Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: cognitive interview

Question 1

What do Fisher & Gieselman argue about eyewitness testimony and what do they recommend?

Answer 1

• argued that EWT could be improved if police used better techniques when interviewing witnesses.
• recommend that techniques should be based on psychological insights such as the cognitive interview >4 techniques

Question 2

What are the four main techniques used in the cognitive interview?

Answer 2

• report everything
• reinstate the context
• reverse the order
• change perspective

Question 3

What is the report everything technique and why is it effective?

Answer 3

• witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event even trivial details
• trivial details may be important and may trigger other memories

Question 4

What is the reinstate the context technique and why is it effective?

Answer 4

• witnesses should return to original crime scene ‘in their mind’
• imagine the environment and what their emotions were like
• effective as this is linked to context-dependent forgetting >more likely to recall information if we are in environment where encoding took place

Question 5

What is the reverse the order technique and why is it effective?

Answer 5

• events should be recalled in a different order from original sequence i.e. middle to beginning
• effective as it prevents people reporting their expectations of how the event happened
• also prevents dishonesty (harder to lie)

Question 6

What is the change the perspective technique and why is it effective?

Answer 6

• Witnesses should recall the incident from other peoples perspective i.e. other witnesses or the perpetrator
• effective as it disrupts the effect of schema on recall (expectations of what happened in a particular setting)

Question 7

What additional elements did Fisher develop and why?

Answer 7

• The enhanced cognitive interview (ECI)
• developed to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction e.g.
  -interviewer needs to know when to maintain eye contact
  -reducing eyewitness anxiety
  -minimise distractions
• asking open-ended questions

Question 8

What is a strength of the cognitive interview?

Answer 8

• evidence for its effectiveness
• Kohnken et al > conducted a meta-analysis combining data from 55 studies comparing the CI with standard police interviews
• CI increased accuracy of information by 41% compared to standard police interview
• shows that the CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses to recall information

Question 9

What is a counterpoint for research support for the effectiveness of the CI?

Answer 9

• Kohnken also found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by P’s
• particular issue in ECI
• Cognitive interviews may sacrifice quality of EWT ( accuracy) in favour of quantity
• PO’s should treat EW evidence from CI/ECI’s with caution

Question 10

What is a limitation of the cognitive interview?

Answer 10

• not all elements of the CI are equally effective or useful
• Milne & Bull found that each of the four techniques used alone produced more info than the standard police interview
• A combo of ‘report everything’ & ‘reinstate the context’ produced better recall than any other elements
• cast some doubt on the credibility of the overall CI

Question 11

What is another limitation of the cognitive interview?

Answer 11

• police officers reluctant to use CI because it takes more time and training than a standard police interview
• e.g. more time needed to establish rapport with a witness & allow them to relax & requires specialist time (more resources)
• suggest the CI is not realistic method for PO’s to use
• police forces have taken ‘pick & mix’ approach