Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

4,405 published entries. Not surprisingly, however, virtually none of these studies
replicate the context of an intelligence interrogation or use samples similar to the
populations of interest. Nevertheless, these findings and concepts may help point
the way toward a more specialized body of scientific or systematic inquiry.
Influence Strategies
Knowles and Linn (2004) drew one of the most fundamental distinctions
among types of influence strategies, and one of the most useful for thinking
about applications to educing information. They assume that most attitudes and
judgments emerge from an “approach-avoidance” model of conflict (Knowles,
Butler and Linn, 2001). Basically, this model rests on the premise that whenever
we contemplate an act or objective, our decisions result from an internal struggle
between forces that push or draw us toward the action (called approach motives)
and those that inhibit or pull us away from it (called avoidance motives) (Dollard
and Miller, 1950, Lewin, 1958, Miller, 1959). Knowles and Linn suggest that one
major implication of this model is that:
there are two fundamentally different ways to create change,
two different strategies for promoting movement toward
some goal. Alpha strategies promote change by activating the
approach forces, thereby increasing the motivation to move
toward the goal. By contrast, Omega strategies promote change
by minimizing the avoidance forces, thereby reducing the
motivation to move away from the goal (Knowles and Linn,
2004, 119, emphasis added).
Increasing a Source’s Motivation to Share Information
Rapport
Most training materials and guides on law enforcement interrogation
emphasize the need for one or more interrogators to develop a rapport with the
subject. Indeed, rapport is widely regarded as an essential foundation for most
successful LE interrogations. For example, a survey of 100 British detectives
(Walkley, 1987) found that nearly half (42%) believed that a previous interviewer’s
failure to establish satisfactory rapport with a suspect had contributed to the
suspect’s denial. Once good rapport had been established with another detective
the suspects typically confessed.
Rapport usually begins to develop during conversation — maybe even “small
talk” — and serves at least two functions. First, research studies say, it helps to
“induce” or facilitate compliance with subsequent requests — and gets the source
talking. Second, it allows the educer to identify and assess potential motivations,
interests, and vulnerabilities. The way the target perceives the agent (and their
relationship) — and this may be important for educing information — becomes
especially critical under conditions in which the target is unmotivated or unable
to devote mental energy to thinking about the agent’s arguments and analyzing
them.
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