title: Sleep deprivation and false confessions.
abstract: False confession is a major contributor to the problem of wrongful convictions in the United States. Here, we provide direct evidence linking sleep deprivation and false confessions. In a procedure adapted from Kassin and Kiechel [(1996) Psychol Sci 7(3):125-128], participants completed computer tasks across multiple sessions and repeatedly received warnings that pressing the "Escape" key on their keyboard would cause the loss of study data. In their final session, participants either slept all night in laboratory bedrooms or remained awake all night. In the morning, all participants were asked to sign a statement, which summarized their activities in the laboratory and falsely alleged that they pressed the Escape key during an earlier session. After a single request, the odds of signing were 4.5 times higher for the sleep-deprived participants than for the rested participants. These findings have important implications and highlight the need for further research on factors affecting true and false confessions.
authors: Department of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY 10011;
authors: Steven J
authors: SJ
authors: Frenda
authors: College of Business Administration & Public Policy, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA 90747;
authors: Shari R
authors: SR
authors: Berkowitz
authors: Department of Psychology & Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697; Department of Criminology, Law & Society, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697; Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697; School of Law, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697; eloftus@uci.edu.
authors: Elizabeth F
authors: EF
authors: Loftus
authors: Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824.
authors: Kimberly M
authors: KM
authors: Fenn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: false confession; sleep; sleep deprivation