Improving Eyewitness Testimony: Cognitive Interview Flashcards
What is the cognitive interview?
A technique created by Fisher and Geiselman to improve eyewitness testimony based on psychological insights into memory
Developed in 1992, it consists of specific stages designed to enhance recall.
What are the four stages of the cognitive interview?
- Change perspective
- Reverse order
- Reinstate context
- Report everything
What is the ‘report everything’ stage?
Reporting all details from start to finish, including trivial ones
Trivial details may trigger other memories and can be important.
What does ‘reinstate context’ encourage?
Visualizing the environment where the event occurred
reference to context and state dependent forgetting
This links to emotions and context, aiding recall.
What is the purpose of the ‘reverse order’ stage?
Recalling the event backwards to forwards to prevent reporting expectations about the event rather than the actual event
It also makes dishonesty harder
What does the ‘change perspective’ stage involve?
Recalling the event from a different viewpoint
eg: from the view of the witness or perpetrator
This helps disrupt expectations and schema effects.
What is the enhanced cognitive interview?
An adaptation of the cognitive interview that includes social aspects like eye contact and reducing anxiety
Developed by Fisher et al in 1987.
What are some limitations of the cognitive interview?
- Time-consuming
- Requires CI training
- Often not used properly by police
Most police forces have limited training time, affecting implementation
- most likely an unrealistic method for police officers to use
What did Kohnken et al (1999) find in their meta-analysis?
as a strength of ECI and CI
A 41% increase in accurate information from CI consistently compared to standard interviews
This study included 55 studies and shows practical benefits of using CI.
- better chance of catching and charging criminals
- helps oficers avoid leading questions and misleading info
- based on Tulving’s ESP
What are some strengths of the cognitive interview?
- Each stage is valuable when used separately
- The first two stages improve recall significantly
- Increases credibility
Milne and Bull (2002) highlighted these strengths in their findings.
What is a counterpoint regarding the cognitive interview?
Doubt on the overall credibility of the cognitive interview
Some researchers question the reliability of the method.
What limitation did Kohnken et al identify about the enhanced cognitive interview?
It may increase the amount of inaccurate information recalled
ECI produced more incorrect details than CI
Possibly CI sacrifice quality (accuracy) for the amount of details
- Police officers should treat eyewitness evidence from CI/ECIs with caution
