Instructing witnesses that a criminal may have changed appearance prior to showing them a lineup has been shown to increase false identifications without increasing correct identifications (S. D. Charman & G. L. Wells, 2007, Is the appearance-change instruction a good idea? Law and Human Behavior, Vol. 31, pp. 3-22). However, the generalizability of the effects of this appearance-change instruction (ACI) is unknown, and there are reasons to believe that the instruction's effects may be moderated by the amount of appearance change the criminal has actually undergone. The current study tested this hypothesis. Undergraduate students (N = 315) were exposed to a series of target faces and lineups, some of which contained the target and some of which did not, and made identification decisions. Half of the participants received a standard ACI prior to each lineup; the other half did not. The targets varied with respect to the amount to which their appearance had changed. Results indicated that the ACI inflated false identifications without inflating correct identifications, and that these effects did not depend on the amount of appearance change the target had undergone. Current recommendations to administer the ACI seem to be unfounded and may be harmful to the reliability of identification evidence.

False confessions are often involved in wrongful convictions and are sometimes made to protect someone else (i.e., the guilty), perhaps as a way of reciprocating past favors. Experimental research has neglected to investigate false confessions made to protect someone else, including among adolescents who may be particularly vulnerable given their peer orientation and sensitivity to peer influence. The present study examined (a) how often individuals would falsely confess to take the blame for another's wrongdoing, and (b) whether the willingness to falsely confess would vary by age group and reciprocity. Adult (n = 99, M age = 20.29) and adolescent (n = 74, M age = 15.47) participants were randomly assigned to either receive or not receive a small favor from a confederate, witnessed the confederate cheat on a task, and then decided whether to sign a statement taking the blame for the confederate's cheating. Adolescents (59%) were more likely to falsely confess than adults (39%). No effect of reciprocity was found. Although a well-documented phenomenon in legal cases and field studies, the present study provides the first experimental evidence concerning voluntary false confessions to protect another, including developmental differences in this tendency. Results highlight the vulnerability of youth and the potential role of peers in legal decision making.

The potential consequences of interrogations and false confessions have been discussed primarily in terms of the risk for wrongful conviction, especially among adolescents and other vulnerable populations. However, it is possible that such experiences influence adolescents' perceptions of the legal system more generally. In the present study, we examined whether incarcerated male juvenile offenders' (n = 193) perceptions of police and the courts were related to their confession and interrogation experiences. High-pressure interrogation experiences and self-reported false confessions to police were associated with more negative perceptions of police. However, self-reported true confessions were not significantly associated with youths' perceptions of the police. Neither interrogation nor confession experiences (true or false) were related to youths' perceptions of the courts. Results provide additional support for policy reform of interrogation practices with young suspects. A more developmentally appropriate approach to criminal interrogations with youth may simultaneously improve police-youth relations and protect vulnerable suspects in the interrogation room.

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