If you want people to admit their mistakes instead of stonewalling or slowly walking them back, then your first reaction to someone doing so should probably be

If you want people to admit their mistakes instead of stonewalling or slowly walking them back, then your first reaction to someone doing so should probably be praise. Maybe she's a venal person like you're insinuating, but I don't know, and most of us reading this don't know either. As a programmer I know I make mistakes all the time, big and small. We're very lucky to get so much relatively clear feedback.