Centennial Honors College
Western Illinois University
Undergraduate Research Day 2014
Podium Presentation
Applying Game Theory to Interrogation Situations
Jamey Garth
Faculty Mentor: Jonathan P Day
Political Science
I evaluate a situation that many police officers and interrogators face when questioning
a detainee. They must go through the approach phase in order to build enough rapport
to get the detainee to cooperate. I use game theory to determine the best possible
strategy from two different approaches. An interrogator (Player 1) has two different
possible approaches (Strategies) in order to get a non-compliant detainee (Player 2) to
cooperate. Interrogations usually go on for hours using multiple approaches such as
Emotional Love of Family, False Flag, Hate of Comrades. The game can continue to
extend if the detainee decides not to cooperate. Here, I will evaluate an interrogator's
choice between two approaches: Fear Up and Fear Down (as in using fear to scare the
detainee, or reassuring him that there is nothing to be afraid of). The detainee can
choose to cooperate or not cooperate. After examining the payoff distributions from the
possible outcomes, I solve for the possible equilibrium in the game. This research will
help interrogators know when to use which strategy.