Cognitive interviews and ethical interview techniques (pack 3) Flashcards
What is a cognitive interview?
a method of interviewing eye witnesses. The aim is to help witnesses produce more accurate recall of a crime scene using techniques based on psychological research
what is an ethical interview?
acknowledges that suspects are human beings and are more likely to cooperate with police if rapport is established and they are treated with respect
in percent how much time does the police spend interviewing people?
70-80 percent
What are the four stages of the standard police interview and what do they do in each stage?
- orientation- purpose of interview is stated, legal requirements such as informing of rights
- listening- free recall with minimal questions
- questions and answers- ask specific questions based on prev. stage to fill in any gaps. Statement read through then signed
- advice- interviewee informed of any further action
What did the report by Baldwin (1993) reveal about standard police interviews?
used coercion and oppressive interviewing procedures, which leads to false confessions and miscarriages of justice
What was the PACE ACT (1984)?
provides police with legal framework that they must follow in order to protect human rights of those being interviewed
what is the five principles of the PEACE MODEL?
P- planning and preparation (criticism of S.I, must have clear objectives)
E- engage and explain (establish rapport, purpose of interview should be explained, encourage questions if unsure
A- account, clarification, challenge (good questioning and listening skills for reliable account)
C- closure (interviewee must understand what happened and what will happen next and questions can be asked)
E- evaluate (reflection on interviewer’s performance and reflection on info gathered)
Two strengths of the PEACE model?
evidence that PEACE model built rapport and used ethical techniques when compared to non-PEACE interviews (Walsh and Milne, 2010)
builds public confidence (fewer miscarriages of justice)
two weaknesses of the PEACE model?
though national college of policing advocate for the PEACE model, it is not always used consistently and limits effectiveness
expensive to retrain police in this technique
which psychologist(s) originally developed the cognitive interview?
GEISELMAN ET AL
What two cognitive principles is the cognitive interview based upon?
- TULVINGS SPECIFICITY PRINCIPLE
- SCHEMA THEORY
What is Tulving’s specificity principle?
the idea that when an event occurs it is first encoded, other important cues are stored alongside it.
These might include sensory details as well as the persons emotional state at the time.
It is assumed that being reminded of these details may facilitate a more accurate recall
What 4 things does Bartlett suggest memory is prone to?
distortion
rationalisation
transformation
simplification
Why is trying to inhibit someone’s schema in the cognitive interview important?
To stop people recalling what they think should have happened and instead what actually happened
What are the four main techniques used in the cognitive interview?
context reinstatement
report everything
change the order in which the event is recalled
change perspective
what is context reinstatement based upon?
encoding specificity hypothesis by Tulving, which states that the accessibility of info is stored in the memory
why do we change the order in which the event is recalled in the cognitive interview?
helps a person avoid skipping over info taken for granted, as it interrupts schema activation
what assumption is changing perspective based upon?
that in order to provide recall from a different physical perspective witnesses will use different retrieval cues and be able to recall new info
what did Geiselman study?
the effectiveness of three interview techniques
what was some of the procedure of Geiselman’s study?
lab experiment
used 89 undergrad students randomly assigned to one of the 3 interview methods
ppts then watched a violent film and were then asked a set of questions about it
some results from Geiselman’s study?
a significant increase in the number of correct items recalled using the cognitive interview
A conclusion made from Geiselman’s study?
concluded that the increased retrieval using the cognitive interview was due to the guided approach to interviewing, which encouraged ppts to remember the crime
3 strengths of the cognitive interview?
supporting evidence- Fisher et al produced a 46% recall with 90% accuracy. Increased ecological validity of the interview model, as it was effective in real life situations
interview uses a framework that can be easily followed so it is high in reliability- enables training
Mine and Bull found that when used in combo, cognitive reinstatement was particularly effective for eliciting information
Two weaknesses of the cognitive interview?
time consuming, requires specialist training and this can be costly (but it is necessary as without training there would be too many errors)
GEISELMAN found that it is not effective for children under 6 as young children find the instructions confusing
Kohnken recorded an increase of 81% in correct info using CI techniques BUT was offset by a 61% increase in incorrect info
