Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

inconsistent with information from other sources, she should
ask questions that critically examine them;
8. If the proponent extracts the information she wants from the
respondent, then she has achieved her goal and the dialogue
concludes in her favor;
9. If the proponent terminates the interrogation without getting
the information she wants, and the respondent preserves his
interests, the dialogue concludes in the respondent’s favor;
10. The two parties can use any arguments, even ones considered
irrelevant or fallacious from the viewpoint of a critical discussion,
to achieve their ends.
Walton also points out that “appeals to fear and threats have long been
known to be powerfully effective arguments,” 211 and that the “logically fallacious”
character of such threats does not diminish their effectiveness in the interrogation
dialogue. 212 Of course, if the suspect/respondent is totally unresponsive, Walton’s
rules have little application, and one must turn to the Reid Technique or other
techniques explored in this paper in order to obtain information from the suspect.
Cognitive-Behavioral Model
Mainly espoused by Gudjonsson, the cognitive-behavioral model views
confessions as resulting from “the existence of a particular relationship between
the suspect, the environment and significant others within that environment.” 213
It suggests that it is helpful to look at the “antecedents” and “consequences” of
confessing behavior within the framework of behavioral analysis. 214 Antecedents
are the kinds of events occurring prior to interrogation that may trigger or facilitate
the confession. 215 Consequences refer to the effects of a confession or admission
upon the subject. There are two major types: short term and long term. 216 Shortterm
consequences occur within minutes or hours of the suspect’s confession,
while long-term consequences manifest themselves within days, weeks, months,
or years of the confession. 217 The types of consequences depend on the nature and
circumstances of the case and the psychological characteristics of the individual
concerned. 218
As explained below, antecedents and consequences are construed in
terms of social, emotional, cognitive, situational and physiological events. 219
Though these are discussed in greater detail below, the following Table provides a
211
Id., p. 1788.
212
Id.
213
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 124.
214
Id.
215
Id., p. 125.
216
Id.
217
Id.
218
Id.
219
Id.
155