Improving eye witness testimony Flashcards
What is the intro for the cognitive interview?
Fisher &Geiselman developed the cognitive interview, it is a technique used by police to interview witnesses after they have seen a crime or accident to help facilitate the most accurate and detailed memory possible, lots of ‘open’ questions are asked where the witness is not interrupted and free
to expand on their own answers.
give two differences between cognitive interview and standard interview
open ended q’s whereas closed direct q’e
not interrupted whereas often interrupted
what is recall everything? (RE)
the witnesses are asked to report all details of the environment even if its trivial
might act as a trigger to a memory?
open
“Start from the beginning, what happened the morning of the
robbery”
what is context reinstatement? (CR)
the witness is asked to mentally place themselves at the back at the scene of the event and imagine environment, such as the weather 🌦 and what they cud see and their emotions
How will improve? (CR)
using context and state dependants cues may help trigger memories of the event that may appear forgotten but are not currently accessible due to retrieval failure
give an example of CR
“Close your eyes… what do you see, what’s the weather like,
what was x wearing, how were you feeling when…”
What is recall in reverse? (RO)
The witness is asked to report what happened in a
different chronological order, for example from the end of the
crime to the start.
How will RO improve EWT?
Prevents witnesses reporting what they expected to happen (schema) rather than what happened?
it also prevents dishonesty as it is harder to lie when having to reverse a story 🔄
give an example if RO
“Tell us what happened from when you entered the bank”
What is recall from changed perspective (CP)
The witness is asked to recall the incident from
another person’s perspective who witnessed the crime e.g.,
another witness or the perpetrator.
How will CP improve EWT?
May prevent witnesses reporting what
they expected to happen (schema) rather than what happened?
Give example of CP
“Imagine you’re the bank robber….. what do you see”
What is RTS for CI?
P - conducted by Koknken
E - They used a meta-analysis of 55 studies comparing cognitive
interview and standard interviews.
E - They reported that Cl had an increase of 41% in accurate information compared to the standard interview. Only 4 studies showed no difference amongst the type of
interviews. 4️⃣❌
L - This support that the cognitive interview is an effective technique in improving the accuracy
of EWT because it helps witnesses to recall information that is stored in memory but not easily accessible
However what else did Konken suggest?
P - suggests that although more
information is remembered compared to the standard interview (81%), often more incorrect items are
also recalled, with a 61% increase of incorrect information reported in a cognitive interview, compared to
a standard interview. This is called false positives.
E - This is a weakness when using the Cl as despite
seeming like more information has been collected, if this is incorrect it could lead to
false imprisonments, and wasting police time, leading to damage to the economy.
L - This reduces the
effectiveness of the cognitive interview in improving the accuracy of EWT.
How can we further evaluate false positives?
This could in turn have a negative effect on the economy as if witness statements are
not accurate, this could lead to more interviews being needed or potentially false imprisonments, which
will waste prison space and police time. The taxpayer’s money needed for this could be spent elsewhere to
benefit society, reducing the credibility that the cognitive interview may have, in society, to improve the
accuracy of EWT.
