From: jcs
Psychological pressure techniques are often employed during police interrogations to elicit information or confessions from suspects. These methods can range from specific questioning strategies to creating an environment designed to increase a suspect’s anxiety and encourage disclosure.
Behavior-Provoking Questions
One specific technique is the use of a behavior-provoking question [00:00:28]. An innocent person typically responds with a “draconian response,” suggesting the harshest possible sentence for the falsely accused crime [00:00:32]. In contrast, a deceptive individual often gives an “equivocating response,” fragmenting and diverting from the question to avoid answering it entirely [00:00:41].
Infidelity and Personal Information
Interrogators may already possess sensitive personal information about a suspect, such as infidelity [02:29:27]. This knowledge, even if not directly revealed, can be used to apply pressure. For instance, an interrogator might allude to physical changes in a suspect, linking them indirectly to behaviors like cheating, to observe their reaction and increase discomfort [03:12:00]. Authorities, like the FBI, also have advanced programs capable of recovering deleted digital exchanges from devices, meaning that attempts to conceal information by deleting it may be futile [02:51:00].
Creating External Pressure
Interrogators can create a sense of overwhelming external pressure on a suspect. This involves making it clear that other investigators or the general public already suspect their involvement [04:26:00]. By telling the suspect what “they” (e.g., a room full of police officers) already believe, the interrogator aims to isolate the suspect and make them feel as though confessing to the interrogator is their only viable option to control the narrative [04:29:00].
Amplifying Anxiety for Polygraph Tests
A key psychological pressure technique involves deliberately amplifying a suspect’s anxiety before a polygraph test [07:19:00]. This is done to inflate apprehension as much as possible, making it considerably more challenging and unlikely for a deceptive individual to “beat” the test [10:44:00]. The interrogator may predict the suspect’s likely anxious thoughts (e.g., “I don’t know why he asked me that,” “Screw him, how dare he accuse me”) and encourage them to call when such thoughts arise, maintaining control and encouraging future disclosure [07:53:00].
Psychological Pressure Disguised as Reassurance
Some techniques are described as “psychological pressure disguised as reassurance” [10:30:00]. This tactic is often used when a suspect’s guilt is almost conclusive [10:39:00]. For instance, the polygrapher might tell the suspect that their nervousness is normal but emphasize their expertise and the test’s infallibility if the suspect is telling the truth [09:51:00].
Passive Accusation (Reframing Technique)
A less obvious method is “passive accusation,” which can be construed as a variant of the “reframing technique” [08:37:00]. While the reframing technique aims to shift a suspect’s self-view from negative to positive to lighten the perceived iniquity of their crimes and increase the chance of confession [08:40:00], passive accusation involves the interrogator indirectly accusing the suspect by giving high praise for trivial deeds, subtly indignifying them [08:52:00].
Routine Questioning Procedure Subterfuge
Psychological pressure can also be disguised as routine questioning. For example, during a polygraph pre-test, an examiner might ask a suspect to describe hypothetical ways someone could “disappear” or be murdered [13:56:00]. This technique is designed to make the suspect mentally go through scenarios and understand the exact implications of questions about physical involvement in a disappearance, ensuring they comprehend the gravity of the “relevant questions” during the actual test [14:32:00].
Polygraph Test Mechanics
Polygraph tests themselves are structured to apply psychological pressure. They typically involve three types of questions [18:18:00]:
- Known Truth Questions: Easy questions (e.g., “Are you sitting down?”) used to establish a baseline reading for truthful responses and to disconnect thought patterns between questions for more accurate readings [18:20:00].
- Control Questions: Questions where the examinee is instructed to purposely lie (e.g., “Before 2018, did you ever lose your temper with someone you cared about? No”) [18:44:00]. These are designed so that all answers are “no” [18:54:00].
- Relevant Questions: Questions directly related to the crime under investigation, which the examinee is expected to answer truthfully [19:01:00]. A guilty subject will show a stronger reaction to these questions than to control questions, even if lying on both, due to the immediate threat posed by the relevant questions [19:07:00].
After a practice run, the polygrapher might initially compliment the subject for “lying well” on control questions, only to then abruptly state that the subject is a “really bad liar” and their significant physiological reactions to lying are precisely what the polygrapher needs to see [20:01:00]. This further amplifies the pressure, implying that any lies about the main subject will be easily detectable [20:51:00].
The polygrapher then asserts that soon, both the subject and the polygrapher will know the truth, and this truth can then be shared with other investigators, reinforcing the idea that confession is imminent and unavoidable [21:07:00]. When a subject fails the polygraph, the interrogator uses this as direct evidence to pressure them into confessing, stating that it’s “completely clear” they were not honest [23:32:00].