Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: The cognitive interview Flashcards
What is cognitive interview?
A questioning technique used by the police to enhance retrieval of information about a crime scene from the eyewitnesses and victim’s memory.
What are the 4 CI techniques?
- Cognitive reinstatement
- Report everything
- Recall in reverse order
- Recall from changed
perspective
What is cognitive reinstatement?
The interviewee is asked to recall everything from the event e.g. weather, what they were feeling.
What is ‘recall from changed perspective’?
The interviewee is asked to imagine the event from a different viewpoint e.g. cashier.
What is ‘recall in reverse order’?
The interviewee is asked to recall events backwards in time to give more detail.
What did Fisher et al do and when?
Investigated genuine police interviews in Florida in 1987
What did Fisher et al find out about the police interviews in Florida?
- Questions were brief, direct and closed.
- Police interrupted, not allowing for expansion and detail.
Who developed the cognitive interview?
Geiselman
Why is the cognitive interview good for the economy?
- Less time in court.
- Not wasting police time and taxpayers money.
- Better use of police time and resources.
A03: Cognitive interview
+ Support evidence
+ Support of Baddeley
- Doesn’t improve in all cases
- Ethical issues
A03: Support evidence
One strength comes from Milne & Bull (2002) who support the idea that the cognitive interview enhances recall. For example, they found that all 4 techniques used singularly produced more recall from a witnesses than the standard police interview suggesting that recall can be improved by using the 4 simple Cognitive Interview techniques as part of the interviewing process. This is a strength because it supports the use of the cognitive interview and has positive real life applications to interviewing witnesses
A03: Support of Baddeley
Support for the role of cognitive comes from the Encoding Specificity Principle and research carried out by Baddeley. Baddeley found that divers were much better at recalling words when their recall took place in the same context in which they had learned the information in comparison to recall words in a different context to which learning took place. This is positive because it is further support for the role of context in improving recall and therefore support for the cognitive interview in improving the accuracy of EWT.
A03: Doesn’t improve in all cases
The cognitive interview doesn’t improve recall in all cases. For example, Geiselman (1999) reviewed many cases and found that in children under 6, recall of events was slightly less accurate possibly due to the complexity of the instructions provided as part of the Cognitive Interview. This is a weakness because it shows that the cognitive interview is not effective at improving testimony in all situations.
A03: Ethical issues
The cognitive interview raises ethical issues. For example, witnesses are asked to recall the traumatic event over and over again in a variety of different ways. This is a weakness because such a process could cause witness (or participants carrying out research into the cognitive interview) a great deal of stress and distress which goes against the guidelines put forward by the BPS.
