Improving the accuracy of eye witness testimony: The Cognitive Interview Flashcards
Who came up with the cognitive interview?
Fischer and Gieselman
How is the cognitive interview used?
By the police when interviewing a witness of crimes.
Who’s research was the cognitive interview based on?
Loftus
What are the 4 components of the cognitive interview?
- Report everything
- Context reinstatement
- Recall in reverse order
- Recall from a changed perspective
What does the ‘report everything’ component involve?
Police ask the witness for everything that happened in the event
What does the ‘context reinstatement’ component involve?
Asking the witness to recreate the scene of the incident in their mind, as it can act as a context-cue to trigger other memories
What does the ‘recall in reverse order’ component involve?
Helps with accuracy of recall and preventing dishonesty, as it is harder to lie this way
What does the ‘recall from a changed perspective’ component involve?
Helping to avoid the possibility of schema affecting recall
If the point is:
A strength of the cognitive interview is that there’s evidence to support its effectiveness.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- Kohnken et al found that, compared to standard interviewing techniques, the cognitive interview produced an increase of 81% in recall of correct information about an incident.
Link- This suggests that the cognitive interview is more effective than standard interviewing techniques.
If the point is:
A strength of the cognitive interview is that there’s evidence to support that it’s effective in real life situations.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- Stein and Memon tested the effectiveness of the cognitive interview in Brazil by using it to interview university cleaning staff who had been showed a videotaped abduction. They found that the cognitive interview increased the amount of correct information recalled and was superior in producing forensically rich information.
Link- This suggests the cognitive interview could help reduce miscarriages of justice in many countries.
If the point is:
A weakness of the cognitive interview is that it may not be effective if it isn’t used properly.
What is the evidence, explanation and link?
Evidence- In Memon et al’s study, it was shown that police may not be given sufficient training, as detectives only received 4 hours of training on the cognitive interview, which produced very little information.
Explanation- Therefore, practical difficulties with police training might impact the effectiveness of the cognitive interview.
Link- This suggests that, in order to be effective, the cognitive interview requires more police training that is realistically possible to provide within strained police budgets.
If the point is:
A weakness of the cognitive interview is that there are practical problems with it.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- According to Kebbel and Wagstaff’s survey report, police officers reported that they did use the cognitive interview, but many were worried about the large amount of incorrect information that witnesses recalled and the amount of time it takes to conduct a cognitive interview.
Link- This suggests that it may be difficult for police to use the cognitive interview in practice, limiting its effectiveness.
What are the evaluation points for improving the accuracy of eye witness testimony?
+ There’s evidence to support its effectiveness
+ There’s evidence to support that it’s effective in real life situation
— May not be effective if it isn’t used properly
— There are practical problems with it
