Eyewitness Testimony - improving accuracy Flashcards
what is the cognitive interview
An alternative interview devised to improve eyewitnesses accurate recall.
what is the Cognitive interview comprised of
4 components
*report everything
*reinstatement of context
*reverse the order
*change the perspective
describe report everything
Recall all the information, even that which seemingly has little relevance, is remembered less confidently or seems incomplete
describe reinstatement of context
Recall both the enviroment and the emotional context of the event eg. weather, feelings
describe reverse the order
Recall the events in a different chronological order eg. from end to beginning
describe change perspective
Recall the events from different people’s points of view. eg. the offender
what does the cognitive interview support
That memory is stored as traces and cues with aid recall
describe a piece of research into the cognitive interview (without results)
Geiselman et al 1985
Aim - to investigate the effectiveness of the cognitive interview.
method - participants watched a film of a violent crime and, after 48 hours, were interviewed by a policeman using one of three methods: the cognitive interview; a standard interview (used by LAPD) or an interview using hypnosis. The number of facts accurately recalled and the number of errors made were recorded.
describe the results of Geiselman et al 1985
results - The average number of correctly recalled facts for the cognitive interview was 41.2, for hypnosis it was 38.0 and for the standard interview it was 29.4. There was no significant difference in the number of errors in each condition.
Conclusion - The cognitive interview leads to better memory for events, with witnesses able to recall more relevant information compared with a traditional interview method.
what are the weaknesses of the CI
It is time consuming. This is a weakness because the time to train officers is not available neither is the time to interview each witness this way when error stays the same. Willingness to use the CI then decreases because the benefits arent seen as it is not being carried out properly.
what did Milne and Bull 2002 discover regarding the CI
they found that each individual element was equally valuable, each technique produced more information than the standard interview. However, a combination of report everything and reinstate the context produced the best results (bar the full CI).
