Cognitive Interviews

Question 1

What are the four stages of a cognitive interview ?

Answer 1

1. Report everything - every detail you can think of
2. Reinstate context - how you where feeling, the weather, place, what you were doing, where etc..
3. Start from a different point - most memorable point or reverse it from the end to start
4. Change perspective - suggest what happened from a different persons perspective

Question 2

Factors which may make a cognitive interview unsuccessful

Answer 2

Interruptions

Angry or aggressive interrogation

Not explaining how the Interview is going to pan out

Trying to push a confession out of witness

Question 3

Ethical standards?

Answer 3

Everyone is to be treated with dignity

Non judgemental

No shortcuts - trust is the focus not confession

Special needs must be treated differently

Fall info or deception mustn’t be used to gain a confession

Question 4

Issues that should be covered in an ethical interview (savage and milne 2007)
PEACE?

Answer 4

Planning and preparation - noting aims and objectives to achieve required outcome

Engage and explain - building a rapport with interviewee explaining interview

Account - invitation of suspect to provide an account.

Closure - bringing interview to a good conclusion to avoid anxiety

Evaluate - evaluated against required aims to see if the material given was successful

Question 5

Reports (2012)

Answer 5

Found that police interviewing was accusatory and persuasive

Question 6

Kebbell

Answer 6

Showed problems with interviewing sex offenders and found that interviewer used dominance and use of minimisation.