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On Eliciting Intelligence from Human Sources: Contextualizing the Scharff‐Technique
Author(s) -
Oleszkiewicz Simon,
Granhag Pär Anders,
Kleinman Steven M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3073
Subject(s) - psychology , human intelligence , interview , reading (process) , chemistry , epistemology , law , political science , developmental psychology , philosophy
Summary Three techniques for eliciting intelligence from human sources were examined. Two versions of the Scharff‐technique (conceptualized as four tactics) were compared against the Direct Approach (open and direct questions). The Scharff confirmation technique used correct claims to elicit information, and the Scharff disconfirmation/confirmation technique used a mix of correct and incorrect claims. The participants (N = 119) took the role of ‘sources’ holding information about a terrorist attack and tried not to reveal too much or too little information during an interview. The Scharff confirmation resulted in more new information than the Scharff disconfirmation/confirmation and the Direct Approach. The sources in the Scharff conditions had a more difficult time reading the interviewer's information objectives. The sources in the Scharff conditions underestimated, whereas sources in the Direct Approach overestimated, how much new information they revealed. The study advances previous work and shows that the Scharff‐technique is a promising intelligence gathering technique. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.