Improving The Accuracy Of Eyewitness Testimony: The Cognitive Interview Flashcards
What are the 4 techniques of the cognitive interview?
1.Report everything.
2.Reinstate the context.
3.Reverse the order.
4.Change perspective.
What is meant by the cognitive interview?
A method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories.
What is meant by ‘report everything’ in the cognitive interview?
In the cognitive interview, witnesses are encouraged to report every single detail, even if it may seem insignificant - trivial details may be important and trigger other important memories.
What is meant by ‘reinstate the context’ in the cognitive interview?
In the cognitive interview, witnesses should return to the original crime scene in their mind and imagine the environment as well as the emotions they felt at the time of the event
What is meant by ‘reverse the order’ in the cognitive interview?
In the cognitive interview, witnesses should recall the event in a different order from the original sequence. This is done to prevent their expectations of the how the event happened and prevents dishonesty.
What is meant by ‘change perspective’ in the cognitive interview?
In the cognitive interview, witnesses should recall the event from a different person’s perspective to avoid recalling their schema instead of the actual event. This is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and the effect of the schema - the schema you have for a particular setting generate expectations of what would have happened.
What is meant by the enhanced cognitive interview?
Fisher et al developed additional elements to the cognitive interview to make it even more effective. For example, the interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact.
What are two strengths of the cognitive interview?
- Research support for its effectiveness.
Kohnken et al conducted a meta analysis comparing the cognitive interview and the standard police interview.
-cognitive interview gave an average 41 percent increase in accurate information.
-This shows that the cognitive interview is more useful that the standard police interview in helping witness give significant, accurate information to the police.
-This means that when using the cognitive interview, crimes are more likely to be solved. Therefore, police departments should consider switching to the cognitive interview as it is more credible and valid.
- It tackles individual differences.
The cognitive interview may be particularly useful when interviewing older witnesses. The negative stereotypes about older adult’s declining memory can make them reluctant to share details however, the cognitive interview overcomes this difficulty as it stresses the importance of reporting all details regardless of how insignificant it may seem. Mello and Fisher compared the older and younger adults’ memory of a simulated crime using either the cognitive interview or the standard interview. They found that the cognitive interview produced more information than the standard interview - the strength of the cognitive interview was greater for the older pps than the younger. Therefore, individual differences play a vital role - the cognitive interview is more effective when interviewing older people or anyone who may be reluctant to share information.
What is one limitation of the cognitive interview?
- Time consuming
Kebbell and Wagstaff found that more time is needed to establish a rapport with the witness - this means that the police officer firstly needs to build a relationship with the witness before any information is shared. This will take a large amount of time to establish. Additionally, the cognitive interview requires special training however, may forces do not have the time or resources for this. Therefore, these limitations mean that it difficult for the cognitive interview to become widespread.
