Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

influence or promote compliance in populations relevant to this inquiry. One
notable research program (MKULTRA), which ultimately was shut down by the
U.S. government because of ethical concerns, suggested that these techniques
led to changes in behavior, making at least some persons more passive and
pliable. However, although it was designed to inform interrogations, most of the
research was not conducted in the context of interrogation. The 1963 “KUBARK
Counterintelligence Interrogation” Manual reflects some of the perceived
implications of this line of research. Strikingly, since that time very little empirical
research has been conducted on these techniques and the ways in which they may
or may not affect relevant interrogation outcomes.
Torture
Much of the social science research on the issue of torture may not apply to
the process of educing information. The term “torture” is used with very little
consistency in the literature. One basic distinction is between torture used for
punishment and torture used for leverage (to facilitate compliance or to elicit
information). The tactics, effects, and resistance strategies may be quite different
from one type to the next. Research does exist on the social and psychological
consequences of torture (e.g., Somnier et al, 1992) but not on the applicability of
those effects to educing information.
Evidence from social science suggests that there are similarities in the
psychological effects of torture and of internment as a Prisoner of War. Among
the common features are enforced captivity, fear and terror, pain and suffering,
and shame and humiliation. A feeling of powerlessness has been posited as the
central component of humiliation. It is possible that future research about the
experiences of POWs who have been tortured while in captivity in past wars may
help to inform some questions about torture that relate to educing information.
Pain and Physical Discomfort
Although pain is commonly regarded as a facilitator of compliance or
diminisher of resistance, there appears to have been little or no empirical research
addressing these questions. The PsycINFO database contains embedded topic
headings for terms such as “Resistance,” “Aversive Stimuli,” “Pain,” “Attitude
Change,” and Compliance,” yet, there are virtually no “hits” and definitely no
relevant hits for any given pair of these predictor and outcome terms. For example,
among thousands of articles on each topic individually, there are no articles at the
intersection of “aversive stimuli” and “resistance.”
Reports about the treatment of POWs and foreign prisoners in China
documented the use of physical abuse, but studies of the role of assault in
promoting attitude change and in eliciting false confessions (even from U.S.
servicemen) revealed that it was ineffective. Belief change and compliance was
more likely when physical abuse was minimal or absent (Biderman 1960).
Sleep Loss/Deprivation
Sleep loss/deprivation is associated with:
33