Postdoctoral Research Fellowships – University of Kansas (1978-79), Federal Judicial Center (1984-85), Stanford University (1985-86)
Ph.D. - Personality and Social Psychology - University of Connecticut, 1978
B.S. - Psychology - Brooklyn College, 1974
A Professor Emeritus at Williams College in Massachusetts, Saul Kassin joined the John Jay faculty as Distinguished Professor of Psychology in 2006. Starting in the 1980s, he pioneered the scientific study of false confessions. Kassin is former president of the Psychology-and-Law Division of the American Psychological Association (APA); the lead author of its Official White Paper on false confessions, which is currently being updated; and the recipient of lifetime achievement awards from APA, APS, AP-LS, EAPL, and iiiRG. He has appeared as an analyst on all major news networks and in several podcasts and documentaries, including Ken Burns’ 2013 documentary, The Central Park Five. Over the years, Kassin has consulted in several high-profile cases. His work, which was featured in SCIENCE Magazine (Starr, 2019), is newly presented for policy makers and laypeople alike in his 2022 book, titled DUPED: Why Innocent People Confess – And Why We Believe Their Confessions. For more information, see: https://saulkassin.org/
Selected publications (books, journal articles, newspaper articles):
Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2024). Social psychology (12th ed.). Sage Publications.
Alceste, F., Sanchez, P. Y., Luke, T., Dalsklev, M., Rizzelli, L., & Kassin, S. M. (2023). Practice makes perfect: Effects of mere rehearsal on lay judgments of confessions. Psychology, Crime, and Law, 1-18.
Kassin, S. (Ed.) (2022). Pillars of social psychology: Stories and retrospectives. Cambridge University Press.
Hellgren, J., & Kassin, S. M. (2022). The defense lawyer’s plea recommendation: Disentangling the influences of perceived guilt and probability of conviction. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 28, 546–559.
Alceste, F., & Kassin, S. M. (2021). Perceptions of custody: Similarities and disparities among police, judges, social psychologists, and laypeople. Law and Human Behavior, 45, 197–214.
Kassin, S. (2021). It’s time for police to stop lying to suspects. The New York Times, January 30, 2021, p. A23.
Kukucka, J., Hiley, A., & Kassin, S. (2020). Forensic confirmation bias: Do jurors discount examiners who were exposed to task-irrelevant information? Journal of the Forensic Sciences, 65, 1978-1990.
Alceste, F., Jones, K., & Kassin, S. M. (2020). Facts only the perpetrator could have known? A study of contamination in mock crime interrogations. Law and Human Behavior, 44, 128-142.
Scherr, K., C., Redlich, A. D., & Kassin, S. M. (2020). Cumulative disadvantage: A psychological framework for understanding how innocence can lead to confession, wrongful conviction, and beyond. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15, 353-383.
Kassin, S. M., Russano, M., Amrom, A., Hellgren, J., Kukucka, J., & Lawson, V. (2019). Does video recording inhibit crime suspects?: Evidence from a fully randomized field experiment. Law and Human Behavior, 43, 44-55.
Kassin, S., & Thompson, D. (2019). Videotape all police interrogations – Justice demands it. The New York Times, August 1, 2019.
Alceste, F., Luke, T. J., & Kassin, S. M. (2018). Holding yourself captive: Perceptions of custody during interviews and interrogations. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 7, 387-397.
Dror, I. E., Kukucka, J., Kassin, S. M., & Zapf, P. A. (2018). No one is immune to contextual bias—Not even forensic pathologists. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 7, 316-317.
Zapf, P. A., Kukucka, J., Kassin, S. M., & Dror, I. E. (2018). Cognitive bias in forensic mental health assessment: Evaluator beliefs about its nature and scope. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 24, 1-10.
Kassin, S. M., Redlich, A. D., Alceste, F., & Luke, T. J. (2018). On the general acceptance of confessions research: Opinions of the scientific community. American Psychologist, 73, 63-80.
Kassin, S. M. (2017). False confessions: How can psychology so basic be so counterintuitive? American Psychologist, 72, 951-964.
Kukucka, J., Kassin, S. M., Zapf, P. A., & Dror, I. E. (2017). Cognitive bias and blindness: A global survey of forensic science examiners. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6, 452-459.
Vrij, A., Meissner, C., Fisher, R., Kassin, S., Morgan, C., & Kleinman, S. (2017). Psychological perspectives on interrogation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12, 927-955.
Kassin, S. M. (2017). The killing of Kitty Genovese: What else does this case tell us? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12, 374–381.
Kassin, S. M., Kukucka, J., Lawson, V. Z., & DeCarlo, J. (2017). Police reports of mock suspect interrogations: A test of accuracy and perception. Law and Human Behavior, 41, 230–243.
Smalarz, L., Scherr, K., & Kassin, S. M. (2016). Miranda at 50: A Psychological Analysis. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25, 455-460.
Appleby, S. C., & Kassin, S. M. (2016). When self-report trumps science: Effects of confessions, DNA, and prosecutorial theories on perceptions of guilt. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 22, 127-140.
Marion, S. B., Kukucka, J., Collins, C., Kassin, S. M., & Burke, T. M. (2016). Lost proof of innocence: The impact of confessions on alibi witnesses. Law and Human Behavior, 40, 65-71.
Kassin, S. M., Kukucka, J., Lawson, V. Z., & DeCarlo, J. (2014). Does video recording alter the behavior of police during interrogation?: Mock crime-and-investigation study. Law and Human Behavior, 38, 73-83.
Kukucka, J., & Kassin, S. M. (2014). Do confessions taint perceptions of handwriting evidence? An empirical test of the forensic confirmation bias. Law and Human Behavior, 38, 56-70.
Kassin, S. M., Dror, I., & Kukucka, J. (2013). The forensic confirmation bias: Problems, perspectives, and proposed solutions. Journal of Applied Research in Memory & Cognition, 2, 42-52.
Appleby, S. C., Hasel, L. E., & Kassin, S. M. (2013). Police-induced confessions: An empirical analysis of their content and impact. Psychology, Crime and Law, 19, 111-128.
Kassin, S. M. (2012). Why confessions trump innocence. American Psychologist, 67, 431-445.
Kassin, S. M., Bogart, D., & Kerner, J. (2012). Confessions that corrupt: Evidence from the DNA exoneration case files. Psychological Science, 23, 41-45.
Wallace, D. B., & Kassin S. M. (2012). Harmless error analysis: How do judges respond to confession errors? Law and Human Behavior, 36, 151-157.
Perillo, J. T., & Kassin, S. M. (2011). Inside interrogation: The lie, the bluff, and false confessions. Law and Human Behavior, 35, 327-337.
Kassin, S. M., Drizin, S. A., Grisso, T., Gudjonsson, G. H., Leo, R. A., & Redlich, A. D. (2010). Police-induced confessions: Risk factors and recommendations. Law and Human Behavior, 34, 3-38. [Official White Paper of the American Psychology-Law Society]
Hasel, L. E., & Kassin, S. M. (2009). On the presumption of evidentiary independence: Can confessions corrupt eyewitness identifications? Psychological Science, 20, 122-126.
Kassin, S. M., Leo, R. A., Meissner, C. A., Richman, K. D., Colwell, L. H., Leach, A-M., & La Fon, D. (2007). Police interviewing and interrogation: A Self-report survey of police practices and beliefs. Law and Human Behavior, 31, 381-400.
Russano, M. B., Meissner, C. A., Narchet, F. M., & Kassin, S. M. (2005). Investigating true and false confessions in a novel experimental paradigm. Psychological Science, 16, 481-486.
Kassin, S. M. (2005). On the psychology of confessions: Does innocence put innocents at risk? American Psychologist, 60, 215-228.
Kassin, S. M., Meissner, C. A., & Norwick, R. J. (2005). “I’d know a false confession if I saw one”: A comparative study of college students and police investigators. Law and Human Behavior, 29, 211-227.
Kassin, S. M., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (2004). The psychology of confession evidence: A review of the literature and issues. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 33-67.
Kassin, S. M., & Norwick, R. J. (2004). Why people waive their Miranda rights: The power of innocence. Law and Human Behavior, 28, 211-221.
Kassin, S. M., Goldstein, C. C., & Savitsky, K. (2003). Behavioral confirmation in the interrogation room: On the dangers of presuming guilt. Law and Human Behavior, 27, 187-203.
Meissner, C.A., & Kassin, S.M. (2002). “He’s guilty!”: Investigator bias in judgments of truth and deception. Law and Human Behavior. 26, 469-480.
Kassin, S. (2002). False confessions and the jogger case. The New York Times, Nov. 1, 2002, p. A31.