EWT: Cognitive interview

Question 1

What is the cognitive interview?

Answer 1

Method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories

Question 2

Who developed the cognitive interview?

Answer 2

Fisher and Geiselman

Question 3

What are the 4 techniques of the cognitive interview?

Answer 3

1- report everything
2- reinstate the context
3- reverse the order
4- change perspective

Question 4

What is ‘report everything’?

Answer 4

Witnesses are encouraged to report every single detail of the event, even if it seems irrelevant

Question 5

What is ‘reinstate the context’?

Answer 5

Witnesses should return to the crime scene in their mind and imagine the environment and their emotions (context-dependent forgetting)

Question 6

What is ‘reverse the order’?

Answer 6

Events should be recalled in a new order, often backwards. This prevents people reporting expectations rather than actual events

Question 7

What is ‘change perspective’?

Answer 7

Witnesses should recall the incident from other people’s perspectives. This disrupts the effect of expectations and schema on recall

Question 8

What is the enhanced cognitive interview (ECI)?

Answer 8

Fisher et al developed additional elements of the CI to focus on social dynamics of the interaction

Question 9

What are the strengths of the cognitive interview?

Answer 9

• Support for effectiveness of the CI
• Variations of the CI

Question 10

What are the limitations of the cognitive interview?

Answer 10

• Inaccurate information
• Some elements may be more useful
• CI is time consuming

Question 11

STRENGTH- Support for the effectiveness of the CI

Answer 11

I= there is evidence the CI works
D= meta-analysis by Kohnken et al combined data from 55 studies comparing Ci with the standard police interview. CI gave an average 41% increase in accurate information vs standard interview
E= shows the CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses recall information that is stored in memory, but is not immediately accessible

Question 12

STRENGTH- Variations of the CI

Answer 12

I= CI has been used in a wide variety of ways by the police
D= police take a ‘pick n mix’ approach, allowing them to evolve their own approaches and permits them to adapt the method to individual cases
E= the CI is therefore flexible, and gains credibility in the eyes of police officers

Question 13

LIMITATION- Inaccurate information

Answer 13

I= the CI increases the amount of inaccurate information provided by participants
D= Kohnken et al’s study found an increase in inaccurate information. Particularly an issue in ECI. Cognitive interviews may sacrifice quality of EWT
E= means police officers should treat eyewitness evidence with caution

Question 14

LIMITATION- Some elements may be more useful

Answer 14

I= not all elements of the CI are equally effective or useful
D= Milne and Bull found that each of the 4 techniques used alone produce more information than the standard police interview. But combining 1 and 2 produced better recall than any other combination
E= this casts doubt on the overall credibility of the CI

Question 15

LIMITATION- The CI is time-consuming

Answer 15

I= the CI takes more time and training than the standard police interview
D= more time needed to establish rapport and allow people to relax. Also requires special training, which many forces do not have the resources to provide
E= suggests the CI is not a realistic method for police officers to use, and it may be better to focus on a few key elements