• Few areas of psychology rest at the crossroads of science and society, in

both practice and application, as does the practice of operational

psychology.
• Operational psychology involves the application of the scientific
principles and practices of psychology that involve services and
consultation in support of national security (e.g., counterintelligence
operations, direct and indirect assessments, insider threat detection),
military intelligence (e.g., consultant to interrogations), law enforcement
activities (e.g., interrogation support, hostage negotiation), and/or
programs (e.g., assessment and selection; Williams et al., 2012, p. 38)
• Military psychologists provide support to national security, military
decision making, and military operations
• Psychology as a profession has long benefited from its contributions
in time of national threats, with growth, relevance, and expansions of
scope of practice resting on the contributions to national security
threats and their aftermath.
• In fact, the conceptual basis for the profession of psychology’s
contributions to society rest on the foundation of psychological
assessment and testing in support of our nation’s mobilization during
World War I (National Research Council, 1991), World War II, the Cold
War, and the Global War on Terrorism
• This introduction to operational psychology places both the science and profession
into the context of contemporary contributions of psychological applications that
serve society and the individuals within it.
• Operational psychology does not promulgate or promote national security or
military policies; it focuses on actions, activities, and outcomes designed to serve
society in preserving the security and well-being of our nation, from all foreign
threats, many of which today are more complex than in the past.
• What is important for psychologists practicing in this area is that their contributions
today are built on the foundation of what makes psychology so rewarding: serving
society and the people within it.
• Operational psychology offers a broader use of the science and
practice of our field than the more traditional clinical delivery of
services to individual clients or patients.
• Essentially, it provides psychological consultation on human behavior
in support of national security. In fact, the ability to work in this area
is now a significant draw for many early career psychologists.
• Their interest is primarily the opportunity to work in this field in order
to serve society, contribute to national security, and leverage the
science of psychology to advance that protection.
OPERATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
DEFINED
• Psychologists do by leveraging and applying their psychological
expertise in designing and implementing assessment and selection
programs in support of special populations and high-risk missions; in
helping to identify enemy capabilities, personalities, and intentions; in
facilitating and supporting intelligence operations; and in providing an
operationally focused level of consulting support focused on
psychological resiliency of the force.
an operational psychologist must
answer three important questions:
• 1. How might an operational psychologist leverage his or her psychological
expertise to contribute to the commander’s intended military condition
that he or she seeks to produce to achieve the strategic goal? (Ends)
• 2. Of the identified sequence of actions that is most likely to produce the
condition, what psychological resources or products might be brought to
bear to support that condition? (Ways)
• 3. How might the operational psychologist contribute to helping the
commander use the psychological resources (e.g., psychological profiles,
enemy forces capitulation assessments, etc.)
• It is an accepted dictum that “all military operations have a
psychological effect on all parties concerned—friendly, neutral, and
hostile”
• Recognizing this, and as an example, commanders integrate
psychological operations (PSYOP) campaigns into their joint force
planning at all levels with the intent to influence the emotions, motives,
decision making, and ultimately the behavior of their adversaries
• PSYOP campaigns are used to either reinforce or induce collective
favorable foreign attitudes and behavior
• One important role that an operational psychologist provides involves
consultative support based on our knowledge of human behavior to
combatant commanders by focusing on an opposing adversary’s
individual emotions, motives, decision making, and behaviors in order
to support the Joint Force commander’s strategy, operational design,
and tactical action
• Planning for the provision of operational psychology support requires
several important considerations in order to remain responsive and
relevant to operational military commanders
• (assisting in gathering information from operational personnel to
obtain their perspectives after the missions);
• risk assessment of individuals); industrial/organizational (I/O) support
(psychological operations, public affairs operations [PAO] support;
military deception support); survival, evasion, resistance, escape
(SERE)
SUPPORT TO INTELLIGENCE
OPERATIONS
• To become optimally effective as a force multiplier, operational
psychologists must carefully attend to five main areas related to
understanding and contributing to intelligence operations.

1. Operational psychologists must develop and maintain a good

understanding of strategic-level military intelligence assets and
resources that are available and how to leverage their psychological
expertise in applying information developed from the intelligence cycle
• 2. The operational psychologist must become integrated early into the
intelligence and operational planning cells as well as understand how
to integrate operational psychology processes and procedures with
national level intelligence assets supporting military operations
• 3. Operational psychologists must serve as a primary asset of the J2 or
Intelligence section to ensure, where applicable, integration of
operational psychology products and processes with ongoing
intelligence initiatives
• 4. The operational psychologist must maintain situational awareness
of campaign planning to ensure optimal responsiveness in providing
information in a timely manner on those personalities or issues most
critical for success.
5. The fifth area of expertise for an operational psychologist involves
the need to develop expertise in completing indirect assessments
assist the commander in helping to sift through intelligence reports to
identify vulnerabilities or tendencies in the personalities and
idiosyncrasies of enemy commanders
INDIRECT ASSESSMENT

• Indirect assessments of personality have a long history, and there are

several valuable sources that provide samples of both techniques and
approaches
• They used self-statements culled from the autobiography of Nazi war
criminal such as use of MMPI by proxy” that was integrated and
compared to a Rorschach completed with Hoess when he was a war
crimes trial prisoner in Nuremburg shortly after World War II.
• Another valuable area of indirect assessment support is focused on
determining how psychological factors contribute in counterespionage
activities.
• For example, an increased understanding of human nature, needs, and
motives can prove valuable in determining who is vulnerable for
recruitment or betrayal in counterintelligence operations
• enemy morale and provide an evaluation of likely capitulation or
surrender probabilities using an understanding of both cultural and
psychological characteristics of enemy forces and their “will to fight”
• Military operational psychologists must remain aware that in war, our
opponents will be thinking, creative, and adaptive
• The history of warfare is replete with examples of how effectively
opposing commanders use their understanding of human nature and
personalities to mount effective deception plans, playing off the
psychological advantage to gain a military outcome
A general in all of his projects should not think so much about what he
wishes to do as what his enemy will do; that he should never
underestimate his enemy, but he should put himself in his place to
appreciate difficulties and hindrances the enemy could interpose; that
his plans will be deranged at the slightest event if he has not foreseen
everything and if he has not devised means with which to surmount
the obstacles. (Heinl, 1988, p. 102)
• PRISONERS OF WAR: SURVIVAL, PREPARATION, PROCESSING, AND
INTERROGATIONS
• TERRORISM/COUNTERTERRORISM: OPERATIONAL SUPPORT
• CRISIS NEGOTIATION
Crisis negotiation offers the potential to create another natural
tension between the mental health and operational roles important
to an operational psychologist
PRISONERS OF WAR: SURVIVAL,
PREPARATION, PROCESSING, AND
INTERROGATIONS
• This is an area where operational psychologists draw heavily from
their background in social psychological processes, to include
diffusion of responsibility, the interplay between personal
accountability and moral disengagement for one’s actions,
dehumanization of enemy combatants, social modeling, and group
conformity pressures, to name a few. There are a number of other
important areas for operational psychologists to understand,
including the clinical issues and professional responsibilities for
clinical interventions with victims of torture
• Few who saw them will ever forget the vivid images of abuses
inflicted on Iraqi prisoners of war at Abu Ghraib prison that were
released in April/ May 2004. Many were quick to point out the
parallel between Zimbardo’s (1971) prison study using college
students in a basement at Stanford University (Haney, Banks, &
Zimbardo, 1973; Zimbardo, Haney, Banks, & Jaffe, 1975), in which
normal college students assigned to be guards began to behave
cruelly toward those students who were assigned to be prisoners.
ETHICAL AND LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
FOR OPERATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS
• The four primary ethical dilemmas for operational psychologists have
been identified as mixed agency, competence, multiple relationships,
and informed consent.
Multicultural Assessments
• It is also important for operational psychologists to understand and develop competence in
(1) recognition that it is a multifaceted construct;
(2) respect for how cultural differences are predicated on
increased self-awareness, personal experiences, and
knowledge of the other cultures;
(3) ability to offer simultaneous interpretations of standard
and multicultural assessments that strengthens both
approaches;
(4) increased need for awareness of possible bias in research
methods (e.g., comparative research studies and assessment
methods);
(5) increased need to understand cross-cultural equivalence
and psychometric issues in testing; and
(6) a recommendation for initial supervision of multicultural
assessments.
• They surveyed over 1,100 psychologists engaged in treatment-focused and
non-treatment-focused activities as well as over 500 members of the general
public.
• Findings revealed that the general public is more accepting of psychologists’
involvement in activities in national security settings (i.e., activities
highlighted in the Hoffman Independent Review) than psychologists.
• As a psychologist’s profession is one that strives to serve the interests of
society, it is important not to discount the views of the general public and
their more positive perceptions of psychologists serving in national security
settings.
• Israel’ deletes its fake propaganda video about al-Shifa Hospital

• Another defeat for the Israeli military. Following its boastful display of
raiding al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip and claiming to have
discovered weapons, the Israeli military deleted the "one-shot" video,
dismantling yet another piece of Israeli-produced propaganda.