Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

• Second, the suspect must agree and concur with the message
communicated by the interrogator (acceptance). 154
• Third, the suspect must internalize or believe the interrogator’s
suggestions (believing). 155 This last point underscores the importance
of suggestibility in the confession process: the more suggestible the
suspect, the easier it is, theoretically, to obtain a confession. 156
• Finally, the interrogator must constantly monitor the subject’s feedback
to determine whether or not the subject accepts the theme, whether the
subject’s anxiety should be intensified, or if the timing of the presentation
of an alternative question is right. 157
In this context, Jayne suggests several manipulative ploys that interrogators
can use to reduce the perceived consequences of confessing and increase the
perceived anxiety associated with deception. According to Jayne, perceived
consequences are generally reduced through the development of themes
that employ rationalization and/or projection. 158 As defense mechanisms,
rationalization and projection reduce anxiety by altering the suspect’s perceptions
of the likely consequences of self-incriminating admissions. 159 Jayne notes that
these two mechanisms are most effective in reducing the perceptions concerning
“real” consequences, whereas using sympathy and compassion as ploys is relatively
more effective in overcoming inhibitions about the perceptions of “personal”
consequences. 160 Similarly, Jayne notes that anxiety must be independently
increased without increasing perceived consequences. 161 Statements or actions
intended to increase anxiety “must be directed at the suspect’s perception of
himself within the interrogation environment.” 162 Ultimately, the success of the
interrogation depends on the extent to which the interrogator is successful in
identifying psychological vulnerabilities, exploiting them to alter the suspect’s
belief system and perceptions of the consequences of making self-incriminating
admissions, and persuading him to accept the interrogator’s version of the
“truth.”
As explained in detail in Section 3, Jayne’s psychological model has
been incorporated into a comprehensive interrogation technique, the Reid
Technique, which has been described as the “most influential practical manual”
on interrogation. 163 According to Gudjonsson, the Reid Technique rests on the
following basic assumptions: 164
154
Id.
155
Id., p. 337.
156
See interrogative suggestibility discussion below.
157
Jayne, see note 122, p. 340.
158
Id.
159
Id.
160
Id., p. 341.
161
Id., p. 342.
162
Id., p. 343.
163
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 11.
164
Id.
148