Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: Cognitive interview Flashcards
Fisher & Geiselman argued that…
EWT could be improved if police used better techniques when interviewing witnesses
Fisher & Geiselman recommended that the police used technique based on what when interviewing eye witnesses?
Psychological insights into how memory works
What did Fisher & Geiselman call the techniques based on psychological insights into how memory works collectively?
Cognitive interview
Cognitive interview indicates its foundation in what?
Cognitive psychology
What is the first stage of cognitive interview?
Report everything
What is the second stage of cognitive interview?
Reinstate the context
What is the third stage of cognitive interview?
Reverse the order
What is the fourth stage of cognitive interview?
Change perspective
Cognitive interview: What are witnesses encouraged to do in report everything?
Include every single detail of the event
When asked to ‘report everything’ in cognitive interview, why witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event even if…
it may seem relevant . the witness doesn’t feel confident about it
In cognitive interview, why are witnesses asked to ‘report everything’?
Seemingly trivial details may be important
In regards to EWT, why may a seemingly trivial detail be important?
May trigger other important memories
What is meant by ‘reinstate the context’ in cognitive interview?
The witness should return to the original crime scene ‘in their mind’
What should people do when being asked to ‘reinstate the context’ and return to the original crime scene ‘in their mind’ in cognitive interview?
Imagine the environment and their emotions
Imaging the environment and their emotions is an example of what in cognitive interview?
Reinstate the context
Which type of forgetting is ‘reinstate the context’ related to in cognitive interview?
Context-dependent forgetting
What is meant by ‘reverse the order’ in cognitive interview?
Events should be recalled in a different order from the original sequence
Recalling events from the final point back to the beginning is an example of what in cognitive interview?
Reverse the order
Recalling interviews from the middle to the begging is an example of what in cognitive interview?
Reverse the order
Why are people asked to ‘reverse the order’ in cognitive interview?
To prevent people reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened rather than the actual events
Which technique in cognitive interview is used to prevent people from reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened instead of the actual event?
‘Reverse the order’
Which technique in cognitive interview is used to prevent dishonesty
‘Reverse the order’
How does ‘reverse the order’ prevent dishonesty in cognitive interview?
it’s harder for people to produce an untruthful account if they have to reverse it
What is meant by ‘change perspective’ in cognitive interview?
Witnesses should recall the incident from other people’s perspectives
Recalling the incident by thinking about how it would have appeared to other witnesses is an example of which technique in cognitive interview?
Change perspective
Why are witnesses asked to recall the incident from other people’s perspectives in cognitive interview?
To disrupt the effect of expectations and also effect the effect of schema and recall
Which cognitive interview technique is done to disrupt the effect of expectatoins?
Change perspective
Which cognitive interview technique is done to disrupt the effect of schema and recall?
Change perspective
How does ‘change perspective’ disrupt the effect of schema in cognitive interview?
The schema 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
The schema you have for a particular setting generate ____________ of what would have happened (eye witness testimony)
expectations
Why do your schema for a particular setting generate expectations of what would have happened in cases of eyewitness testimony?
It is the schema that recalled rather than what actually happened
Who developed some additional elements of the CI?
Fisher et al.
Why did Fisher et al. develop some additional elements of the CI?
To focus on the social dynamics and interaction
The interviewer needing to know when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it is an example of what developed by Fisher et al?
Additional elements of cognitive interview
Give 2 examples of additional elements/ideas suggested by Fisher et al. for cognitive interview
Any 2 from reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimising distractions, getting a witness to speak slowly and asking open-ended questions
What did Köhnken perform regarding cognitive interview?
A meta-analysis
Köhnken’s meta-analysis of evidence about cognitive interview combined data from how many studies?
55
Köhnken’s meta-analysis compared what?
The CI and ECI with standard police interview
In Köhnken’s meta-analysis of studies on cognitive interview, only _ studies in the analysis showed what?
4, no difference between the types of interview
In Köhnken’s meta-analysis of studies on cognitive interview, CI gave an average __%increase in accurate information compared with standard interview
41
The fact that Köhnken’s meta-analysis of studies on cognitive interview found that CI gave a 41% increase in accurate information compared with standard interview shows that CI is an effective technique in…
helping witnesses to recall information that is available but not immediately accessible in memory
Köhnken found that CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses to recall information that is _________ but not immediately __________ in memory
available, accessible
Köhnken found an increase in the amount of what recalled by participants?
Inaccurate information
Köhnken found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by participants, particularly with ECI/CI
ECI
Köhnken’s finding that there was an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by participants suggests that cognitive interviews may sacrifice…
quality of EWT in favour of quantity
Köhnken’s findings suggest that cognitive interviews may sacrifice quality of EWT in favour of quantity, or in other words…
the accuracy for amount of details
Köhnken’s findings about the increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by witnesses being interviewed using CI suggest that police officers should…
treat eyewitness evidence from CIs/ECIs with caution
Milne & Bull said that…
not all elements of cognitive interview are equally effective or useful
Milne & Bull found that each of the four techniques in cognitive interview used alone produce…
more information than the standard police interview
Milne & Bull found that using a combination of which techniques in cognitive interview produced a better recall than any other element combinations?
Report everything and reinstate the context
Milne & Bull’s findings confirmed police officers’ suspicions that…
some aspects of the CI are more useful than others
Milne & Bull’s findings cast some doubt about the overall credibility of what?
The overall cognitive interview
Why may police officers be reluctant to use CI?
It takes more time and training than the standard police interview
With cognitive interview, more time is needed to establish rapport with a witness and allow them to…
relax
Cognitive interview requires what that many forces do not have the resources to provide more than a few hours of?
Special training
The fact that cognitive interview takes more time and training than the standard police interview suggests that complete existence of CI is not a…
realistic method for police officers to use
The fact that cognitive interview takes more time and training than the standard police interview suggests that complete existence of CI is not a realistic method for police officers to use, and it might be better to…
focus on a few key elements
