cognitive interviews Flashcards
aims of cognitive interviewing
improve the accuracy of EWT
to assist the police in interviewing witnesses
structure of a cognitive interview
introduction
controlling the interview
openended narration
probing for details
review important question
closing the interview, evaluation
how does cognitive interviewing aim to improve the accuracy
developing effective social dynamics between the police interviewer and the witness
recall is better if retrieval cues are used - can be state or context
people may distort their memories to fit schemas/ expectations, meaning they may forget vital information and fill the gaps with inaccurate memories
4 main features of the cognitive interview
content reinstatment
report everything
change the perspective
change the order
content reinstatement
mentally recreate the context (both internal and external) of the event being recalled (cues help recall)
report everything
recall everything possible about the event, introducing trivial and fragmented details
(demand characteristics/ response bias)
change the perspective
recall the events from different perspectives, such as the offenders viewpoint (distortion and schemas)
change the order
witness recalls events in reverse order from the most memorable point (recency effect)
Geiselman et al (1995) - supporting evidence
51 ppts shown two films of violent crimes and after 48 hours, were interviewed by a policeman using either cognitive interview, standard interview or interview with hypnosis
avg, number of correctly recalled facts for cognitive interview was significantly higher (41.2) than for the standard interview (29.4) and for hypnosis it was 38.0
cognitive interview leads to better memory for events, with witnesses able to recall more relevant information compared with a traditional interview method
application - a case where CI has been used successfully
has been used to successfully solve several case
including stephanie slater kidnapping case
opposing evidence - incorrect information
P - CI may provide more information, but not all of this is accurate
E - Kahnken et al (1999) recorded an 81% increase in correct information, but also a 61% increase in incorrect information
E - displays that an increase in information also leads to an increase in incorrect information, which may give the police incorrect leads or lead to false statement
opposing evidence - children under 8
P - Gielsmen (1999)
E - found that children under 8 did not benefit from CI, and recalled info that was slightly less accurate
E - CI isn’t suitable for all age groups, and should only be used with those over 8
practical issue with CI
P - time consuming
E - the British Police reported that complete CI was sometimes difficult to implement
E - so it often requires more time to do than police officers have, and it is difficult to find the staff and funding to complete this in all situations,
why is it difficult to assess the effectiveness of CI
P - composed of several different techniques and different police forces have tended to use different versions of it
E - Thames Valley Police do not use the ‘reinstate content’ component
E - this makes it difficult to make comparisons
why is CI useful in detecting deception?
P - CI is effective in detecting whether a suspect’s testimony is truthful or deceptive.
E - asking suspects to describe events in different sequential orders
E - the techniques generate longer responses from suspects, therefore giving more opportunities to identify verbal and non-verbal cues to deception
