irrANDAFto ropm No. 64 _VP Office Memorandum o UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO DATE: 16 November 1951 Vi@i FROM SUBJECT: "Side Tone Delay" Since Chief of the was in- strumental in setting up t7he demqnstra-tion for the "side tone delay" instrument and since he has been in continuous consultation with the writer and his associates in this matter, the writer took the liberty of showing the attached memorandum and related pauers. 2. informed the writer that he agrees with the general thought in the attached memorandum concerning the instrument. qz ST ANOAP!@N FORM NO. 64 Office Memorandum UNITED'STATES GOVERNMENT TO DATE: 16 November 1951 Vi.Z FROM SUBJ9,CT: "Side Tone Delay" 1. Reference is made to the attached memorand2um from OSI, and other related papers. 2. For a matter of record the "side tone delay" is an instniment or series of instruments, which is designed to confuse and confound an individual under interrogation. The principle of the device simpiy stated is that an individual's speech is confused when sound uttered by2 the in- di.7.ridual is carried to the individual's ears a fraction of a second or longer after he has uttered the sound. This confusion, it is believed, will cause an individual who i-s lying or evadin- an answer to have the feeling that his confused speech is due to guilt. lience forcing him to admit guilt or becoming 2so confused as to make obvious the fact that he is evasive or lying. 3.' The instrument proper, which is being used for demonstration at the present time, con'sists of a tape recording iinit and a receivin- unit which, in a rough sense, are portable. However, the laboratory instru- ments have not yet been perfected and. are cumb2ersomp. and non-portable. 4. Concerning I ?,, 50 interests in this ,,.allter, -'@l, Ls belie-,,red that we would have two poE!,3ible interests. The first would be in connection vyith the ',:Iolygrarh Section of I @c SO and the second in connection with the "Artichoke" work. 2 In so far as the Polygraph Section is concern,-@d, it is felt that if the instrument co,-ild be perfected, it mipht po,-@,sil-ly be of use on in- dividual cases wherg the noly-raph clearly indicated deception, 13'ing, or evasion, and where extremely important and qliestionable matters are in- volved. The writer doubts 2 that the instrunent could be used effectively on the normal or routine polygraph case and feels that it would have to be reserved for special work or cases that are not capable of being com- plet-,ly resolved by the polygraph t,echniqite. lllo,-iever, it is believed that if the instrument could be technically perfecte(l, it 2 would probably have value to the 10olygraph Section. Th--, use of the instruraent by "Artichok,,@" der)ends a Freat deal upon its technical developr,.ient. "Artichoke" contp-riplates a far more subtle technique for obtaining positive information and, in addition, contemplates obt0aining information from unwilling individuals or in- dividuals who reflise to co-operate in any way. At the present stage, it would appear that the instrument could only be used on a "volunteer basis". 7. Since the instrument is to be developed as an Agency project and not as an I & SO specific function, it is the opinion of the writer and his associates that the project is probably worthwhile and should be supported. There are, however, from our point of view, a number of items which should be considered in the development of the proj2ect. These are set forth immediately following: 1. If the instrument is perfected and has been demonstrated to be effTctive,,a..@ortable instrument, if it could be dev--lo-oed, would be of great advantage. This would be valuable for Agency personnel overseas or for special work requiring teams to go-into th2e field. 2. If at all possible electronically, it would be of great advantage if, by the use of a directional microphone and directional loud speakers, the earphones could be eliminated and no attachments required for placing on the subject. 3. Experiments should be run as to whether or not the device coild be linked dir2ectly into a polygraph. However, these experi- nients should be'very cautiously worked out so as not to give arti- ficial or overstrong responses due to the confusion resulting from the "side tone delay" . If tests are to be run by and his Associates on the device, they should not be confined 2to criminal investigations alone nor should they be confined to purely personnel matto--rs. The instril-nent should he checked against all types of qli6stions, par- ticularly identity questions and questions involving a person's loyalty, etc., etc. 5. Spec@-fic efforts should be made to see that the instru2ment does not oroduce indications of @-ruilt in individuals who are inno- cent,, but who become confused by the operation of the machine. 6. Although the project was brought to our attpntion and fully co-ordinated with the ;@'@ , it is felt that this Agency, if it is paying for 2the develor)ment of the instrument, should have at all times, access to the testing and authority to consult with and advise @-ind his 4ssociates. Further- more, if experimentation shoi-is that the instrument has a decided advo.ntage and is test,inF,, siiccess.Ci.illy, this AE,,ency, and pirticu- larly I &- 50, should be authorized to send men to the project to be trained in the use of the instrument as soon as possible. -2- 7. '@@hile the instrument is being, te3ied, tests should be con- ducted in foreign lanauages if possible and tests should also be run C) involving the use of an interpretator. This may be necessary in some future work of this Agency. 8. The writer and his as7ociates an2d Chief of the Polygraph Section, have discussed this matter at some length. All are agreed that the d--vice,may have merit and, if effectively developed, may be a definite aid to advanced interrogation. It.s use as a routine in- strument is doubted. Since and his Associater, appear to have started work in this field, it is believed thev are best suited 2 to'c-arry on this work although, undoubtedly, ' will @irectly profit from the development of the instrument in his commercial pol@,graph work. 9. The writer is unable to state whether or not .,@.-15,000 is excessive for-this type of a project but on the basis of the budget submitted, the Costs do not appea.- too heavy. 4 "Now" -.!7- -7@@