Simulating Interrogation in the Lab: Examining the Effectiveness of Physical Pain, Coercive Verbal Pressure, and Rapport-Building for Obtaining Reliable Information

Three lab experiments used an interrogation simulation to examine the relative effectiveness of pain, coercive verbal pressure, and rapport-building for obtaining reliable information. Investigators questioned participants about information they were instructed to keep secret. We measured how many people gave reliable and unreliable information under pain (Study 1; N = 49), verbal pressure alone and in combination with pain (Study 2; N = 87), and verbal pressure and pain compared to a rapport-based interrogation (Study 3; N = 158). Results empirically support much of what field experts and scholars have previously claimed: pain and psychological coercion result in unreliable information.