Tags
wrongful convictions
innocence
confirmation bias

From Pervasive Beliefs To Wrongful Convictions

Popular series like “Making a Murderer” and “The Confession Tapes” have raised public awareness of the possibility of wrongful convictions. Can cognitive psychology resolve why evidence of innocence is overlooked in cases of wrongful convictions?

Issue
01/2019

Why do we still have a cognitive bias that makes us send innocent people to jail? – Explanations of the confirmation bias

The confirmation bias – seeking and interpreting information to support your pre-existing beliefs – can have tremendous consequences. In this blog, I will explain the existence of the confirmation bias in the criminal justice system and give two possible explanations to why we still have this bias.