Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

in mind the possibility that the person is lying, but consider this as only
one of the possible reasons for this mismatch.
3. Attention should be directed towards deviations from a person’s “normal”
or usual patterns of behaviour, if these are known. The explanation for
such deviations should be established. Each deviation may indicate that
the person is lying, but do not disregard other explanations for these
deviations.
4. The judgement of untruthfulness should only be made when all other
possible explanations have been negated.
5. A person suspected of deception should be encouraged to talk. This is
necessary to negate the alternative options regarding a person’s behaviour.
Moreover, the more a liar talks, the more likely it is that they [sic] will
finally give their lies away via verbal and/or non-verbal cues (as they
continuously have to pay attention to both speech content and non-verbal
behaviour).
6. There are stereotyped ideas about cues to deception (such as gaze aversion,
fidgeting, and so on), which research has shown to be unreliable indicators
of deception. The actual indicators are listed in Chapter 2 [see discussion
above]. These can be a guide, but bear in mind that not everyone will
exhibit these cues during deception, and the presence of such cues may
indicate deception, but does not do so in every case. 560
Based on his research, Vrij identifies the “seven aspects [that] characterize
a good liar: i) being well prepared; (ii) being original; (iii) thinking quickly; (iv)
being eloquent; (v) having a good memory; (vi) not experiencing feelings of fear,
guilt of duping, delight while lying; and (vii) being good at acting.” 561 In theory, if
the interrogator can recognize these character aspects, he can at least identify the
suspect who will be better at lying, and thus can search more closely for clues to
the occurrence of deception. Indeed, Vrij lays out guidelines for the interrogator
who must overcome the good liar’s deceit and detect the deceptions:
1. Be suspicious;
2. Be probing;
3. Do not reveal important information;
4. Be informed;
5. Ask liars to repeat what they have said before;
6. Watch and listen carefully and abandon stereotypes;
7. Compare liars’ behavior with their natural behavior. 562
Ultimately, Vrij comes to a similar conclusion as that implied by the BSA
used in the Reid Technique: observe the baseline behavior of the suspect, and then
560
Id., p. 98, Box 3.3.
561
Id., p. 210.
562
Id., p. 222-225.
199