14 Facts About Richards Heuer

Richards Heuer graduated in 1950 from Williams College with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy.

Richards Heuer spent the next 24 years working with the Directorate of Operations before switching to the Directorate of Intelligence in 1975.

Richards Heuer is well known for his analysis of the extremely controversial and disruptive case of Soviet KGB defector Yuri Nosenko, who was first judged to be part of a "master plot" for penetration of CIA but was later officially accepted as a legitimate defector.

Richards Heuer worked within the DI for four years, eventually retiring in 1979 after 28 years of service as the head of the methodology unit for the political analysis office.

Richards Heuer discovered his interest in cognitive psychology through reading the work of Kahneman and Tversky subsequent to an International Studies Association convention in 1977.

Richards Heuer's continuing interest in the field and its application to intelligence analysis led to several published works including papers, CIA training lectures and conference panels.

Richards Heuer sees mental models as potentially good and bad for the analyst.

Therefore, since all people observe the same information with inherent and different biases, Richards Heuer believes an effective analysis system needs a few safeguards.

Richards Heuer offers several recommendations to the intelligence community for improving intelligence analysis and avoiding consistent pitfalls.

Secondly, Richards Heuer suggests that agencies expand funding for research on the role that cognitive processes play in decision making.

Richards Heuer originally developed ACH to be included as the core element in an interagency deception analysis course during the Reagan administration in 1984 concentrated on Soviet deception regarding arms deals.

The Palo Alto Research Center in conjunction with Richards Heuer developed the PARC ACH 2.0.5 software for use within the intelligence community in 2005.

Richards Heuer maintains that considering the master plot was not unwise as it was a theory that should have been discussed in light of the information available at the time.

Richards Heuer's product provides far more detailed information about why these behaviors are a potential security concern and how to evaluate their severity.