improving accuracy of EWT Flashcards
what are the two main ways of increasing accuracy of EWT?
-cognitive interview
-enhanced cognitive interview
what is the cognitive interview?
-fisher + geiselman
-series of memory retrieval and communication techniques designed to improve recall in police interviews
what are the 4 components of the cognitive interview?
-change of narrative order
-change of perspective
-mental reinstatement of context
-report everything
what is the encoding specificity theory?
-tulving and thomas
-suggests memory traces are made up of several features, and to enhance recall as many retrieval cues as possible should be used
what is context reinstatement?
the emotional elements of an event witnessed which work via state-dependant effects
recall what could be heard, what was felt, what you were doing at the time etc
how do ‘change of narrative order’ and ‘change of perspective’ aid recall?
reduce witnesses use of prior knowledge, expectations and schemas, increasing accuracy
research on the cognitive interview
-kohnken et al 1999 - meta-analysis of 55 studies comparing CI to SPI, finding CI’s produced more accurate detail but also more inaccurate detail, no age difference, but recall was better if the p was involved, detail declined the longer it had been since the incident
what is the enhanced cognitive interview (ECI)?
-fisher and geiselman extended the cognitive interview
-ECI seeks to build a trusting relationship between interviewer and witness
what are the features of ECI?
-interviewer not distracting the witness with unnecessary interruptions/questions
-witness controls the flow of info
-ask open-ended questions
-get witnesses to speak slowly
-p’s reminded not the guess and use the ‘don’t know’ option when needed, to reduce false memories (confabulations)
-reduce witnesses anxiety
what are the stages of the ECI?
-ask open ended questions to get the witness to control info
-context reinstatement
-witness’ free recall of events
-interviewer asks about the info recalled, asking witness to focus on mental images of the memory
what is the modified cognitive interview?
-holliday 2003
-suitable for children
-stresses building a trusting relationship
-removes the ‘change perspective’ component which isn’t suitable for kids (too young to empathise)
-sometimes shorter
what is the self-administered interview?
used when there are multiple witnesses to an event and recall needs to be quick
research on enhanced cognitive interview
-coker 2013 - found ECI techniques that stressed the use of mental imagery produced more accurate detail compared to CI, so ECI is more effective, but timing is vital to either’s success
-verkampt + ginet 2010 - interviewed 229 kids after a painting session, with either CI, SPI or one of 4 MCI, finding all were superior to SPI, and MCIs that removed ‘change narrative order’ were best for children
evaluate cognitive interviews
-CI was originally designed for police interviews, but it success has meant it’s used in a variety of situations now
-ECI has a more effective technique, but is more prone to confibulations
-CI has several techniques, so working out what is most effective is hard
-comparing CI and SPI is hard, as police interview techniques aren’t standard (change every interview)
-CIs are time consuming (memon et al says officers believe ‘change of perspective’ misleads witnesses)
-CI’s not generally effective for memory-enhancement with regards to recognition of suspects in identity parades / photos
-development of MCIs means more groups can be interviewed (45% of MCIs were designed for children)
what was Memon, Messiner and Fraser’s research?
