What is the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Drawing Test as noted in the book, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know?

The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Drawing Test is a method used by psychologists to examine SERE subjects' psychological responses to torture. In the test, subjects are given a complex line drawing, and told to copy it. Then test facilitators remove the reference photo, and tell the subjects to draw the image from memory. Studies show that the subjects are able to perform the test perfectly prior to torture. After torture exercises, however, their memory lapses, and they cannot replicate the image from memory. Gladwell references the test to suggest the ineffectiveness of interrogation methods.