Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

and make them more responsive to interrogation.” 245 Conversely, familiarity with
police procedures and interrogation “is likely to provide suspects with knowledge
and experience that make them more able to understand and assert their rights.” 246
The immediate situational consequence commonly associated with a confession
is that the suspect is charged with the offense. 247 The long-term consequence is
possible prosecution and judicial proceedings. 248
Physiological Events
The physiological antecedent to a confession is “heightened arousal, which
includes increased heart rate, blood pressure, rate and irregularity of respiration,
and perspiration.” 249 These occur because “suspects are commonly apprehensive,
worried and frightened.” 250 Once the suspect has confessed, “there is likely to be
a sharp reduction in his level of physiological and subjective arousal because of
greater certainty about the immediate future.” 251 Arousal may then return to its
normal level, though Gudjonsson notes that uncertainty about the pending charge
or prosecution “may lead to an increased subjective and physiological state of
arousal.” 252
Interrogative Suggestibility
Some experts, led by Gudjonsson and Clark, have dedicated considerable
research to the application of suggestibility in police interrogation. 253 Interrogative
suggestibility is central to the social-psychological model described above. There
are two main theoretical approaches to interrogative suggestibility: the individual
differences approach and the experimental approach. 254 Although they offer
different perspectives, the models complement each other. 255 The former approach
is best illustrated by the work of Gudjonsson and Clark 256 and the latter by the
work of Schooler and Loftus. 257 The experimental approach places emphasis on
“understanding the conditions under which leading questions are likely to affect
the verbal accounts of witnesses.” 258 Thus, interrogative suggestibility is viewed
as being “mediated by a central cognitive mechanism, referred to as discrepancy
245
Id., p. 127-128.
246
Id., p. 128.
247
Id.
248
Id.
249
Id.
250
Id.
251
Id.
252
Id.
253
Gisli H. Gudjonsson, “The Application of Interrogative Suggestibility to Police Interviewing,”
in Human Suggestibility, John F. Schumaker, ed. (UK: Routledge, 1991), 279-288.
254
Id., p. 279.
255
Id., p. 279.
256
Gisli H. Gudjonsson and N. Clark, “Suggestibility in Police Interrogation: A Social-Psychological
Model,” Social Behaviour 1 (1986), 83-104.
257
J.W. Schooler and E.F. Loftus, “Individual Differences and Experimentation: Complementary
Approaches to Interrogative Suggestibility,” Social Behaviour 1 (1986), 105-12.
258
Gudjonsson, see note 253, p. 279.
159