TSA officers to try interview technique

If you are flying out of Boston Logan International Airport over the next few months, be prepared to have a brief conversation with a Transportation Security Administration officer, who will be interested in more than what you have to say.

Under a 60-day pilot program, TSA officials will approach passengers with a few questions to gauge their reactions and look for signs that the travelers may be hiding something. The program is another layer in the country's airport security program that includes full-body scans and pat-down searches. Agents trained in interviewing techniques will be posted near the line where TSA officers check passengers' identification. The officers will order extra screening for those who show signs they could be a threat.

What kind of signs? "Involuntary physical and physiological reactions that people exhibit in response to a fear of being discovered," said TSA spokesman Nico Melendez, without elaborating. If passengers decline to answer, he said, TSA agents will order them to undergo thorough screening.