7 - Improving Accuracy Of EWT: Cognitive Interview

Question 1

Who proposed the Cognitive Interview? When?

Answer 1

Fisher + Gieselman (1992)

Question 2

Why was the Cognitive Interview proposed?

Answer 2

Fisher investigated real interviews given by experienced police detectives in Florida for 4 months in 1987 + found…
- Questions often not in sync with memory
- Questions often close-ended
Suggested EWT could be improved if police used better interviewing techniques based around psychological understanding of memory

Question 3

What is the Cognitive Interview?

Answer 3

Method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories, based on psychological knowledge on human memory

Question 4

What are the 4 techniques used in the Cognitive Interview?

Answer 4

• Report everything
• Reinstate context
• Reverse the order
• Change perspective

Question 5

What did Fisher do to enhance the Cognitive Interview? When? What does it involve?

Answer 5

Enhanced Cognitive Interview (1987)

• Additional elements of CI to focus on improving social dynamics
• Aims include: reducing EW anxiety, minimising distractions
• Methods include: knowing when to give eye contact, getting EW to talk slowly

Question 6

What is ‘report everything’? Why is it used in the CI?

Answer 6

EWs encouraged to recall every detail of event, even if they aren’t confident about it or it seems irrelevant

• May be important
• May trigger other memories

Question 7

What is ‘reinstate the context’? Why is it used in the CI?

Answer 7

EWs encouraged to ‘return to the crime scene’ in their minds, remembering the environment + their emotions
- Helps reverse context-dependent forgetting, as external or internal cues may help trigger memories

Question 8

What is ‘reverse the order’? Why is it used in the CI?

Answer 8

EWs are encouraged to recall events in a diff chronological order

• Prevents reporting expectations/schema
• Prevents dishonesty (harder to lie)

Question 9

Give an example of a different chronological order that EWs could use when told to ‘reverse the order’

Answer 9

Middle, End, Beginning

Question 10

What is ‘change perspective’? Why is it used in the CI?

Answer 10

EWs encouraged to recall event from another perspective

- Prevents reporting expectations/schema

Question 11

Give an example of another perspective EWs could use in CI when told to ‘change perspective’

Answer 11

Perspective of another EW or the perpetrator

Question 12

What is a schema?

Answer 12

Mental framework of expectations + beliefs that are developed from experience + influence cognitive processing

Question 13

Give 2 positive evaluation points for the use of the CI

Answer 13

Research support

• Köhnken et al (1999)
• Meta analysis of over 50 studies
• CI consistently resulted in EWs providing more accurate info than standard interviews
• Real life findings give insight into real efficiency + practicality

Some elements are useful, even if not all are used

• Milne + Bull (2002)
• Found each element of the CI to be equally, individually useful
• Combination of ‘report everything’ + ‘context reinstatement’ produce best recall (better than any individual element)
• CI has practical use, even if there isn’t time to do full CI

Question 14

Give 2 negative evaluation points for the use of the CI

Answer 14

Method is time consuming

• Takes more time: To do actual interview (e.g. establish rapport)
• Takes more time: To provide police with special training (noted by Kebbell + Wagstaff)
• May be impractical for police

Also increases amount of inaccurate info

• Köhnken et al (1991) found: 81% increase in accurate info, 61% increase in inaccurate info
• Info collected must be handled with caution

Question 15

In general, have police shown an interest in the cognitive interview technique? Why might this be?

Answer 15

• No
• Haven’t taken enough time (in interview + training) to complete the full CI, so haven’t seen full impact of the technique