Improving the accuracy of EWT - The cognitive interview

Question 1

What is the cognitive interview technique?

Answer 1

Fischer and Gieselman
Procedure used by the police when interviewing witnesses to crimes. Based on research of psychologists like Loftus.

Question 2

What are the four techniques used in cognitive interview?

Answer 2

Report everything
Reinstate the context
Reverse the order
Change perspectives

Question 3

What is the report everything technique?

Answer 3

Witnesses encouraged to include every single detail of an event, even though it may seem irrelevant or the witness doesn’t feel confident about it. Trivial details may trigger important memories.

Question 4

What is the reinstate the context technique?

Answer 4

The witnesses should return to the original crime scene in their mind and imagine the environment and their emotions.

Question 5

What is the reverse the order technique?

Answer 5

Events should be recalled in a different chronological order. This is done to prevent people reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened rather than the actual event.

Question 6

What is the change perspective technique?

Answer 6

Witnesses should recall the event from other people’s perspective. This is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and schema on recall. The scheme you have for a particular setting generates expectations of what would have happened. It is the schema that is recalled rather than what actually happened.

Question 7

Is there research evidence to support the cognitive interview technique?

Answer 7

Kohnken conducted a meta analysis and found that CI produced a higher amount of correctly recalled details compared to standard interviewing techniques.

Question 8

Is there a weakness to the research that supports the cognitive interview?

Answer 8

Kohnken found a nearly identical accuracy rate for both cognitive and standard interview. Therefore cognitive is more likely to produce false memories.

Question 9

Is there a practical problem with the use of cognitive interview?

Answer 9

Memon’s study showed that the police may not be given sufficient training. Detectives only received basic interview training very similar to old training, not the extended CI training as more expensive.

Question 10

Can practical problems improve EWT in the cognitive interview process?

Answer 10

Kebbell and Wagstaff’s survey report showed that police who used CI were worried about large amount of incorrect info and long timings

Question 11

Can the way the CI is used make it more effective?

Answer 11

Milne and Bull found that 4 techniques used singularly produced more recall. However combination of RE and CR resulted in significantly more correct recall.