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Obtaining guilty knowledge in human intelligence interrogations: Comparing accusatorial and information-gathering approaches with a novel experimental paradigm
Journal of Applied Research in Memory & Cognition (2013)
  • Jacqueline R Evans, Florida International University
  • Christian A Meissner, University of Texas at El Paso
  • Amy B Ross, University of Texas at El Paso
  • Kate A Houston, University of Texas at El Paso
  • Melissa B Russano, Roger Williams University
  • Allyson J Horgan, University of Texas at El Paso
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.

Disciplines
Publication Date
2013
Citation Information
Jacqueline R Evans, Christian A Meissner, Amy B Ross, Kate A Houston, et al.. "Obtaining guilty knowledge in human intelligence interrogations: Comparing accusatorial and information-gathering approaches with a novel experimental paradigm" Journal of Applied Research in Memory & Cognition Vol. 2 (2013)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/christian_meissner/64/