Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

techniques were initially selected for inclusion. Instead, they continue to be used
because they have “always” (as long as memory serves) been used.
The effort to re-evaluate, and perhaps even improve, policies and practices
in this area would benefit greatly from systematic, scientific knowledge regarding
the effectiveness of various techniques for educing information. To establish a
baseline for greater understanding, this review examines theoretical and empirical
findings in the social and behavioral sciences that might help policymakers and
practitioners to understand the process of deriving accurate, useful information
from human sources. The review draws from multiple areas within psychology,
sociology, criminology, criminal justice, cognitive science, medicine, anthropology,
cultic studies, communications theory, marketing, public health, and psychoand
socio-linguistics. While the study reviewed materials from many countries,
analysis was limited to those published in English.
The findings are presented and analyzed within the functional framework of
five guiding questions:
1. What models exist for educing information from uncooperative
sources
2. What strategies might increase or decrease a source’s willingness to
provide information
3. What is resistance and what strategies exist for getting past it
4. What key factors affect the accuracy of educed information
5. What is known about the effect of “stress and duress” techniques for
educing accurate, useful information
Educing Information from Uncooperative Sources
Educing information is most productively envisioned as a process, rather than
as an applied set of techniques. Moreover, the context of that process should be
viewed broadly, not solely (or even primarily) as an across-the-table interaction
between an educer and a source.
Many broad fields of study — including psychology, anthropology, linguistics,
and communications — offer theories, concepts, methods, and research findings
that may inform and further our understanding of the process of educing
information from uncooperative sources. A model for understanding and studying
the process of educing information could provide a platform and language for
identifying actors, elements, actions, dynamics, and effects. 18 Major conceptual
models from at least four areas of social science literature fulfill these functions:
18
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a model is “a schematic description of a system,
theory, or phenomenon that accounts for its known or inferred properties and may be used for further
study of its characteristics.” As the term is used here, a model is distinguished from specific techniques
or general themes, such as power, coercion, fear, or pain, which are discussed later.
19