Within the criminal justice system, there is a growing trend toward utilizing videotape technology to record and present confession evidence. An apparent advantage of videotaping an interrogation/confession is that such a procedure should make it possible for fact finders to determine objectively and accurately whether a confession was voluntary or coerced, and consequently whether it should carry any weight in determining the guilt or innocence of a defendant. However, despite the seeming objectivity associated with the making and subsequent evaluation of a videotaped interrogation and confession, the scientific literature on illusory causation suggests that certain aspects of this process could inadvertently bias or prejudice judgments of voluntariness and guilt. Studies to date show that, relative to other confession-presentation formats, videotapes that are recorded with the camera focused on the confessor tend to produce judgments of greater voluntariness and guilt. This research builds on prior work in two primary ways. The first set of investigations will continue examining the extent to which the previously demonstrated camera perspective bias in videotaped confessions generalizes to real-world situations. The second set of investigations will focus on determining the effect of the videotape-presentation format on accuracy in the evaluation of confession evidence. The research conducted is of considerable applied significance because only when both the potential advantages and disadvantages of the videotape format are clearly established can appropriate decisions be made as to how to utilize this procedural innovation to the best benefit of the criminal justice system.
