Cognitive Interview: Improving The Accuracy Of EWT

Question 1

Fischer and Geiselman developed the cognitive interview, a technique used by police to interview witnesses after they have seen a crime or incident to help…

Answer 1

The most accurate and detailed memory possible, lots of open questions are asked where the witness is not interrupted and free to expand on their answers.

Question 2

Recall everything is where the witness is asked to report…

Answer 2

All details of the event and the environment even if it seems trivial.

Question 3

How does recall everything in prove EWT accuracy?

Answer 3

It may act as a trigger to a memory

Question 4

An example of a recall everything everything question

Answer 4

“Start from the beginning, what happened the morning of the robbery?”

Question 5

Context reinstatement involves asking the witness to mentally place themselves at the scene of the invent and imagine…

Answer 5

The environment e.g. the weather, what they could see and their emotions

Question 6

How does context reinstatement improve EWT accuracy?

Answer 6

Using context and state dependent cues may help to trigger memories of the event that may appear forgotten but are not accessible due to retrieval failure.

Question 7

An example of a context reinstatement question

Answer 7

“Close your eyes… what do you see, what’s the weather like, what was x wearing, how were you feeling when…”

Question 8

Recall in reverse involves the witness being asked to report what happened in a different…

Answer 8

Chronological order e.g. from the end of the crime to the start

Question 9

How does recall in reverse improve EWT accuracy?

Answer 9

Prevents witnesses reporting what they expected to happen (schema) rather than what happened. Also prevents dishonesty, harder to lie when having to reverse a story.

Question 10

An example of a recall in reverse question

Answer 10

“Tell us what happened from when you entered the bank”

Question 11

Recall from a changed perspective involves the witness being asked to recall the incident from…

Answer 11

Another persons perceptive who witnessed the crime e.g. the perpetrator

Question 12

How does recall from a changed perspective help improve EWT accuracy?

Answer 12

Prevents witnesses reporting what they expect to happen (schema) rather than what happened

Question 13

An example of a recall from a changed perspective question

Answer 13

“Imagine you’re the bank robber, what do you see?”

Question 14

RTS the effectiveness of the CI in improving EWT accuracy comes from Koknken et al. They used a meta analysis of 55 studies comparing CI to standard interview. They reported that CI had an increase of ….% more accurate information compared to the standard interview.

Answer 14

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Only four studies showed no difference amongst the typ of interviews. Supporting CI improving the accuracy of EWT as it helps witnesses recall information stored in memory but not easily accessible.

Question 15

Koknken et al also suggests that although more information is remembered compared to standard interview (81%), more incorrect terms are recalled with a ….% increase of incorrect information recalled in a cognitive interview compared to standard interview.

Answer 15

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Weakness as when using CI despite seeming like more information has been collecte, if incorrect could lead to false imprisonments, wasting police time, leading to damaged economy. Reducing effectiveness of CI in improving EWT accuracy.

Question 16

Not all techniques in the CI are equally as effective. Milne and Bull (2002) found that each of the four technique used along produced more information than the standard interview. But they also found that using a combination of…

Answer 16

Report anything and context reinstatement produced better recall than any other elements. This is s weakness as it may mean that CI isn’t used effectively, and only certain aspects of CI is useful in priding accurate recall thus limiting the effectiveness of CI in improving the accuracy of EWT