Improving the accuracy of EWT- The Cognitive Interview Flashcards
What is the technique used to improve the accuracy of EWT?
The cognitive interview
What are the 4 parts of The Cognitive Interview?
Report everything
Reverse the order
Reinstate the context
Change the perspective
Report Everything
Interviewer encourages the witnesses report every detail, even if it seems irrelevant
-Memories are interconnected so the recollection of one could act as a cue for remembering other ones
Reverse the order
Interviewer asks witnesses to describe the events that occurred but in reverse order
-This avoids schemas intervening with what actually happened
Reinstate the context
Think about physical environment when it happened
Think about psychological state/ environment when it happened
-This makes memories accessible
-Helps give cues to retrieve memories
Change the perspective
Witnesses asked to recall the incident from other peoples perspectives
-This is done to reduce the effect schemas have on recall
AO3 +
Supporting research
Meta analysis of 53 cases of EWT found that it was 34% more accurate to use the Cognitive Interview
Kohnken et al:
-When 2 components of CI are used its more effective than just 1
Therefore CI is effective
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Quality may suffer
Quantity over quality
It does increase the amount of correct information (by 81%)
However it also increases the amount of incorrect information (by 61%)
Therefore police must treat the information gained from the CI with caution
AO3 -
Time Consuming
Using the Cognitive Interview is much more time consuming than regular EWT
-it could be argued that it wastes precious time where the perpetrator could be getting away or forming an alibi
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It’s hard to generate comparisons
Cognitive Interview is used differently by different police forces
-Some police only use one component of the CI, whilst another police force may use a different one
It is therefore hard to establish the general effectiveness of the CI as a whole
