Training Intelligence Officers to Detect Deception and Elicit Information

Abstract

Researchers from psychology have proposed interrogation techniques that draw on established theoretical principles and empirical examinations and have tested these techniques using experimental methods. From this, they have inferred that technique A is more effective than technique B. But, to make a difference outside the laboratory, researchers must know if their proposed techniques can be taught to practitioners. And, if so, whether the new techniques are more effective than the ones already in use. This article will present an overview of studies where experienced police officers, handlers, and intelligence officers were trained in interrogation techniques for different situations relevant to human intelligence collection and counterintelligence. The main conclusion was that, irrespective of whether the training concerned how to detect deception, to discriminate between true and false intentions, or subtly elicit information from human sources, the studies reviewed showed that the trained professionals outperformed their untrained colleagues.

This article is related to:

The Psychology of Intelligence

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pär Anders Granhag

Pär Anders Granhag is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, where he received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees. In 2000, he became the Founding Director of the research unit for Criminal, Legal, and Investigative Psychology. Granhag has for 30 years conducted research on deception detection, interview and interrogation techniques, and investigative psychology. He is the author/editor of ten books, including Detection of Deception in Forensic Contexts (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004) and Detecting Deception: Current Challenges and Cognitive Approaches (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2015). He is the past President of the European Association of Psychology and Law, and the past editor of Applied Cognitive Psychology. The author can be contacted at [email protected].