Christian A. Meissner

Does Training Improve the Detection of Deception? A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis examined whether training improves detection of deception. Overall, 30 studies (22 published and 8 unpublished; control-group design) resulted in a small to medium training effect for detection accuracy (k = 30, gu = 0.331) and for lie accuracy (k = 11, gu = 0.422), but not for truth accuracy (k = 11, gu = 0.060). If participants were guided by cues to detect the truth, rather than to detect deception, only truth accuracy was increased. Moderator analyses revealed larger training effects if the training was based on verbal content cues, whereas feedback, nonverbal and paraverbal, or multichannel cue training had only small effects. Type of training, duration, mode of instruction, and publication status were also important moderators. Recommendations for designing, conducting, and reporting training studies are discussed.

Psychological Perspectives on Interrogation

Proponents of “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the United States have claimed that such methods are necessary for obtaining information from uncooperative terrorism subjects. In the present article, we offer an informed, academic perspective on such claims. Psychological theory and research shows that harsh interrogation methods are ineffective. First, they are likely to increase resistance by the subject rather than facilitate cooperation. Second, the threatening and adversarial nature of harsh interrogation is often inimical to the goal of facilitating the retrieval of information from memory and therefore reduces the likelihood that a subject will provide reports that are extensive, detailed, and accurate. Third, harsh interrogation methods make lie detection difficult. Analyzing speech content and eliciting verifiable details are the most reliable cues to assessing credibility; however, to elicit such cues subjects must be encouraged to provide extensive narratives, something that does not occur in harsh interrogations. Evidence is accumulating for the effectiveness of rapport-based information-gathering approaches as an alternative to harsh interrogations. Such approaches promote cooperation, enhance recall of relevant and reliable information, and facilitate assessments of credibility. Given the available evidence that torture is ineffective, why might some laypersons, policymakers, and interrogation personnel support the use of torture? We conclude our review by offering a psychological perspective on this important question.

Human Intelligence Interviewing and Interrogation: Assessing the Challenges of Developing an Ethical, Evidence-based Approach

The purpose of this chapter is to review the available research on Human Intelligence (HUMINT) interrogations. The chapter describes a paradigm shift in the approach to HUMINT interrogations, and discusses the conceptual, methodological and practical implications of this paradigm shift. First, the defining characteristics of HUMINT interrogations are described, followed by a discussion of how the challenges of HUMINT interrogations may be similar as well as different compared to interrogations in criminal settings. Second, in order to provide a context for the claim of a paradigm shift, the chapter provides a historical overview of practice and research on HUMINT interrogation. Third, the current state of knowledge about the psychology of HUMINT interrogations is reviewed, with a particular focus on methods that have been shown to be effective. Finally, several challenges for future research in this domain are outlined, followed by a discussion of how research on HUMINT may proceed to fill the gap in current knowledge.

Psychological Processes Underlying True and False Confessions

Recent controversies over the use of psychologically manipulative interrogation methods by U.S. law enforcement, and public concerns regarding the use of physically coercive interrogation methods, have highlighted the need for evidence-based, ethical approaches to facilitate the collection of diagnostic information during interrogation. Over the past few years, our laboratory has sought to better understand the psychological processes that might distinguish true and false confessions from guilty and innocent persons, respectively. Various psychological or decision-making models have been proposed to account for the role of social, cognitive, and affective factors which may lead to a suspect truthfully or falsely confessing. Of note is that little empirical data has sought to assess the validity of these proposed theories. We present here a meta-analysis of the social, cognitive, and affective factors leading to confession across experimental laboratory studies we have conducted using the Russano et al. (Psychological Science 16:481–486, 2005) paradigm. We synthesize this research by proposing a process model that highlights key differences in the psychological states that lead to true and false confessions, focusing on the role of internal and external pressures to confess as the principle mediating mechanism. Specifically, truthful confessions were found to be associated with affect or the emotional response to the interrogation, perceptions of the strength of evidence regarding involvement in the incident, feelings of guilt and the perceived consequences of confessing. In contrast, false confessions were associated with the perceived external pressures originating both from the interrogator and the interrogative context, as well as a perception of the consequences of confessing. Thus, a conception of the role of internal and external psychological mechanisms leading to variation in true and false confessions will be discussed, including the implications of such findings for the development of interrogative approaches that can lead to the elicitation of diagnostic confession evidence.

The Cross-Race Effect: Resistant to Instructions

The cross-race effect (CRE) is the tendency for eyewitnesses to be better at recognizing members of their own race/ethnicity than members of other races/ethnicities. It manifests in terms of both better discrimination (i.e., telling apart previously seen from new targets) and a more conservative response criterion for own-race than for other-race faces. The CRE is quite robust and generally resistant to change. Two studies examined the effectiveness of reducing the CRE with special instructions given prior to retrieval. Although instructions at retrieval did change participants’ response criterion—making them less likely to identify test faces as previously seen—they did not shift their response criterion selectively for other-race faces. The findings indirectly support the importance of encoding processes in producing the CRE.

Developing an evidence-based perspective on interrogation: A review of the U.S. government’s high-value detainee interrogation group research program.

Interrogation practices in the United States have been roundly criticized both for their accusatorial ethos, at times leading to false confessions by the innocent, and for a history of applying physical and psychological coercion in law enforcement, military, and intelligence contexts. Despite decades of psychological research demonstrating the failures of such approaches and despite recent positive advances in countries such as the United Kingdom moving to an information-gathering framework, little change has occurred in the training or practice of U.S. interrogation professionals over the past 50 years. This article describes recent historical events that have led to the development of the first unclassified, government-funded research program on the science of interviewing and interrogation. Since 2010, the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) research program has identified effective approaches for developing cooperation and rapport, eliciting information, challenging inconsistencies by presenting evidence or information strategically, and assessing credibility using cognitive cues and strategic questioning tactics. The program has also examined the influence of culture and language, and has facilitated the translation of research from the laboratory to the field. In this context, we review the significant contributions of psychologists to understanding and developing ethical, legal, and effective interrogation practices, and we describe important future directions for research on investigative interviewing and interrogation.

Problems in expert deception detection and the risk of false confessions: no proof to the contrary in Levine et al. (2014)

Lie-detection research has shown that observers who rely on nonverbal cues or on verbal cues correctly classify on average 54% of truth tellers and liars. In addition, over the years, countless numbers of innocent people have made false confessions and, in analysing the problem, researchers have implicated both a suspects vulnerability and the persuasive influence of certain police interrogation tactics. Levine et al. (2014) aim to contribute to these vast bodies of literature by reporting two studies purportedly showing that expert interviewers – when they are permitted to question interviewees – can achieve almost perfect accuracy without eliciting false confessions. We argue that theoretical and methodological aspects of these studies undermine the reliability and validity of the data reported, that as a result the studies do not contribute to the scientific literatures on lie detection and false confessions in any meaningful way, and that the results are dangerously misleading.

Assessing law enforcement performance in behavior-based threat detection tasks involving a concealed weapon or device.

Across 3 experiments, we assessed the ability of law enforcement officers and naïve controls to detect the concealment of a weapon or device. Study 1 used a classic signal detection paradigm in which participants were asked to assess whether a target was concealing a neutered 9-mm handgun. Study 2 involved a compound signal detection paradigm in which participants assessed whether or not 1 of several individuals was concealing an unstable device in their backpack. Study 3 moved to a 2-alternative forced choice paradigm in which participants evaluated which of 2 targets was concealing an unstable device in his backpack. Across all 3 experiments we consistently found no significant differences in detection performance between law enforcement and naïve controls, although participants did perform above chance levels when response bias was free to vary. Furthermore, officers’ years of experience was associated with a bias toward perceiving concealment. Given the frequency with which officers are asked to assess the concealment of weapons or devices, and therein to identify threats, our findings suggest the need for additional research to explore various factors (e.g., context, race of target, operational experience, etc.) likely related to performance on such tasks.

Imposter identification in low prevalence environments

Purpose. Travel document screeners play an important role in international security when determining whether a photograph ID matches the tendering individual. Psychological research indicates when conditions involve low base rates of ‘imposter’ photographs, document screeners change their response criterion for rendering a ‘match’ determination. The primary purpose of the current experiments was to examine the nature of this base rate criterion shift, free from experimental bias, for both ownand other-race faces. Further, Experiment 2 examined how low-base rate conditions might moderate a cross-race effect in the calibration between confidence and accuracy.