Cognitive Interview

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

Developed by Fisher and Geiselman 1992 the cognitive interview is a technique used by police to interview witnesses after the have seen a crime or accident to help facilitate the most accurate and detailed memory possible. Lots of open questions are asked where the witness is not interrupted and deer to expand on their own

Question 2

AO1
Recall everything

Answer 2

Describe- the witness is asked to report all details of the event even if they seem irrelevant
How will it improve EWT: might act as a trigger to memory as additional information

“ start from the beginning what happened the morning of the robbery “

Question 3

Context reinstatement

Answer 3

Describe- the witness is asked to mentally place themselves back at the scene of the event and imagine the environment such as the weather and what they could see end their emotions.
How will it improve EWT: using conte g and state dependent cues may help to trigger memories is the event that may appear forgotten but are not currently assessable due to retrieval failure.

“ close your eyes what do you see what’s the weather like what was x wearing how were you feeling when “

Question 4

Recall in reverse

Answer 4

Describe- the witness is asked to report what happens in a different chronological order for example from the end of the crime to the start. How will it improve EWT: prevents witnesses reporting what they expected to happen rather that what happened if also prevents dishonesty as if is harder to lie when having to I reverse a story

“ tell us what happened from when u entered the bank “

Question 5

Recall from changed perspective

Answer 5

Describe- the witness is asked to recall the incident from another persons perspective who witnesses the crime.
How will this improve EWT: may prevent witnesses reporting what they expected to happen rather that what happened

“Imagine your the bank robber what do you see “

Question 6

AO3

Answer 6

Research to support the effectiveness of the cognitive interview in improving the accuracy of EWT was conducted by KOHNKEN ET AL1999. They used meta analysis of 50 studies comparing cognitive interview and standard interviews. They reported that cognitive interview had an increase is 41% in correct information compared to the standard interview. This supports that the cognitive interview is an effective technique in improving the accuracy of EWT because it help witness to recall information that is stored in memory but not easy accessible