cognitive interview

Question 1

cognitive interview

Answer 1

method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories

four main techniques all based on evidence-based psychological knowledge of human memory

report everything, reinstate context, reverse the order and change perspective

Question 2

who recommended cognitive interview

Answer 2

Fisher and Geiselmen

Question 3

report everything

Answer 3

encouraged to include every single detail of event even if deemed irrelevant

• trivial details may be important and may trigger other important memories

Question 4

reinstate context

Answer 4

witness return to crime scene in mine and imagine environment and emotions

related to context-dependent forgetting

Question 5

reverse the order

Answer 5

events recalled in different order from original sequence

prevent reporting their expectations of how event must have happened rather than reporting actual event

also prevents dishonesty

Question 6

change perspective

Answer 6

should recall incident from other perspectives

disrupt the expectations and the effect of schema on recall

schema for particular setting generates expectations of what would happen so the schema would be recalled rather than the event

Question 7

enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 7

Fisher et al

focus on the social dynamics of the interaction

eg eye contact, reducing anxiety, minimising distractions and open ended questions

Question 8

strength for effectiveness

Answer 8

P - strength is evidence that it works
E - meta-analysis combined data from 55 studies compared ci and standard interview
E - 41% increase in accurate information compared to standard - only 4 studies showed no difference
L - CI is effective technique in helping witnesses to recall information that is stored in memory but not immediately accessible

P - also found an increase in amount of inaccurate information recalled
E - particular issue with ECI - produced more incorrect details than CI
E - interviews may sacrifice quality of EWT in favour of quantity
L - police officers should treat ewt evidence from ci/eci with caution

Question 9

some elements may be more useful

Answer 9

P - limitation of original CI is not all elements equally effective
E - Milne and Bull - each of the four techniques used alone produced more information than standard interview
E - combination and report everything and reinstate context produced better recall than any of the other elements
L - confirmed suspicions that some aspects are more useful casting doubt on credibility of overall cognitive interview

Question 10

cognitive interview is time-consuming

Answer 10

P - limitation that police officers may be reluctant to use the cognitive interview because it takes more time and training than the standard police interview
E - more time is needed to establish rapport with witness and allow them to relax
E - requires special training and may forces dont have resources to provide more than a few hours
L - complete ci is not a realistic method for police officers to use