cognitive interview

Question 1

what is it?

Answer 1

a specific wat of asking a witness questions about an incident. it is designed to maximise the accuracy of the info obtained. if inaccurate info is taken during a police interview, the wrong person may be charged.

eye witness accounts are often unreliable and easily distorted eg by way questions are asked
police have developed new methods of interviewing to improve witness recall by using research into how memory works.

Question 2

techs used: reinstate the context at time of event

Answer 2

• witness is asked to imagine all aspects of crime scene encouraging the witness to recall specific cues eg.weather. helps put person back in time and may improve recall accuracy

works because it supports cue dependent recall

Question 3

report everything

Answer 3

• every single detail
  allowing the witness to freely recall a narrative or situation gains an initial account without interruption.
  there is then scope for the interviewer to ask further questions to clarify significant moments.

improves recall/ works because by witnesses exclude details they feel are irrelevant especially if they don’t fit into existing schemas. unimportant detail can act for a cue for key info.

Question 4

change the order in which the event is recalled

Answer 4

• encourage witness to recall events in reverse order. can help a person avoid skipping over what they take for g as it interrupts schema activation and can help prevent story formulation.
• we tend to remember situations in order they happen. we are more likely to reconstruct as story and draw on existing schema. this can be inaccurate.

Question 5

change perspective

Answer 5

• trying to adapt the view point of a diff witness can encourage recall of events that may otherwise be omitted
• should only report what they know

cueing the person to specifically focus on a different element of situation can increase accurate recall.

Question 6

appropriateness

Answer 6

:) appropriate for eye witness especially serious offences because it obtains the maximum amount of accurate info.
CA= for minor offences the standard police interview might be appropriate because it takes less time, requires less training and can be carried out in any setting.
:) it has been found that cog interviews were more effective than standard interviews when doing it with children.
CA= real life eyewitnesses may have poor communication skills.

Question 7

practical

Answer 7

:( interviews need trained interviewers which increases the expense, so they are only used for serious crimes limiting their use.
:( more time consuming

Question 8

effectiveness

Answer 8

fisher studied the cog interview in an ecologically valid setting and found that after training, detectives gained as much as 47% more useful info from witness to real crimes compared to when they had been using standard techs.
- Holliday et al found more correct details from both older and younger adults using a modified version of the cog interview. findings replicated in many countries.

:( found to have led to more correct info recalled than standard but slightly more incorrect info recalled.
:( emotional factors may play a significant role in real EWT which may affect recall.

Question 9

ethics

Answer 9

:( might find process distressing especially when reinstating the context and reporting everything
:( despite supporting evidence, it is possible that other factors such as individual differences may have affected how much was recalled.