Development and testing of a Time-Critical Questioning protocol for eliciting information in time-sensitive contexts

Getting information quickly is crucial in time-sensitive operational contexts to (i) assess immediate threats, (ii) inform decision-making, and (iii) expedite transmission of intelligence. Research to date has neglected this interviewing context and current practices are not informed by psychological science or empirical data. To address this gap, we developed a Time-Critical Questioning (TCQ) protocol to (i) quickly establish rapport; (ii) align the interviewer-interviewee roles and goals b; (iii) promote reporting of priority information; and (iv) implement effective questioning practices to support memory retrieval. Following a developmental pilot study (N = 111), we used a novel immersive methodology to assess the TCQ protocol, a two-part interviewing approach comprising framing instructions (I-RELATE instructions) and structured follow-up questioning. Participants (N = 142) completed an Escape Room activity in teams for 60 min and were interviewed individually for 10 min using the TCQ protocol or a control interview. Participants interviewed using the TCQ protocol reported more correct priority information (i.e., how to escape) than participants interviewed with the control interview. Notably, participants interviewed using the TCQ protocol provided more information earlier (i.e., during free recall) than those in the control condition. This expedient information gain may be useful in time-sensitive interviewing contexts.