）在实验过程中被（a）正确地（有罪）或错误地（无罪）指控有违法行为，（b）签署了两种表格之一，放弃或援引了他们向学生顾问主张权利的权利，（c）回答了一些问题来评估他们在决策过程中的知情程度（即，个体对自己决策的认知程度）。结果表明，无意识的无辜和有罪的个体往往会被动地服从，通过签署放弃和援引表格以相似的比率表现出审讯前的默许偏差。但是，随着参与者对自己的决策越来越意识到，他们默许的比率会降低，并且他们的态度转变取决于他们的身份。当无辜者变得更加意识到自己的决定时，他们签署放弃表格的比率高于签署援引表格的比率，从而表明无罪可以促使一些嫌疑人明知故犯地放弃自己的权利。相反，当有罪的个体变得更加意识到自己的决定时，他们签署援引表格的比率高于签署放弃表格的比率。这些发现对改革审讯前的协议、保护嫌疑人的公民自由以及防止无辜者提供虚假的自证其罪的证据具有重要意义。（PsycINFO 数据库记录
