improving the accuracy of EWT- cog interview

Question 1

who proposed the idea to change the way police interview eye witnesses

Answer 1

Fisher and Geiselman

Question 2

how did Fisher and Geiselman alternate the interview method (4 key principles)

Answer 2

report everything
context reinstatement
change the order
change perspective

Question 3

what do they mean by report everything

Answer 3

the interviewer should encourage the witness to report every single detail they can remember, even the parts that seem irrelevant
memories are often interconnected so after remembering one detail this may lead to the witness being able to recall more important information

Question 4

what do they mean by context reinstatement

Answer 4

should get them to recreate the environment which the incident took place in
(could involve asking questions such as what was the weather like)
they are more likely to access their memories this way due to contextual clues

Question 5

what do they mean by change the order

Answer 5

giving the account in a diff order e.g working backwards
our recollections are influenced by schemes (thinking patterns) which is what we would expect to happen
by recalling in a different order it prevents this pre-existing schema from influencing their memories

Question 6

what do they mean by change the perspective

Answer 6

try and tell the event from various different perspectives e.g telling the events from the perspective of another witness- this again helps prevent their schema

Question 7

what did Fisher and Geiselman find about typical police interviews

Answer 7

usually dominated by the police officers, increasing the likelihood of the interviewer distorting the witnesses account

Question 8

what does this allow us to understand about memory of witnesses

Answer 8

there are numerous different pathways leading to long term memories (4 key principles) that allow us to access witnesses memories which also may allow them to remember new information

Question 9

who did key research on this

Answer 9

kohnken et al 1999

Question 10

what did kohnken et al find- supporting

Answer 10

carried out a meta analysis of 53 studies
found an increase in recall of correct information of 81% than standard interview
supports Fisher and Geiselman

Question 11

what did kohnken et al find- contradicting

Answer 11

despite that 81% increase of correct information, they also identified a 61% increase in incorrect information
quality of information debatable
police officers should treat info gained by CI with caution