Obtaining guilty knowledge in human intelligence interrogations: Comparing accusatorial and information-gathering approaches with a novel experimental paradigm

Authors

Jacqueline R. Evans, University of Texas at Tyler
Christian A. Meissner, The University of Texas at El Paso
Amy B. Ross, The University of Texas at El Paso
Kate A. Houston, The University of Texas at El Paso
Melissa B. Russano, Roger Williams UniversityFollow
Allyson J. Horgan, MRAC LLC

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Abstract

Substantial research has assessed interrogations seeking to obtain a criminal confession, and consequently much has been learned regarding the potential problems with confession evidence. However, an increasing focus on counter-terrorism, and therefore intelligence interrogations, reveals an obvious gap in the literature. Intelligence interrogations are primarily focused on collecting information from individuals as opposed to a confession linked to an alleged event, and little of the extant psychological literature can speak directly to such a scenario. The current research developed an experimental paradigm to test interrogation approaches in an intelligence-gathering context, providing a method for gathering empirical data on human intelligence collection. In the first implementation of this paradigm, accusatorial and information-gathering interrogation strategies were tested using a procedure high in psychological realism. Results indicate that an information-gathering approach yields more relevant information than an accusatorial approach and leads to more diagnostic impressions by third party observers. © 2013 Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition.

Volume

2

Issue

2

First Page

83

Last Page

88

DOI

10.1016/j.jarmac.2013.03.002

Recommended Citation

Evans, J., Meissner, C., Ross, A., Houston, K., Russano, M. B., & Horgan, A. (2013). Obtaining guilty knowledge in human intelligence interrogations: Comparing accusatorial and information-gathering approaches with a novel experimental paradigm. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 2 (2), 83-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2013.03.002

ISSN

22113681