Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

In yet another example of the many conundrums of the interrogation room,
common sense would suggest that sources would find an advantage in being
asked questions concerning topics about which they knew little or nothing. Such
circumstances do not place them in a position where they felt pressure to deceive
(“falsify”) or purposely withhold (“conceal”) information. As reported by U.S.
POWs who were subjected to this manner of questioning during the Korean
War, however, it often proved true that the inability to answer questions created
tremendous pressure and, as the quotation above illustrates, the opportunity finally
to address questions within the scope of their experience and knowledgeability
proved a welcome relief. The need to communicate is surprisingly powerful, and
more powerful still under traumatic circumstances.
Cialdini provides another perspective that may be a relevant factor at play in
this approach. In his rejection-then-retreat scenario, when one asks for something
difficult (a request that might often be denied) and then asks for something less
demanding, the compliance rate for the lesser demand is higher when the demand
is preceded by the more difficult demand than when the questions are asked in
isolation. 86 In the context of interrogation, a source may be reluctant to answer
sweeping questions about organizational plans and intentions, but, in contrast,
may be less guarded about lower-level details. Although declining to answer
questions about strategic-level topics, the source may feel less pressure to keep
from answering questions about tactical-level topics.
Taking into account Cialdini’s consistency principle (i.e., people tend to act
in a manner consistent with formal, public statements made or positions taken
previously), 87 this strategy would probably work more effectively when the
interrogator asks the strategic-level question, but, sensing hesitation on the part of
the source, withdraws it before the source has the chance to resist. If allowed to
formally assume a resistance posture, the pressure to remain consistent with that
decision may have a greater influence than the relief gained from being able to
respond to a question with which the source is more comfortable.
What internal dialogue takes place within a source in response to various
approaches Can Cialdini’s principles of persuasion explain, at least in part, why
a given approach elicits compliance from a source Do certain trends in behavior
in the interrogation room prove valid in a sufficient number of cases that they can
be routinely employed with a high degree of probability of ultimately proving
effective The review of available literature strongly suggests that these critical
questions, and others, have not been satisfactorily addressed with regard to the
traditional approaches and other tactics, techniques, and procedures still being
employed. The move to the next generation of strategies for educing information
depends on research that can uncover the answer to these questions. Once this
has been accomplished, ineffective methods can be eliminated from the training
curricula and replaced by innovative strategies complete with a valid description
of the underlying factors that are essential to success.
86
Cialdini, 36–51.
87
Cialdini, 57–113.
128