Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

Anticipating Resistance: The Importance of Being Shrewd
It is useful to recognize in advance whether the information
desired would be threatening or damaging in any way to the
interests of the interrogatee. 60
Resistance to questioning is the primary barrier to entry in the context of
interrogation. The challenge to the interrogator is to manage resistance effectively
while systematically working to overcome it.
As an interrogator explores a given source’s range of knowledgeability, he
or she must be judicious in framing questions while concomitantly concealing
the true focus of intelligence interest. One productive approach is to concentrate
initially on areas that do not appear to provoke concern, and therefore resistance,
on the part of the source. This requires shrewd questioning by the interrogator.
In essence, shrewd questioning demands that the interrogator carefully consider
the possible range of answers and responses (emotional and/or psychological) a
question may elicit before it is asked, and selectively postpone asking the most
provocative questions until later in the process.
Posing potentially provocative questions in the course of developing rapport/
accord with a source (or doing so too quickly after such an operational relationship
has been established) can seriously — and at times irreversibly — undermine
that cooperative relationship. In addition, drawing upon Cialdini’s concept of
the consistency principle, 61 it is important to avoid creating a situation where the
source has the opportunity to formally assume a resistance posture either by word
or deed. If allowed to do so, Cialdini’s research would suggest that the source
might be under additional self-induced pressure to remain consistent in his or her
defiance. 62
Capturing the Advantages of Technology: Monitoring Interrogations
Arrangements are usually made to record the interrogation,
transmit it to another room, or do both. Most experienced
interrogators do not like to take notes. Not being saddled with
this chore leaves them free to concentrate on what sources say,
how they say it, and what else they do while talking or listening.
Another reason for avoiding note-taking is that it distracts and
sometimes worries the interrogatee. In the course of several
sessions conducted without note-taking, the subject is likely to
fall into the comfortable illusion that he is not talking for the
record. 63
60
KUBARK, 44.
61
The consistency principle suggests that if individuals make an expressed commitment — by
word or by action — toward a goal or idea, they are more likely to honor that commitment.
62
Cialdini, 57–113.
63
KUBARK, 46.
112