Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including the use of the cognitive interview

Question 1

What is the cognitive interview?

Answer 1

a questioning technique used by the police to enhance retrieval of information about a crime scene from the eyewitnesses and victim’s memory.

Question 2

Give one way the accuracy of eyewitness testimony can be improved (1)

Answer 2

COGNITIVE INTERVIEW !!

Question 3

Name 5 things wrong with the standard interview

Answer 3

1. interview revolves around the interviewer rather than the witness
2. interviewer does most of the talking
3. interviewer asks closed questions
4. interviewer asks leading questions
5. questions are often predetermined in checklist format
6. witnesses are discouraged from adding extra information

Question 4

Why do interviewers sometimes unconsciously ask leading questions?

Answer 4

to confirm his/her beliefs about the crime

Question 5

How does outside discussion (i.e. with other witnesses) reduce the reliability of statements during interviews?

Answer 5

may contaminate witnesses’ memory so that what they recall in the interview is inaccurate

Question 6

Give 4 consequences of the standard interview procedure

Answer 6

1. collect a large number of inaccurate information
2. encourages witnesses to withhold information
3. encourages witnesses to give abbreviated answers
4. encourages witnesses to provide answers they are unsure of

Question 7

Who developed the cognitive interview - and when?

Answer 7

Geiselman et al. (1984)

Question 8

What is the cognitive interview based on?

Answer 8

proven psychological principles concerning effective memory recall

Question 9

What are the 4 distinct components/steps of the cognitive interview?

Answer 9

1. mental reinstatement of the original context
2. report everything
3. change order
4. change perspective

Question 10

What does the ‘mental reinstatement of the original context’ step of the cognitive interview involve?

Answer 10

the interviewer encourages the interviewee to mentally recreate both the physical and psychological environment of the original incident

Question 11

What might an interviewer say during the ‘mental reinstatement of the original context’ step?

Answer 11

“I would like you to try to think back to that day… what had you been doing… what was the weather like… try and get a picture of it in your mind Think about all the objects that were there…. the colours etc. Now in your own time, tell me everything that you remember”

ADAPTED FROM DANDO ET AL

Question 12

What does the ‘report everything’ step of the cognitive interview involve?

Answer 12

the interviewer encourages the reporting of every single detail of the event without editing anything out, even though it may seem irrelevant - witnesses should not leave anything out even if they believe it to be insignificant or irrelevant

Question 13

Why does the interviewer tell the interviewee to report EVERYTHING - even if the witness believes it to be insignificant (2)

Answer 13

• memories are interconnected with one another so that recollection of one item may then cue a whole lot of other memories
• the recollection of small details may eventually be pieced together from many different witnesses to form a clearer picture of the event

Question 14

What does the ‘change order’ step of the cognitive interview involve?

Answer 14

the interviewer may try alternative ways through the timeline of the incident, for example by reversing the order in which events occurred

Question 15

What is the rationale behind the ‘change order’ step of the cognitive interview?

Answer 15

because our recollections are influenced by schemas therefore if you have to recall the events starting from the end of the event backwards this prevents your pre-existing schema from influencing what you recall

Question 16

Give an example of how a pre-existing schema can influence recall accuracy

Answer 16

if you think about when you last went to a restaurant a few weeks ago your recollection will be influenced by your general expectations (schema) of what is likely to happen at a restaurant - someone seats you at a table, a waitress takes your order etc.

Question 17

What does the ‘change perspective’ step of the cognitive interview involve?

Answer 17

the interviewee is asked to recall the incident from multiple perspectives - e.g. imagining how it would appear to other witnesses present at the time

Question 18

What is the rationale behind the ‘change perspective’ step of the cognitive interview?

Answer 18

because our recollections are influenced by schemas therefore if you have to recall the events starting from another perspective, this prevents your pre-existing schema from influencing what you recall

Question 19

Who suggested the ‘change perspective’ step of the CI?

Answer 19

Anderson and Pichert

Question 20

What are the 5 evaluation points for the cognitive interview?

Answer 20

1. research into the effectiveness of the cognitive interview
2. quality may suffer
3. problems with using the CI in practice
4. comparisons are difficult
5. individual differences

Question 21

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive interview evaluation point; ‘research into the effectiveness of the cognitive interview’?

Answer 21

P - A strength of the cognitive interview is the amount of supporting research
E - a meta-analysis of 53 studies found, on average, an increase of 34% in the amount of correct information generated in the CI compared with standard interviewing techniques although most of these studies involved volunteer witnesses tested in a lab (such studies may not reflect real-world practices)
E - however, the effectiveness of the CI may be due more to some individual elements rather than the whole thing. Milne found that when pps were interviewed using a combination of the ‘report everything’ and ‘mental reinstatemnt’ components of the CI, their recall was significantly higher than when using just one individual component or the control condition (being instructed to simply ‘try again’)
L - this suggests that overall the CI is an effective technique for increasing the accessibility of stored information

Question 22

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive interview evaluation point; ‘quality may suffer’?

Answer 22

P - a criticism of the CI is that its effectiveness has largely been in terms of quantity of information, rather than quality.
E- the procedure is designed to enhance the quantity of correct recall without compromising the quality of that information.
E - Kohnken et al. found an 81% increase of correct information but also a 61% increase of incorrect information when the enhanced CI was compared to a standard interview
L - this means that police need to treat all information collected from CIs with caution - it DOES NOT GUARANTEE ACCURACY

Question 23

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive interview evaluation point; ‘problems with using the CI in practice’?

Answer 23

P - another criticism of the CI is the amount of time and training needed to implement it
E - from their interviews with police, Kebbell and Wagstaff report a problem with the CI in practice. Police officers suggest that this technique requires more time than is often available and that instead they prefer to use deliberate strategies aimed to limit an eyewitness report to the minimum amount of information that the officers feel is necessary.
E - in addition, the CI requires special training and many forces have not been able to provide more than a few hours
L - these limitations have meant that the use of the CI in police interviews has not been widespread

Question 24

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive interview evaluation point; ‘comparisons are difficult’?

Answer 24

P - one of the problems with evaluating the effectiveness of the CI when it is used in the real world is that it is not really just one ‘procedure’, but a collection of related techniques
E - for example, Thames Valley Police use a version that does not include the ‘changing the perspectives’ component.
E - other police forces that describe themselves as using the CI technique have tended to use only the ‘reinstate context’ and ‘report everything’ components of the CI (Kebbell e al.)
L - this means that it is hard to establish the overall effectiveness of the technique when using all components

Question 25

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive interview evaluation point; ‘individual differences’?

Answer 25

P - the CI may be particularly useful when interviewing older witnesses
E - negative stereotypes about older adults ‘declining’ memory can make such witnesses overly cautious about reporting information. Hoverer, the CI may overcome such difficulties, because it stresses the importance of reporting any detail regardless of its perceived insignificance.
E - Fisher et al. compared older (mean age 72) and younger (mean age 22) adult’s memory of a filmed simulated crime using either a CI or a standard police interview. The CI produced more information than the SI but, significantly, the strength of the CI over the SI was greater for the older than for the young participants.
L - this suggests that individual differences matter and that the CI is more effective when interviewing older people in comparison to younger people.

Question 26

Name 5 aspects of the enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 26

1. knowing when to make eye contact to build a good repertoire
2. asking open-ended questions
3. not using jargon
4. speaking slowly
5. minimising distractions

Question 27

What study shows that the enhanced cognitive interview is better?

Answer 27

Fisher et. al:

• 58 correct statements for the enhanced CI
• 40 correct statements for the CI

Question 28

What is the problem with research studies showing crimes (e.g. robbery) on video?

Answer 28

poor external validity - cannot apply results from the laboratory to other people or the real world