Transcript Slide 1

Improved auditor skepticism
through cognitive dissonance
Association of Local Government Auditors
• Nashville, Tennessee
• May, 2013
• Art “Bubba” Hayes
• 615-504-5876
• [email protected]
• www.hayesways.com
• www.fraudhappens.com
1
• When our brains are made up, it is very
hard to change them
• Cognitive dissonance—a state of tension
created whenever a person holds two
cognitions (ideas, attitudes, beliefs,
opinions) which are psychologically
inconsistent. Leon Festinger
• Smoking is not a good thing, it can kill me;
I smoke two packs a day
2
• It produces mental discomfort
– From minor pangs to deep anguish
• We don’t rest easy until we find a way to
reduce it
• Quit smoking
• Convince yourself smoking isn’t so bad
– Or it is worth the risk because it helps me relax, or
prevents me from gaining weight (another health risk)
3
Three primary applications to
auditing and accountability
• Auditors and the need to remain objective in
skeptically analyzing audit evidence
• Management and those charged with
governance who need to remain objective and
vigilant to possible fraud, waste or abuse in
maintaining effective internal controls
• All of us as human beings who can trip down
that ol’ slippery slope
4
Professional skepticism
• A.9: maintaining professional skepticism
requires an on-going questioning of
whether the information and audit
evidence suggests that a MMDF may
exist. It includes considering the reliability
of the information to be used as audit
evidence and the controls over its
preparation and maintenance, when
relevant.
5
• Due to the characteristics of fraud, the
auditor’s professional skepticism is
particularly important when considering
the risks of MMDF
6
• A 10: although the auditor cannot be
expected to disregard past experience of
the honesty and integrity of management
and those charged with governance, the
auditor’s PS is particularly important in
considering the risks of MMDF because
there may have been changes in
circumstances.
7
• A 11: an audit performed per GAAS rarely
involves the authentication of documents, nor is
the auditor trained as, or expected to be, an
expert. However, when the auditor identifies
conditions that cause the auditor to believe that
a document may not be authentic, that terms of
the document have been modified but not
disclosed to the auditor or that undisclosed side
agreements may exist, possible procedures to
investigate further may include direct
confirmations, using the work of a specialist
8
Auditor responsibilities per SAS 99
• Paragraph 15:
• Consider known external and internal
factors that might: 1.create
incentives/pressures to commit fraud, 2.
provide opportunities for fraud to be
perpetrated and 3. indicate a culture or
environment that enables rationalization
for committing fraud
9
• Paragraph 12 (clarity) the auditor should
maintain professional skepticism
throughout the audit, recognizing the
possibility that a MMDF could exist,
notwithstanding past experience of the
honesty and integrity of management and
those charged with governance
10
• Paragraph 13: unless the auditor has
reason to believe the contrary, the auditor
may accept records and documents as
genuine. If conditions identified during the
audit cause the auditor to believe that a
document may not be authentic or that
terms in a document have been modified
but not disclosed to the auditor, the auditor
should investigate further.
11
• Paragraph 14: when responses to
inquiries of management, those charged
with governance, or others are
inconsistent or otherwise unsatisfactory
(for example, vague or implausible), the
auditor should further investigate the
inconsistencies or unsatisfactory
responses.
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• Paragraph 14: maintain the proper
questioning mind throughout the audit
• Paragraph 15: the questioning mind
should include setting aside any prior
belief that management is honest and has
integrity and consider the risk of
management override of controls
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• Paragraph 16: professional skepticism
should lead auditors to continually be alert
for information or other conditions that
could indicate that MMDF may have
occurred
14
• Paragraph 16: professional skepticism
should lead auditors to thoroughly probe
the issues, require additional evidence as
necessary, consult with other team
members and, if appropriate, experts in
the firm, rather than rationalize or
dismiss the information or other
conditions indicating that a MMDF may
have occurred.
15
Requirements of SAS 109
• Paragraph 19: the auditor should plan and
perform the audit with an attitude of
professional skepticism, which should be
exercised throughout the audit
engagement
– Auditors should be rigorous in following up
on indications of MMDF or error
– Auditors should be alert for information or
other conditions indicating a MMDF/E may
have occurred.
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17
• We are ingenious in developing ways to
reduce the dissonance
– But they are usually self-deluding
• Albert Camus: we humans are creatures
who spend our lives trying to convince
ourselves that our existence is not absurd
– But to hold onto two ideas that contradict
each other is to flirt with the absurd
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• Basically we lie to ourselves
• We develop “Good Excuses”
• How the people erroneously predicting the
end of the world justify their error to
themselves and their flocks
19
• So, we strive to lead lives that are, at least
in our own minds, meaningful and
consistent
• Cognitive dissonance is the engine of selfjustification
20
Confirmation bias
(we are not logical beings)
• If we are forced to look at disconfirming information, we
will find a way to criticize it, to distort or dismiss it so that
we can maintain or even strengthen our original belief:
• If we obtain new information that is consistent with our
beliefs, we consider the information useful and well
founded
• However, if the new information is inconsistent with our
beliefs, we will consider it bias or foolish.
21
A neurological basis
• MRI’s have revealed that when people are
facing dissonance/information that
conflicts with their beliefs, the “reasoning
parts” of their brains shut down
• And when the consonance was restored,
the emotional circuits in their brains lit up
22
Reactions to opposing scholarly
articles
• Subjects who held strong opinions on one side
of an issue with two distinct sides were given
two scholarly articles which took the two different
sides of that particular issue
• After reading them, rather than seeing the merits
of the other side, they discredited the other
side’s article—finding and magnifying minor
flaws—and actually became even more
committed to their original opinion
23
Absence of any evidence can
become evidence for one’s beliefs
• Confirmation bias can even convince us
that the lack of evidence to support our
position or belief is evidence that our
belief/position is correct
– Mere rumors can be enough
• WWII internment of Japanese Americans
– The “fact” that there was no evidence to support
sabotage by this group was seen as evidence of just how
sinister, clever, organized and dangerous they were
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Sticking with our decisions
• Especially irrevocable decisions
– And decisions that involved a lot of cost or emotional
commitment
• The greater the dissonance and the greater to need to
reduce it by over-emphasizing the good aspects of it
• As a result, realize that testimonial advertising is
the least reliable
– If I spent a lot of money and time for a particular
therapy, I am going to say it has made a great
difference in my life (not “sure I wasted ten years of
my life and $50,000 on terrible therapy!!”)
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• Dissonance can even make us hang onto
practices and notions that are not based
on conscious decisions, just “feelings”
– We may not have a clue why we are holding
onto this view or opinion, but
– We are too proud to admit that
– We are smart and clever people, aren’t we?
• And again, especially if in involved a lot of pain,
cost
– Initiation into a fraternity
26
A common belief
it is good to vent your anger
• Based on good old Freud—catharsis
• That expressing your anger or acting
aggressively gets rid of your anger
• Throw something
– Yell at someone
• Hit that punching bag
– You’ll feel much better….or will you??
27
Justifying our anger—a vicious
circle
• If we get angry at someone and do something directly negative
towards them, then we have a problem—we have to justify what we
did to them.
• and later we might even feel remorse for over-reacting
• So, what do we do with this dissonance?
• we may tend to convince ourselves that we were justified in being
angry and even getting the person in trouble..
• As a result, rather than finding relief by “venting” our anger, we are
committed to continuing our anger to confirm that our actions were
right and the other person is a &%$^
28
When we are generous we
reinforce that act as well—a
virtuous circle
• If we give them something that is not very
expensive or didn’t take much effort,
maybe even on a whim
– If we had had negative feelings about them
before we gave, there is dissonance
• Why would I give something to someone so bad?
– so we may tend to start thinking of them in a
more positive way
• He’s not so bad, actually, she is pretty nice
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• The greater the gift or the effort of giving,
the greater the dissonance and the more
we tend to view the person favorably
30
Our view of ourselves
• Most reasonably adjusted people have a
positive view of themselves as moral,
competent and smart
– Hence when we do something that is
inconsistent with those positive self images,
the dissonance is particularly painful to us.
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• So if we do something really stupid
– (buy into an end of the world hoax)
• We must either admit we are stupid…ouch
• Or
• “Realize” how really heroic we were and smart too
– Through our faith, we saved the entire world…too bad
everyone isn’t that smart, huh?
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The opinions of so-called experts
• Empirical studies show their rates of success are
around 50-50
• Our guesses are as good as theirs—the best
estimates are based on data and not on experts’
“experiences” or “opinions”
• AND
• When they are wrong, they struggle hard to
convince themselves and others that they would
have been right “if only”..the timing had been
different, the “unforeseen mishap” hadn’t
happened, yada yada
33
Dissonance reduction is not limited
to those with high self esteem
• Self justification protects how we feel about
ourselves, whether it is high or low esteem
• Regarding low self esteem, the dissonance
occurs when they seem to do something right,
rather than when they do something wrong.
• Someone who considers themselves
unattractive will take the tack that as soon as the
person who now seems to find them attractive
really gets to know them, they will go away,
rather than thinking “how nice, I must be more
appealing than I thought”.
34
crooks
• Similarly, someone who recognizes that
he/she is a scam artist or thief will not feel
badly when they cheat a retiree out of their
life savings.
• It is consistent with their self image.
35
A Cheating Scenario
• Two students are both facing a critical exam for
admission to a graduate program
• They are both reasonably honest and have the same
attitude towards cheating—it shouldn’t be done
– That is, they are very close together in their views of cheating
• But they each find themselves stumped by a question on
the exam
• And they each find themselves with an easy opportunity
to cheat by copying an answer from another student
which appears to be a very good answer
• One cheats and the other does not
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• Each gains something very important:
– One gives up integrity for a passing grade
– The other gives up a passing grade to
preserve their integrity
• So how do they feel a week later?
– Each has had ample time to consider their
choice
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• The cheater will decide that cheating is not such
a terrible crime
– Hey, everyone cheats all the time
– It’s no big deal
– And I had to do it for my future and the future of my
family
• The other will determine that cheating is even
more immoral than he originally believed
– People who cheat should be expelled
– We need to make an example out of them
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• The outcome:
– The two students are now very far apart in
their belief systems re cheating
• The cheater thinks the other is ridiculously
pollyanna
• The other thinks the cheater is totally immoral
– They have internalized these divergent beliefs
to the point that they believe they have always
held these view points
39
Back to the cross roads moment
• At that time, as they stood at the top of the
slippery slope, the choices seemed a lot more
ambiguous than after they have made their
choice and traveled down the slope
• The early, almost inconsequential steps, don’t
seem that big
– But it starts a process of entrapment
• We justify each step to reduce our uneasiness/the ambiguity
of the dilemma and it also increases the level of our
commitment and intensity and takes us further and further
away from our original principles and intentions
40
• People who have been sorely tempted,
who battled the temptation, and almost
gave in to it but resisted it at the eleventh
hour, come to dislike and even dispise
those who did were not able to resist the
temptation.
• This dynamic applies to most important
decisions we face in life
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Gray areas
• At the top of the pyramid, the choices
seem to involve gray areas, ambivalent
choices, with consequences which are
shrouded in uncertainty
• And the first steps along the process are
likewise morally ambiguous—the correct
choice isn’t so clear.
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Gray gives way to certainty
• So we make early, apparently
inconsequential decisions and we justify
each small step to reduce the ambiguity
• But each step requires additional
justifications and we find it hard to turn
back against our earlier justifications
– So the intensity of our commitment to the
course of action increases
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THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
Moving from Moral Ambiguity to a Committed
Bedrock Certainity
One Small Step at a Time
Art Hayes
Cheating is wrong, but easy, and a lot is at
stake and unlikely to be caught
A
B
A decides to take one small step and to cheat,
just this one time
B resists the temptation this time
A has to justify his decistion, to reduce
his discomfort and the ambiguity
B justifies his decision to reassure himself
he was right
A then takes another small step and
cheats again—higher dissonance
requires more justification
B resists another temptation and has
to reassure himself he is not being
stupid
Over time, each is entrapped in a
position far from the starting point
and even further from his colleague
and it is impossible to move against
the tide
Over time, each is entrapped in a
position far from the starting point
and even further from his colleague
and it is impossible to move against
the tide
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watergate
• Jeb McGruder—should he have known or drawn
the line the first time they asked him to do
something illegal? Not so easy..
– Courted by Halderman
• Not told that perjury, cheating, and breaking the law were
required for the job; instead was
• Flattered and told he was going to make a difference for the
world, not just make money for a company and himself—part
of history being made
• Erlichman
• John Dean—Blind Ambition
• Liddy’s wild and crazy plans and then the “toned
down one” about the break-in
45
Stanley Milgram
• “the experiment requires you to continue”
• Created a “slippery slope”
– Not high voltage charges that could seriously harm
someone, but
• $20 to participate in a scientific study to determine whether a
mild shock with a miniscule amount of voltage (10 volts) can
increase people’s ability to learn
• He even tries it on you and you can barely feel it
• So it’s harmless and interesting (hmm, will spanking the kids
make them study?) and you get some money ($20 in 1963)
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• Then when you start you are told that if the
student gets the answer wrong, you have to
nudge the voltage up to 20 volts
– No big increase
• Then up to 30, 40, 50…to a point on the switch
that reads “450 volts—danger”
– Those who resisted early were more likely to stop
before they got to the higher voltages
– But 2/3 of the subjects went all the way—they found it
hard to suddenly justify drawing the line and stopping
• each new increment had been just a small increase but each
increase had committed them a little further
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How do we lose our ethical
compass?
• Get someone to take one small step at a
time
• Self-justification will do the rest
• To preserve our belief that we are smart,
we will all, on ocassion, do somethings
that are dumb
– We can’t help it, we are wired that way..the
human condition
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Fighting hypocrisy
49
Psychological blind spots
• The biggest one: that we don’t have any
• Justify our own perceptions and beliefs as being
accurate, realistic and unbiased
• Naïve realism: we believe that we perceive
objects and events clearly, as they really are
– We assume that other people see things the way we
do
– If they disagree with us, obviously they aren’t seeing
things correctly
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• 1. people who are open minded and fair ought
to agree with a reasonable opinion
• 2. any opinion I hold must be reasonable; if it
weren’t I wouldn’t hold it.
• 3. therefore, if I can just get my opponent to sit
down and listen to me, so I can tell him how
things really are, he will agree with me.
• 4. and if he doesn’t, it must be because he is
biased.
– Labeling of the source of positions influences our
acceptance of the substance of them
51
Perceptions
• Ideas and opinions that we hold dear through
years of introspection due to the need to avoid
dissonance, we view as reasoned—a source of
accuracy and enlightenment.
• But people with other views developed over
years of their introspection we view as biased
and inflexible (she can’t possibly be impartial on
the topic of xxxxx, because she has held that
position for years)
52
First class versus coach seats
• The blind spot of the privileged
– Don’t consider themselves lucky
– Something they are entitled to
• Born on third base, didn’t hit a triple
– Those flying in coach consider the ones in
first class as snobs wasting money
• But if upgraded, then a new perspective
– A self satisfying mix of pity and disdain for those having
to troop past them to the coach section
53
The problem with blind spots
• We can’t find them through introspection
– They are unconscious
• They are innate and inevitable
– Everyone has them
• When we are unaware of them, we make foolish
decisions and cross ethical lines
• They enhance our pride and activate our
prejudices
• Although we can’t avoid them, we can try to be
aware of them
54
The greatest of all faults is to to be
conscious of none..Thomas Carlyle
• These blind spots make us feel that we
cannot be co-opted or corrupted
– That our dislikes or even hatreds of other
groups are not irrational but are reasoned and
legitimate
55
How do we fail?
One step at a time
• Most politicians believe that they are
incorruptible through their blind spot
– When they begin their career, they accept
lunch from lobbyists—how else can they learn
about issues? And that’s how politics work.
And the lobbyists have a right to free speech
just like any other citizen—I’m just listening
– Then, I will take his offer to go to a golf
course…it’s not that big of a deal..it’s a nice
place for a conversation
56
• Next stop?
• St. Andrews in Scotland?
– Former congressmen and former lobbyist Jack
Abramoff
• Who would compromise their career and
reputation for a trip to Scotland?
• No one..if that was the first such offer
– But lots of us, if it was preceded by many, smaller
offers we had accepted
57
The formula
• Self justification—we don’t think that we
have any blind spots and we are just doing
what needs to be done
• Pride—through my blind spot, I think that I,
of all people, am above the temptations
• Trouble—so, I won’t even see the line
when I cross it
58
That old bell shaped curve
• Although there are many who are at the
end where they would never cross the line,
there is that other end
59
Science and profit
• Jonas Salk when asked if he would patent the Salk Vaccine in 1964
– Are you kidding? Would you patent the sun?
• How naïve now…
• The culture of science back then valued the separation of research
and commerce
• Scientists were paid by the government, universities and
foundations for their research and they were free to conduct
research for years investigating a problem that may or may not pay
off
• In 1980 the supreme court ruled that patents could be issued on
genetically modified bacteria, independent of the process for
developing them
• The pharmaceutical industry became unregulated
60
• The rush was on for new drugs, even if
they weren’t that much of an improvement
over older ones
• Conflicts of interest between scientists and
their roles on boards and jobs with
companies
• Correlations shown between their interests
in the companies and drugs and the
results of clinical tests of drugs
61
• Much scientific research has ambiguities
in the results—creating gray areas that a
conflicted scientist might exploit
• VIOXX—bury negative findings
• Autism and vaccines—Andrew Wakefield
had a conflict but denied it (he earned
$ 800,00 for research for lawyers in such
cases and gave them the results before
they were published)
62
Wakefield’s statement
• A conflict of interest is created when involvement
in one project potentially could or actively does,
interfere with the objective and dispassionate
assessment of the processes or outcomes of
another project. We cannot accept that the
knowledge that affected children were later to
pursue litigation, following their clinical referral
and investigation, influenced the content or tone
of our paper. We emphasize that this was not a
scientific paper but a clinical report.
63
• He had no incentive to look for
disconfirming information
• Five subsequent studies found no causal
correlations
– There was a temporal correlation due to the
fact that children tend to get the vaccinations
about the same age when they are diagnosed
with autism
64
• We can’t be bought with trinkets or free lunches
• But, being given a gift evokes an implicit desire
to reciprocate and your blind spot makes it seem
to be no real challenge to your morals…
– The key is for the other person to just start the
process
• Then self-justification kicks in to minimize the
impact of the gift you received
– It is only a flower
– I always wanted a copy of ___
– It’s only a pizza
65
• At first you just give up your attention, you
listen
• Then you will try the product
– It might help my patients
• And your own view of your intellectual and
professional integrity remains the same
(blind spots and self-justification) even
though your behavior has changed
66
Objectivity is a myth
• A dissonance reducing rationale
• When did the prostitution begin?
• The big drug companies have underwritten
the AMA’s council on ethical and judicial
affairs, regarding the rules on taking gifts
from drug companies!!
67
Bigotry/hypocrisy
• Thanks to our ego-preserving blind spots, we
don’t believe that we could possibly have any
prejudices
• Because we are not irrational or mean-spirited,
any negative feelings we might have about a
particular group is justified—our dislikes are
rational and well-founded
• When people have a slip of the tongue, they
don’t see they are biased on that one issue
– Rather, it’s the bigotry of others that we feel we need
to suppress
68
memory
• What we refer to as memory is really a
form of storytelling that goes on continually
in the mind and often changes with the
telling
– William Maxwell
69
Do we always lie when we don’t
telll the whole truth?
• When two people tell completely different
stories of the same event
• There are direct, conscious lies, intended
to manipulate or deceive:
– James Frey…A Million Little Pieces
• But many of us are just self-justifying
– Neither telling the whole truth nor intentionally
deceiving
70
• We add details and omit inconvenient
facts
• We add a small, self-enhancing spin
• If that spin goes over well, the next time
we embellish a little more, give it a little
more drama
– We aren’t lying, just making the story a little
better and clearer
• Until the latter version might be something that
didn’t happen at all
71
• Our “selves” are ruled by totalitarian egos
– Which ruthlessly destroy information that it doesn’t
want to hear and
• Rewrites history from the view point of the victor
– Anthony Greenwald
• We do so to justify our actions
– To make us look and feel good about ourselves
• And what we did and failed to do
– If mistakes were made, they were made by others
• We were little more than innocent bystanders
72
• Memory irons out the dissonance we
might feel
– Enables the confirmation bias to roll right
along
– Selectively letting us to forget about
disconcerting and disconfirming information
about beliefs we hold dear
73
• We conveniently forget good arguments
raised by the other side
• As well as foolish arguments by our side
• And remember the good arguments for our
side and the foolish arguments for the
other side
74
• What drives us to self distort?
– The need to be right
•
•
•
•
To keep our self concept consistent
To preserve self esteem
To excuse failures and bad decisions/mistakes
To find an explanation, preferably one in the safe
and distant past, of current problems
75
Nietzsche
• “I have done that” my memory says
• “I cannot have done that” says my pride,
and remains inexorable.
– Eventually my memory yields
76
The truth about memories
• How disorienting it is to learn that a vivid
one is indisputably wrong
• That even being absolutely, positively sure
a memory is correct does not mean it is
• Errors in memory support our currently
held beliefs and feelings
77
Complex memories are
reconstructive
• We may learn and remember some simple
things by rote training but complex past
information is shaped to fit into a story line
• Because such memories are reconstructed, they
are fallible and subject to mistakes
• In reconstructing memories, we draw on many
sources
• We weave them together into one, integrated
account
78
Source confusion
• When recalling an event, even under
hypnosis, we can’t always distinguish
between our actual memory and
information that crept in, over the years,
from other sources
79
Leaving ourselves out of the story
• When we tell a story about the past, we
tend to leave ourselves out of it
• My father was a disciplinarian because
that was his nature (not because I was a
brat)
80
The Parent Trap
• Make your child take piano lessons and
they blame you for ruining their love of
music because you forced them to study
the piano
• Don’t make them take piano lessons and
you blew it…you should have forced her
because now she can’t play at all and it’s
all your fault.
81
• In parent blaming we only focus on what
the parent did and not our role in it
• Mistakes were made…by THEM!!
82
They aren’t lying
they are self-justifying
• When two people produce entirely different
memories of the same event we usually
presume one of them is lying
– That can happen, for sure—James Frey and “A
Million Little Pieces”
• But for most of us, we aren’t telling the whole
truth nor are we intentionally deceiving
– We are self-justifying
• What we refer to confidently as memory is really
a form of storytelling that goes on continually in
the mind and often changes with the telling
83
Memories as story telling
• All of us, as we tell our stories, add details and
omit inconvenient facts
– Give the tale a small, self-enhancing spin
– That spin goes over so well that the next time we tell
it, we add a slightly more dramatic embellishment
• Its not a lie, I’m just making the story better!! And even
clearer
• In the end, the story we are telling may not have
happened that way, or even have happened at
all!!
84
Our memory is our personal, livein, self-justifying historian
• It is like a dictator that ruthlessly destroys
information that it doesn’t want to hear and rewrites history from the standpoint of the victor!!
– Like other victors, we rewrite history to justify our
actions and to make us look good to ourselves and
what we did or failed to do
– If mistakes were made, they were made by someone
else
– If we were even there, we were innocent bystanders
85
misremembering
• Memory is reconstructive
• When we mis-remember our mistakes
aren’t random
• They have a purpose to protect our selfesteem and to downplay the positive
arguments/ideas of our enemies
86
False memories
87
The ends justify the means
88
interrogators
• The most powerful piece of evidence is a
confession
• And interrogators can lie to get them
• Why is this? Most of us can’t imagine
admitting to something we didn’t do.
89
• Reid course “none of these steps is apt to
make an innocent person confess, it is all
legal and moral”
• The natural human reaction is for the
innocent to push even harder and become
more angry if accused of something they
didn’t do
90
Wrong
• The natural human reaction would be confusion
and hopelessness
• Dissonance because the person would not
expect the interrogator to be lying
• In an interrogation, the interviewer is already
biased—an interrogation, unlike an interview, is
designed to get the confession from the person
the interviewer reasonably certain is guilty.
• And the person doesn’t even realize the
difference.
91
• And once the interrogator has that
reasonable certainty, there is nothing the
person can do to change that perception
• Anything the person does will be
interpreted as denial, lying, evading the
truth.
• “don’t lie, we know you are guilty”
• There is no such thing as disconfirming
evidence.
92
• The interrogator is convinced the person is
guilty so the harder the person tries to
resist, the more the interrogator doubles
down on him.
93
• Signs of stress are not necessarily signs of
deception
– Body language:
– Trying to remain calm but nervous and his
eyes roam, he would not make direct eye
contact and he cried and acted sporadic
– Could be anxiety about being falsely accused
94
• Training does not increase accuracy
– It does increase confidence
– This is a deadly factor
95
• Why don’t more people who are falsely accused ask for
lawyers?
• They don’t believe they need one…and they trust the
police to be honest.
• Dissonance will require them to make sense out of the
evidence they are told by believing they must have done
it.
• “Is it possible that I could have done this terrible thing
and blanked it out?” cop “oh yeah, it happens all the
time”
96
Lao Tzu
•
•
•
•
A great nation is like a great man
When he makes mistakes, he realizes it
Having realized it, he corrects it
He considers those who point out his
faults as his most beneficial teachers
97
98
99