Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: cognitive interview

Question 1

who argued that eyewitness testimony could be improved if the police used better techniques when interviewing witnesses.

Answer 1

Fisher and Geiselman (1992)

Question 2

what are the four main techniques used in cognitive interviews

Answer 2

1. report everything - even the things that seem irrelevant
2. reinstate the context - they should imaging the context in the ur mind and the environment like what the weather was like and what emotions they were feeling. This is related to context dependant forgetting
3. reverse the order - r.g. the final point back to the beginning. This is done to prevent people reporting their expectations of how events must have happened rather than reporting the actual event. Also prevents dishonesty
4. change perspective - e.g how it would have been seen from another witness or the perpetrator. Can disrupt the effect if expectations and the effect of schema on recall

Question 3

what is the enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 3

Fisher et al. (1987). focussed on the social dynamics of the interaction. E.G the interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it. includes ideas such as reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimising distractions, getting the eyewitness to speak slowly and asking open-ended questions.