COMMENTS ON THE FINAL REPORT OF (DELETED) ON RESEARCH ON SIDE TONE DELAY AS AN INTERROGATION DEVICE

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00184409
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: January 21, 2025
• Document Release Date: January 15, 1983
• Publication Date: July 1, 1953

.2-_-, 47I7, i:3
July 1, 1953
C*OMMENTS ON THE FINAL REPORT OF
RESEARCH ON SIDE TONE DELAY AS AN INTERROGATION DEVICE
ON
The comments given here cover some of the background and several
aspects of the results of the research which appear to merit further
consideration.
The possible use of side tone delay in interrogation procedures was
(2>conce1ved by the undersigned while employed in the
during the early months of 1951. Preliminary contacts were
i3 made with two laboratories to ex,E221:2_111t_p_apsibility of a
C, coordinated investigation of the matter. expressed
interest and demonstrated in the discussion his understanding of
scientific methods, techniques, etc.. We thereupon performed pre-
liminary experiments and subsequently obtained support for the
investigation.
,... Because of the uncertain status of the undersigned arising from his
C.,,-employment in the and, furthermore, the
imminence of a leave of absence to enter into another research contract,
the prime contract was undertaken by *ith the work of the
undersigned carried out by means of a subcontract.
The objectives of the program as laid out/in a meeting of the support-
ing agency with the investigators covered the following:
1. Research to determine the conditions, if any, under which
side tone delay could be utilized to advantage in interrogation.
2. An investigation of the possibility of concurrent use of side
tone delay with the polygraph in a feed-back arrangement.
3. The development of a side tone delay method not requiring
attachments to the subject.
final report contains one objective conclusion that the side
tone will not produce false confessions. Otherwise, the report con-
sists of several opinions which cannot be considered substantiated in
a satisfactory manner. The report does not demonstrate an understanding
of the fundamental difference between a research and development project
on the one hand and a project for field testing a developed instrument
on the other hand.
The conclusions reached in an analysis of the ten cases described from
page 19 to page 27 fall into one of two categories depending upon
whether a confession was or was not obtained; "the STD did not help
-2-
to improve the polygraph records, nor did it help to gain a con-
fession" when the subject did not confess, or "the interrogator
believed that would have confessed without the STD" when
the subject did confess. These conclusions are not objective.
With respect to the apparatus requiring no subject attachment,
had no experimental basis for the statement on
page 33 that "it is believed that this arrangement will not help to
obtain confessions."
The most serious defect in the experimental work was that the investi-
gators did not clearly recognize what is perhaps the outstanding single
observation of their work -- that they were gaining an effect in those
cases where no stuttering existed. Recognition of this fact should
have led to an investigation of delay times in every case below
those necessary to produce stuttering. It is presumably not
necessary to block completely the subject's speech in order to
subject him to mental difficulty. Clearly, the optimum amount of
delay is that required to produce a more or less unformulated
thought within the mind of the subject that he is betraying the
fact that he is lying. When a subject remarks "Stop trying to fool
me with this," the desired threshold obviously has been overstepped
seriously.
It is the belief of the undersigned that much remains to be done on
the subject and that no conclusive statement on the degree of utility
of side tone delay can be made at this time.