Cognitive Interview A03

Question 1

Limitation - time consuming

Answer 1

• Police may be reluctant to use the Cl because it takes much more time than the standard police interview the one you see on TV).
• For example, more time is needed to establish rapport with the witness and allow them to relax. - The Cl also requires special training and many forces have not been able to provide more than a few hours (Kebbell and Wagstaff 1996).
• This means it is unlikely that the ‘proper version of the Cl is actually used, which may explain why police have not been that impressed by it.

Question 2

Strenght - some elements may be more valuable than others - Milne and Bull (2002)

Answer 2

• found that each individual element was equally valuable.
• Each technique used singly produced more information than the standard police interview.
• However, Milne and Bull found that using a combination of report everything and context reinstatement produced better recall than any of the other conditions.
• This confirmed police officers’ suspicions that some aspects of the Cl are more useful than others.
• This finding is a strength because it suggests that at least these two elements should be used to improve police interviewing of eyewitnesses even if the full Cl isn’t used.
• This in turn increases the credibility of the Cl amongst those who use it - police officers.

Question 3

Strength - support for effectiveness - Köhnken et al. (1999)

Answer 3

• Research suggests that the enhanced cognitive interview (ECl) may offer special benefits.
• a meta-analysis by Köhnken et al. (1999) combined data from 50 studies.
• The enhanced Cl consistently provided more correct information than the standard interview used by police.
  T- his is a strength because studies such as this one indicate that there are real practical benefits to the police of using the enhanced version of the Cl.
• The research shows that it gives the police a greater chance of catching and charging criminals, which is beneficial to society as a whole.