truth serum
Interrogation drug injection
Truth serum is a drug supposedly capable of compelling people to reveal information they would otherwise conceal.
Sodium pentothal and similar barbiturates have been used for this purpose, though their reliability is questionable—subjects may confabulate or remain resistant.
The term appears often in fiction and figuratively: After a few drinks, wine becomes her truth serum.
Anesthetic promoting candor
- barbituratesSedative-hypnotic drug class
- scopolamineTropane alkaloid for nausea
- sedativesDrugs that calm
- thiopentalIntravenous anesthetic agent
narcoanalysis · hypnotics · benzodiazepines · psychoactive · intravenous · pharmacology · injection · dosage
Seeking answers through inquiry
- confessionAdmission of wrongdoing
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
- CIAU.S. foreign intelligence service
- spyCovert information gatherer
intelligence · detainee · prisoner · suspect · informant · counterintelligence · debriefing · extraction
Voluntary agreement given
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
- violationBreaking of rules
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
Geneva Convention · legal · admissibility · civil liberties · abuse · involuntary · constitutional · due process
Bogus methodology posing as factual
- unreliableNot consistently performing
- placeboInactive therapeutic substitute
- suggestibilityReadiness to accept influence
- false confessionUntrue guilt statement
debunked · Hollywood · movies · fiction · pop culture · James Bond · trope · exaggerated
sodium pentothal
Anesthetic promoting candor
- barbituratesSedative-hypnotic drug class
- scopolamineTropane alkaloid for nausea
- sedativesDrugs that calm
thiopental · narcoanalysis · hypnotics · benzodiazepines · psychoactive · intravenous · pharmacology · injection · dosage · anesthetic
questioning
Seeking answers through inquiry
- confessionAdmission of wrongdoing
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
- CIAU.S. foreign intelligence service
spy · intelligence · detainee · prisoner · suspect · informant · counterintelligence · debriefing · extraction · coercion
consent
Voluntary agreement given
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
- violationBreaking of rules
torture · Geneva Convention · legal · admissibility · civil liberties · abuse · involuntary · constitutional · due process · medical ethics
pseudoscience
Bogus methodology posing as factual
- unreliableNot consistently performing
- placeboInactive therapeutic substitute
- suggestibilityReadiness to accept influence
false confession · debunked · Hollywood · movies · fiction · pop culture · James Bond · trope · exaggerated · misconception
- serumsantiserum
- interrogationquestioning, interrogator, suspect, interview room, Miranda rights
- potionspotion, elixir, brew, draught, tonic
- lie detectionpolygraph, lie detector, polygraph test, polygraph tests, electrodes
- magical substancesmana, ichor, ambrosia, nectar, ether
- truth revealersstraight shooter, straight talker, eyewitness, informant, whistleblower
truth serumamnestic
Causing memory impairment
plausible deniability · classified information · stone wall · omertà
truth serumpolygraph
Physiological response recorder
lie detector · behavioral analysis · cross-examination · cold reading
truth, truthful, truths, untruth, truthfulness, untruthful, truthfully, serum, untruthfulness