Eyewitness Interviewing

Question 1

What’s the purpose of interviews?

Answer 1

Elicit as much (correct) info as possible

Avoid memory contamination

Question 2

Loftus and palmer

Answer 2

Car experiment - Shows the influence of questions

Question 3

Examples of closed ended questions?

Answer 3

Did you see the man with the black hoodie running from the scene?

Did you drive past the silver getaway car?

Question 4

Examples of open ended questions?

Answer 4

Tell me about what happened on…

Where were you when X happened

Question 5

What is context dependent memory?

Answer 5

Memory is best when the cue info processed at the time of retrieval matches the cue info processed at the time of encoding.

Question 6

What did Godden and Baddeley do/find?

Answer 6

In a free recall experiment divers:

• Learnt lists of words on dry land and underwater
• Recalled the words in either the environment or original learning, or in the alternative environment.

Better when learnt on land, and recalled on land, etc…

Question 7

Associative properties of memory?

Answer 7

Every memory is created in association with other memories/cues

The activation of some memories/cues can facilitate the recall of associated memories

Question 8

What is the cognitive interview?

Answer 8

Interview procedure heavily based on cognitive principles

• enhanced retrieval
• reduced misinformation

1. Mental reinstatement of context
2. Report everything
3. Recalling the event from a different perspective
4. Recalling the event in different temporal orders

Question 9

What is context reinstatement?

Answer 9

The interviewee is encouraged to mentally reconstruct the physical and personal context that existed at the time of the event

This step is considered one of the most important in the CI and capitalises on the associative properties of memory.

Question 10

What is report everything?

Answer 10

Interviewees are asked to report everything they can recall even if it is partial or incomplete

Interruptions are kept to a minimum

Question 11

What is recall from a different perspective?

Answer 11

Witnesses are instructed to recall from a variety of perspectives - from their own perspective and to adopt the perspectives of others

Hypothesised to elicit new cues to improve overall memory recall

Question 12

What is recall from a different order?

Answer 12

Witnesses engage in further retrieval attempts in a different temporal order - from the start, from the end working backwards in time, the middle or any other point in time that may be sal;isn’t to the individual.

Also hypothesised to elicit new cues.

Question 13

What’s the enhanced cognitive interview?

Answer 13

Includes a framework for building rapport and communicating effectively with the witness

The interviewer is discouraged from interrupting the witness, and is instructed to allow the witness to control the flow of info and to listen actively to what the witness has to say

Question 14

How effective is the CI?

Answer 14

First big meta analysis

• 42 studies
• comparisons between CI and standard interviews
• large overall effect size for the increase in correctly recalled details generated by the CI
• small increase in incorrect details in the CI

Most recent meta-analysis

• 65 experiments
• the findings of the original meta-analysis were replicated with a large and significant increase in correct details and a small increase in errors
• the effect sizes were unaffected by the inclusion of recent studies using modified versions of the CI

Question 15

How effective is the CI - typical paradigm?

Answer 15

Target event (mock crime) 
Some retention interval 
Interview phase (CI or Standard interview)
Examine performer (dependant variables)

Question 16

Training in the CI?

Answer 16

Field tests of the CI have indicated police officers trained in it gain more info and more detailed info

When properly trained, interviewers can benefits a lot

Police officers report feeling inadequately trained, under pressure and generally ill equipped

Main challenges is to develop more effective training

Question 17

What are some challenges/limitations of the CI?

Answer 17

Can be time-consuming
Benefits can be dependant on effective training

Study found officers had difficultly in applying new cognitive techniques and in avoiding the use of closed/leading questions

Some studies show that it increases confabulation and amount of incorrect info reported

Question 18

What’s the self-administered interview?

Answer 18

In many circumstances it is critical to obtain info quickly and effectively

An important limitation of the CI is how long it takes to implement

The SAI enables investigative interviewers to obtain good quality evidence from witnesses quickly and efficiently

Question 19

Studies on SAI?

Answer 19

Typically find improved recall of correct info

Completing an SAI after witnessing a mock crime

• reduces forgetting over a delay
• maintains high accuracy rates
• preserves memory over a delay
• protects against memory distortions caused by exposure to misleading questions and erroneous post event info
• Enhances performance in the subsequent interview