EWT: Cognitive Interview

Question 1

Fisher & Geiselman (1992)

Answer 1

EWT could be improved if police use techniques based on psychological insights into how memory works
Called cognitive interview as based in cognitive psychology
Rapport (understanding) established with interviewee using four main techniques

Question 2

Report everything

Answer 2

• witness encouraged to include every detail of event, even if seems irrelevant/witness is not confident about it
• seemingly trivial details could be important for police and may trigger other memories

Question 3

Reinstate context

Answer 3

*witness returns to crime scene ‘in their mind’ -> imagines environment and their emotions
* based on context-dependant forgetting -> cues from context may trigger recall of memories

Question 4

Reverse order

Answer 4

• witness asked to recall events in different order (eg. end to start or from middle)
• prevents witness basing descriptions on expectations of how event must have happened. Prevents dishonesty (harder to produce untruthful account)

Question 5

Change perspective

Answer 5

• witness recalls incident from other people’s perspective (eg. how would have appeared to another witness or perpetrator)
• prevents influence of expectations and schema on recall
  (schema = packages of information developed through experience that generates a framework for interpreting incoming information)

Question 6

Enhanced Cognitive Interview

Answer 6

Fisher et al (1987) - developed additional elements to cognitive interview (focus on social dynamics of interaction)
- when to maintain/constrain eye contact
- reduce eyewitness anxiety
- minimise distractions
- get witness to speak slowly
- ask open-ended questions

Question 7

Research to support effectiveness

Answer 7

Köhnken et al. meta-analysis (combined data from 55 studies comparing CI and ECI to standard police interview)
CI averaged 41% more correct information recalled (only 4 studies showed no difference)
CI is effective in helping witness recall information that is available but not accessible

Question 8

Some elements more useful than others

Answer 8

Bull et al. (each individual technique of CI produced more info than standard police interview)
Combining report everything and reinstate context produced better recall than other techniques both individually and combined
There is doubt on overall credibility of CI as some techniques less effective than others

Question 9

CI is time consuming

Answer 9

Takes more time than standard police interview (build rapport, allow witnesses to relax)
Also requires special training - Wagstaff et al. many forces do not have resources to provide more than few hours training
Complete CI not realistic, better for police to focus on key elements

Question 10

Variations of CI used in studies

Answer 10

Forces pick and mix their CI approach = hard to compare effectiveness in studies
Makes CI more flexible as can be adjusted depending on what forces think works best
Can be adapted to different situations, increase credibility for officers (but not for empirical evidence!)