Spy School

by Denis Bukin

  An important conclusion from Freud’s displacement theory is that people tend to forget unpleasant things. People often erase actions that cause guilt and shame from their memories: crime, deceit, callousness. People forget small debts, requests, orders and unfulfilled promises. Sometimes things become partially modified in human memory. For example, a person remembers a situation, the actions and words of others, but does not remember what they did themselves.

  An intelligence officer often has to deal with displaced memories following a traumatic event. To help a person to recall them, you can use psychoanalytic techniques. Suggest that an informant talks about everything that comes to mind when thinking about the event, even if it is not connected directly. Analyse the monologue. Note everything that may be associated with the event, directly or indirectly. Once a person pauses or stops, ask him or her to tell you what they were thinking about. Support the person, make clear that you will not blame him or her for anything they tell you. Go from one association to another. There is a high chance that some of the expressed thoughts will give you the information you want or allow the informant to recall something displaced.

  Remember that the memory of traumatic situations (the deaths of loved ones, acts of terrorism, military actions) can be painful. When working with severe mental trauma, seek the assistance of a qualified psychologist.

  Exercise

  Keeping a diary of dreams is not only a fun path to self-knowledge, but also an effective form of training for the memory. To remember your dream, put a notebook and a pen next to your bed. Immediately after waking up, without getting out of bed, write down the plot of your dream in a few words. Pay attention to the feelings that you experienced in the dream. Then, no later than noon, review your notes and write down the dream in more detail. Some stories and images will be repeated, they will point out something important to you, something that you care a lot about.

  Freud appreciated dream interpretation; he called dreams ‘the royal road to the unconscious’. Dreams really have great value and help to solve many problems and challenges. Dreams have prompted the creation of important scientific ideas such as the ring structure of the benzene molecule and the periodic system of chemical elements.

  ★ Train your brain – Crossword 12×8

  Mentally group the darkened cells. Arrange them in imaginary figures and shapes.

  False memories

  What is memory? Is it a database or a reconstruction process for data? Modern psychology says that it’s a process. Memories of the past are reconstructed every time they are accessed. On the one hand, this means that forgotten information can be restored: using the fragments remaining in memory, we can recreate the whole picture. On the other hand, every new reconstruction changes memories.

  French psychologist Jean Piaget describes a case from his life. He remembered in detail that when he was about two years old, someone tried to steal him out of his stroller. Piaget could describe the scene of the kidnapping, how his nurse tried to block him, and how the criminal ran away when he saw a policeman. He was confident in his memories until he was fifteen, when the nurse turned to religion and wrote to Jean’s parents that she invented the whole story from beginning to end. The psychologist had probably heard this legend retold by his parents many times until he recreated it visually, and remembered it as a true event. This example shows that a person can be absolutely sure of the reliability of his or her memory while reproducing false events.

  Childhood memories are often untrue. This is due to a phenomenon that psychologists call child amnesia, when a person forgets the first few years of his or her life. There are several theories on this subject: from psychoanalytic (which explains forgetting through displacement of child conflicts) to neurobiological (the immaturity of brain structures in early childhood). The most convincing is the current understanding of the development of long-term memory in conjunction with the development of abstract thinking and language. A child does not learn enough concepts in the first years of life to be able to fix what happens to him/her in his/her memory.

  Nevertheless, many people remember faces, toys, episodes and events from early childhood. However, as a rule, these memories are formed on the basis of photographs and the stories of adults, as in the case of the Piaget abduction.

  But do not think that false memories only fill gaps related to children’s amnesia. They may appear due to mistakes of perception: people see what they want to see, ignore what contradicts their beliefs and complete the picture in accordance with these beliefs. A witness who believes that most crimes are committed by the homeless will describe a criminal as homeless. They may not notice the features of a wealthy citizen and will complement the description with other details. They will reconstruct the event based on his or her stereotypes, but will be sure that they remember everything exactly and accurately.

  Another source of false memories is conformity. This is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs and behaviours to group social norms. Numerous psychological experiments have shown how easily people fall under the influence of a charismatic character or under the pressure of assistants playing the role of other subjects in an experiment. Some people are even ready to deny something obvious or confirm a lie if they see other subjects doing the same. More than 40% of test subjects recognized that a group of lines was the same length, even though it was obvious that the lines were different, because the group that performed before them did the same. Thus, the memories of people who easily fall under the influence of others may have been suggested to them, especially if they were originally set out by authoritative or powerful people and repeated many times.

  False memories differ from outright lies. Reproducing them, a person is sincerely mistaken. They speak confidently, because they believe in their words. There is often an internal logic in their memories.

  Intelligence officers who are constantly working with informants are often faced with false memories. Thus, they have to recheck data. The first way to separate the truth from falsehood is to compare information from different sources. When information from different people coincides, it’s likely to be correct. If the information differs, you need to evaluate which source is more reliable. Another way to separate true memories is to ascertain consistently and thoroughly what the person really saw and heard, and what they thought throughout.

  Test Yourself

  In the ‘Crime and Punishment’ method section, what had a major company purchased?

  A) A railroad

  B) Video surveillance

  C) Hazardous materials

  D) A centrifuge

  Exercise

  A couple of days after an event (a celebration, a party or a picnic) ask everyone who was there about it. Who was present? Who was wearing what? Who was sitting where? What was the conversation about? What was on the table? Who came and went when? You will find some striking differences between the versions of different people. If possible, look at photos and videos of events and evaluate the reliability of memories.

  Exercise

  Explore the most vivid memories of your childhood. Compare them with stories of parents and relatives. Consider family photos of that time and saved video. If you find differences, try to figure out how they emerged.

  Exercise

  Develop an autobiography. Restore your life history from birth to the present time year by year. Remember where you lived, what you did, who you were friends with. Ask those who knew you, compare your memories with family photos and documents. Find old friends, classmates and course mates and contact former colleagues. It will be great practice for composing a convincing cover story for an intelligence officer.

  Manipulation of memories

  The fragility of memories can cast doubt on the testimonies and information provided by informants. Recollections can be false because of a mistake or because of a deliberate suggestion planted by another person.

  Experienced lawyers know how to discredit eyewitness testimony. By asking complicated que
stions about details, they create doubt in the witness’s mind, which allows them to conclude that the entire testimony is unreliable.

  For example, when asked about the colour of a Citroën in which robbers sped up to a bank, a witness says ‘green’. Under pressure from the lawyer, they remember the colour of the car. The witness did not see the car approaching the bank and couldn’t identify the model. However, with the help of the lawyer’s leading question, the witness reconstructs their memories and, most importantly, begins believing in them. Yes, it was a green Citroën, and it came to the bank at full speed. After hearing the testimony, the lawyer compares it with camera records, where an old green Ford slowly drags itself to the bank. The apparent discrepancies discredit the testimony of a witness in court and make him or her doubt their memories of the circumstances of the robbery. Most importantly, the witness will doubt themselves when identifying the robbers, and the latter will get a real chance at avoiding punishment.

  Both condemning and exonerative evidence can be erroneous. The annals of the justice system are filled with miscarriages of justice, where false memories led to guilty verdicts for innocent people. Children’s testimonies are especially suspect. Strong imaginations and high suggestibility make them poor witnesses.

  Memory is not a data storehouse, but is built via the process of its reconstruction. External intervention in this process influences the result. Not only can you change or destroy existing memories, you can introduce new ones. Experiments show that in about 30% of cases, adult subjects can be made to falsely recall memories of childhood. In some cases, these memories begin living in their own lives: they become fleshed out, vivid and emotional.

  False memories of events in adulthood can also be planted, especially if a lie is mixed with the truth. Sometimes the ability to ‘remind’ someone about a nonexistent event helps intelligence officers, especially those functioning outside the law.

  Successful suggestion of adulthood memories can require more work. There are some tips for this below:

  1. A lot of time must pass after the event. To plant the memory of an event that did not take place, it is necessary for it to have ‘happened’ three to five years ago. To suggest details of actual events, the time frame can be reduced to a few months.

  2. The description of the event must be believable. Lies must be mixed with the truth. Be sure to tie a non-existent event with other, real, scenes from a person’s life.

  3. The story will be more convincing if it contains a lot of details.

  4. The story is easier to believe if it contains information from the different senses: images, sounds and smells.

  5. It is best to support your story with fraudulent documents photographs or the testimony of authoritative witnesses.

  6. Introducing false memories takes time. There should be breaks between ‘suggestion sessions’ so the information can get fixed in the subject’s memory. Even if a person denies everything at first, in the time between, they will start to doubt. This will create a basis for consequent ‘sessions’. It will be necessary to revisit the memory several times: the more repetitions the person hears, the more firmly the suggestion will take hold.

  7. In case of rejection, your strategy should focus on the unreliability of memory: ‘Please try to remember’, ‘You’re just forgetting, that’s not what happened’, ‘That can’t be, because . . .’ etc. Leading questions formulated so that they already contain the correct answer can also help: ‘Didn’t he have a beard?’ ‘It was evening. Remember, the streetlights were on?’

  Memory manipulation can be completely innocent – ‘Santa brought you a gift!’ Or it can be very dangerous: political propaganda often lies, trying to rewrite the history of a country – the collective memory of its citizens.

  Exercise

  Plant a false memory into the mind of one of your acquaintances. For example, a funny or awkward situation that arose at a party. Make up a detailed story and a strategy for its suggestion. Prepare ‘witnesses’ and ‘material evidence’, if possible. Do not give up after the first rejection.

  Ask your target to remember and to give you more details. Perhaps the story will be more colourful and interesting than you thought at first.

  Be careful: implanting false memories on subjects can injure the psyche. As soon as your acquaintance believes you, admit that you have been playing a prank.

  Lie detector

  A polygraph (popularly referred to as a lie detector) is a device that measures and records information on the physiological state of a person: pulse, blood pressure, respiration, galvanic skin response, muscle tension, trembling of the limbs, etc.

  When telling a lie, a person enters into an internal conflict. They feel guilty and afraid that the truth will come out, and they will be punished. Internal conflict generates strong emotions that are easily seen on a polygraph. However, the polygraph does not detect lies directly, it only shows emotional excitement that, when properly interpreted, indicates that the subject is lying.

  Ninety per cent of the result of polygraph testing depends on the knowledge and experience of the operator. First, the reaction depends on the asked questions. They should be well prepared and arranged in the right order. Second, the operator needs to understand how a lie shows up in the emotional reactions of the individual. After all, the subject can be worried even when telling the truth because of the fear of the testing procedure itself.

  The operator makes the final decision on whether the subject is telling the truth or a lie, and it is subjective in many ways. In interpreting physiological indicators, an operator risks committing one of two errors: declaring a false testimony true or accusing an honest subject of lying. The quality of a polygraph test strongly depends on the questions asked. There are two types of questions: relevant and control. The first type of question is directly related to the testing goal. The second type helps to understand what happens to the subject when they lie. Control questions are chosen so that the subject is forced to lie to keep up their reputation.

  For example, a relevant question can be: ‘Have you given classified information to unauthorized parties?’ and a control question: ‘Have you ever appropriated other people’s belongings?’ Typically, a person has taken someone else’s belongings at least once. However, not wanting to look like a thief, they are likely to lie about it. This will trigger an emotional response, which is necessary for an analysis of the reaction to a relevant question.

  Due to the fact that emotions are individual, an operator does not interpret reactions themselves but the difference between them. If the relevant question causes a stronger response than the control one, the subject is more likely to be afraid of being incriminated. If the other way round, like most people, they are concerned about keeping up his or her reputation and the charge of espionage will appear unsubstantiated.

  Polygraphs can be cheated and good intelligence officers know how to do it. There are so many ways to pass the test that experts have combined them into groups.

  1. Mechanical methods are the simplest. You need to cause pain, biting the tongue or the cheek, bending your toes down hard or pushing them into a pin in your shoe.

  Pain and muscle tension distort physiological parameters, making it difficult for the operator to work. However, experienced examiners notice mechanical resistance during testing, and this will not play in the favour of the subject.

  2. Pharmacological methods. Taking a sedative or stimulant distorts the figures that the examiner uses as a base to distinguish truth from lies. You should be careful when using this method: the use of psychoactive substances can be betrayed by the narrowing or dilation of pupils, or a change in pulse or skin colour. Furthermore, there is a risk of overdose.

  3. Behavioural methods: inappropriate friendliness, chit-chat with the examiner, repeating questions, silliness. Excessive excitement distorts physiological indicators. If falsehood is indicated by the difference in response to relevant and control questions, it can be ironed out with enhan
ced responses on all questions or any other things the examiner says. Excessively familiar or relaxed behaviour also makes the examiner’s job more difficult.

  4. Mental methods are a group of techniques based on psychological self-regulation. This group includes relaxation techniques borrowed from yoga and other Eastern practices, and forms of distraction as complicated as mental calculations or enhanced reflection on any problem. This group of methods is very effective, but requires serious preparation.

  The rationalization method also works well. Knowing the purpose of the test, a person prepares for it ahead of time. In order not to show anxiety and excitement on relevant questions, they plant in their own mind a rational explanation of the act that they want to hide. For example, giving classified information to a foreign intelligence officer can be reinterpreted as dissemination of scientific information that is no longer confidential and should be used for peaceful purposes. A store clerk can convince himself that he acted justly: he took what he was owed because he was underpaid, and did not steal anything. Properly designed rationalization is very effective as it gives a person confidence in his or her actions and resolves the internal conflict caused by a lie. For this reason false memories cannot be recognized with a polygraph: the person being tested is absolutely convinced they are true.

  There is no thoroughly reliable method of deceiving a polygraph, as there is no absolutely accurate way of interpreting physiological indicators. But passing a lie detector requires knowledge and training.

  Exercise

  Learn to manage your physiological indicators. You will need a pulse or galvanic skin resistance sensor. These are placed on the fingers or earlobes, and when connected to a monitor allow you to track physiological parameters in real time.