Evaluation For Cognitive Interview

Question 1

Geiselman

Answer 1

The participants viewed a violent crime and 48 hrs later were interviewed by a police officer. The participants were placed in either the standard police interviews or the cognitive interview. The number of accurately recalled facts and the number of errors were recorded.

He found that there was significantly higher recall of accurate statements for the cognitive interview (mean 41) compared to the standard interview (mean 29) and there were no significant differences in the number of incorrect responses.

Question 2

Evaluation: Time Consuming

Answer 2

A further limitation of cognitive interviews is that they are time consuming.This is because they take longer to complete than an ordinary police interview as they involve 4 key principles to ensure that the information recalled is accurate. This is a limitation because it means that a rapport needs to be built between the police officer and the witness which requires special training and the police do not have sufficient time to complete this accurately therefore, meaning that cognitive interviews may not be completed correctly. Therefore, reducing their accuracy.

Question 3

Koehnken

Answer 3

Koehnken et al. (1999) did a meta analysis of 50 studies and found that witnesses recalled 81% more correct information when interviewed with the cognitive interview compared to the standard interview technique, however there was a 61% of incorrect information perhaps because more detailed recall increases the chances of making mistakes.

Question 4

Fisher et al

Answer 4

Trained a group of detectives in the use of the cognitive interview. Assessed their performance when interviewing genuine crime witnesses. Their performance was 47% increased compare to their pretraining levels

Question 5

Bekerian and dennet

Answer 5

Reviewed 27 cases and found in all cases that the cognitive interview has provided more accurate information than other interview procedures

Question 6

Holiday

Answer 6

Showed 2 groups of children, aged 4&5 and 9&10, a 5 minute video of a child’s birthday.

The next day the children were interviewed about it using the cognitive interview or a standard interview. Cognitive interview resulted in more correct details than the standard interview

Question 7

Evaluation studies for cognitive interview

Answer 7

Geiselman
Holiday
Dennet and bekerian