Lies, Crimes and False Confessions

This course provides a greater understanding of lies and how lies can lead to tunnel vision in an investigation. Eve Ash discusses why people tell lies with the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Professor Robert Feldman, a specialist in psychological and brain sciences. He has studied lying for many years and observes that (1) all people tell lies in different situations; (2) many are not truthful on their resumes and in job interviews; (3) sometimes people confabulate to fill memory gaps caused by stressful or traumatic conditions. In crime situations, he explains that false memories occur, and people's eagerness to find a culprit sometimes leads to the wrong person being convicted. You can't always tell a liar from their physical cues (eg. excessive blinking, looking away). This can cause deception bias and investigations clouded by tunnel vision. Dr Feldman and Eve Ash discuss the case of Sue Neill-Fraser, convicted and jailed for murder in Tasmania in 2010.

elearning course learning objectives

• Show how all people lie, at different times
• Identify that many people are not truthful on their resumes and in interviews
• Examine that sometimes people confabulate to fill memory gaps caused by stressful or traumatic conditions
• Identify how people can lie under pressure
• Identify how physical cues dont necessarily reveal whether a person is lying
• Examine how deception bias and tunnel vision can cloud criminal investigations
• Identify how wrongful convictions are sometimes the result of false confession and inaccurate polygraph readings

Interactive eLearning course

This video program is also available as a short stimulating eLearning course with interactive learning modules, recap activities, inline video and quiz assessments, designed to engage learners and build skills.