eye witness testimony

Question 1

the cognitive interview

Answer 1

developed by fisher and geisalman
to increase the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
1) report everything - the witness is asked to recall every detail from the event even details considered irrelevant in order to act as a cue for more relevant memories seemingly trivial memories may be important
2) reinstate the context- the witness is asked to recall the contextual details of the event for example things heard before or during their feelings during the event- this is related to context dependant forgetting.
3) reverse the order- the witness is asked to retell the events non chronologically this is done to prevent the witnesses reporting based on expectations of how the events should have happened
4) change perspective- recalling events from another person involved perspective to reduce the effect of schema on accuracy of witness testimony

Question 1

enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 1

fisher added additional elements of the cognitive interview to focus on the social dynamics of the situation for example the interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it
also focuses on asking open ended questions reducing distractions and reducing anxiety.

Question 2

cognitive interview positives

Answer 2

+ evidence that is works meta analysis conducted by konken who combined data from 55 studies and found that there was a 41% increase in accuracy compared with standard interview
only four studies showed no difference
HOWEVER konken also found an increase in the amount of incorrect information recalled and this was a particular issue in the enhanced ci as more incorrect infiormation was reported in the eci than the ci.

Question 3

cognitive interview negatives

Answer 3

• not all elements are equally effective or useful milne found that using the report everything and reinstate the context produced better ewt results confirming police expectations that some work better than others. however it is hard to compare because a puck and mix approach is applied
• cognitive interview is time consuming time needed to allow them to relax and special training needs to be provided to officers suggesting always implementing the ci is an unrealistic standard for officers