Editing KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Review: Observations of an Interrogator (section)

== Qualities of an Effective Interrogator ==
A number of studies of interrogation discuss the qualities said to be desirable in an interrogator...perhaps the four qualifications of chief importance to the interrogator are 1) enough operational training and experience to permit quick recognition of leads; 2) real familiarity with the language to be used; 3) extensive background knowledge about the interrogatee’s native country; and 4) a genuine understanding of the source as a person...of the four traits listed, a genuine insight into the source’s character and motives is perhaps most important but least common.33

The human intelligence (HUMINT) career field has long employed various psychological testing protocols (e.g., Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, California Psychological Inventory, etc.), in conjunction with exhaustive background investigations, in an effort to both identify those candidates with the inherent aptitude and/or personality profile for a given operational activity and to screen out those who would likely prove ill-suited and/or ill-equipped for the profession. A similar psychological screening protocol (without the background investigation) has been employed in the SERE career field in an effort to eliminate those candidates with the highest apparent probability for acting out violently or abusively while interacting with students during intensive practical exercises. For application to the interrogation discipline, a critical underpinning of such screening efforts is the availability of a “model” of a successful interrogator...and it is unlikely that a properly vetted model exists.

While identifying effective methods and processes is a key element of the Intelligence Science Board’s EI project mandate, designing a means for selecting candidates with the highest potential for success in implementing these methods and processes is of equal importance. Research in this regard should be acutely informed by the following three considerations:33 34
• Those in hierarchical authoritarian structures have a documented tendency to engage in what appears to be “acceptable” inhumane behavior toward others, as demonstrated in the famous “Stanford University Experiment” (Haney, Banks, and Zimbardo, 1973).
• Dr. Howard Gardner’s seminal work on multiple intelligences suggests that certain people might be naturally gifted with uncommon abilities and aptitudes in various areas, including (for EI purposes) interpersonal intelligence (the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people) and intrapersonal intelligence (the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one’s feelings, fears and motivations).34
KUBARK, 1011.
See, for example Howard Gardner, Ph.D., Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (New York: BasicBooks, 1983).

• Perhaps the most important single trait of individuals who have demonstrated long-term success in HUMINT operations is an exceptional aptitude for dealing with ambiguity. Whether this characteristic can be reliably measured remains to be seen.