Dr. Madon is a professor of social psychology and faculty member in the psychology and law concentration at Iowa State University. Her research examines how social influence processes alter people’s behavior specifically with respect to police interrogation, criminal confessions, and forensic science. Dr. Madon's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, American Psychological Foundation, and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She is a fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, Association for Psychological Science, and Society for Personality and Social Psychology. To visit Dr. Madon's Google Scholar profile, click here. Additional information can be found at the following links:
Dr. Madon is a professor of social psychology and faculty member in the psychology and law concentration at Iowa State University. Her research examines how social influence processes alter people’s behavior specifically with respect to police interrogation, criminal confessions, and forensic science. Dr. Madon's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, American Psychological Foundation, and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She is a fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, Association for Psychological Science, and Society for Personality and Social Psychology. To visit Dr. Madon's Google Scholar profile, click here. Additional information can be found at the following links:
Police Interrogation and Confessions
It is widely believed that innocent people would not jeopardize their self-interests by confessing to a crime they did not commit. Contrary to this belief, however, DNA exoneration cases have revealed that false confessions occur with regularity and constitute a common source of error leading to wrongful conviction. To date, there have been more than 350 DNA exoneration cases in the United States, approximately 28% of which involved a false confession as a contributing factor. Wrongful convictions supported by false confessions raise concerns about the protection of civil liberties and the integrity of the criminal justice system, thereby underscoring the need for research that identifies the underlying causes of false confessions as a way to improve the probative value of confession evidence. Dr. Madon's research emphasizes the idea that police interrogation exploits suspects’ psychological vulnerabilities in ways that can make them highly susceptible to misinformation, short-sighted thinking, false memories, and ultimately, false confessions.
Selected Publications:
Yang, Y., Moody, S. A., Cabell, J. J., & Madon, S. (2019). Why suspects confess: The power of outcome certainty. Law and Human Behavior, 43, 468-476. Link
Guyll, M., Yang, Y., Madon, S., Smalarz, L., & Lannin, D. G. (2019) Mobilization and Resistance in Response to Interrogation Threat. Law and Human Behavior, 43, 307-318. Link
Smalarz, L. & Madon, S. (2018). Defendant stereotypicality moderates the effect of confession evidence on judgments of guilt. Law and Human Behavior, 42, 355-368.
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Madon, S., Guyll, M., Yang, Y., Smalarz, L., Marschall, J., & Lannin, D. (2017). Police interrogation elicits a biphasic process of resistance from suspects. Law and Human Behavior, 41, 159-172. Link
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Yang, Y., Guyll, M., & Madon, S. (2017). Why Suspects Confess: An Interrogation Decision-Making Model, Law and Human Behavior, 41, 80-92. Link
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Willard, J., Madon, S., Guyll, M., & Allen, J. (2016). Relationship Closeness and Self-Reported Willingness to Falsely Take the Blame. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 34, 767-783. Link
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Willard, J. & Madon, S. (2015). Taking the blame for other people’s misconduct. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 33, 771-783. Link
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Yang, Y., Madon, S., & Guyll, M. (2015). Short-sighted confession decisions: The role of uncertain and delayed consequences. Law and Human Behavior, 39, 44-52. Link
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Guyll, M., Madon, S., Yang, Y., Scherr, K. C., Lannin, D., & Greathouse, S. (2013). Physiological reactions to interrogation stress: Differences between the guilty and the innocent. Law and Human Behavior, 37, 366-375. Link
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Madon, S., Yang, Y., Smalarz, L., Guyll, M., & Scherr, K. C. (2013). How factors present during the immediate interrogation situation produce short-sighted confession decisions. Law and Human Behavior, 37, 60-74. Link
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Scherr, K. C. & Madon, S. (2013). “Go ahead and sign ": An experimental examination of Miranda waivers and comprehension. Law and Human Behavior, 37, 208-218. Link
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Madon, S., Guyll, M., Scherr, K. C., Greathouse, S., Wells, G. (2012). Temporal Discounting: The Differential Effect Of Proximal And Distal Consequences On Confession Decisions. Law and Human Behavior, 36, 13-20.
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Scherr, K. C., & Madon, S. (2012). You Have the Right to Understand: The Deleterious Effect of Stress on Suspects' Ability to Comprehend Miranda. Law and Human Behavior, 36, 275-282. Link
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