Improving the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony: Cognitive Interview

Question 1

Who claimed that the eyewitness testimony could be improved?

Answer 1

Fisher and Geiselman

Question 2

When did Fisher and Geiselman propose the cognitive interview?

Answer 2

1992

Question 3

What are four aspects of the cognitive interview?

Answer 3

• Report everything
• Reinstate the context
• Reverse the order
• Change perspective

Question 4

What does reporting everything mean in terms of cognitive interviews?

Answer 4

Witness encouraged to include every detail of an event (even if thought irrelevant)

Question 5

Why is it important to get the witness to report everything during an interview?

Answer 5

• As thought to be irrelevant details oiled be very important
• May trigger other memories

Question 6

What does reinstate the context mean in terms of cognitive interviews?

Answer 6

• Witness encouraged to return to original crime scene in their ‘mind’
• Encourage thought of emotions, and the environment

Question 7

Why is it important to get the witness to reinstate the context during an interview?

Answer 7

• Context-dependent forgetting

- Cues from context may trigger recall

Question 8

What does changing the perspective mean in terms of cognitive interviews?

Answer 8

Witness recalls the incident from other people’s point of view

Question 9

Why is it important to get the witness to change the perspective during an interview?

Answer 9

Prevents the influence of expectation and schema recall

Question 10

What is a schema?

Answer 10

• Packages of information developed through experience

- Generate a framework for interpreting incoming information

Question 11

What does reverse order mean in terms of cognitive interviews?

Answer 11

Events are recalled in different chronological order

Question 12

Why is it important to get the witness to reverse the order of the event during the interview?

Answer 12

• Prevents people using their expectations of how the event happened
• Prevents dishonesty

Question 13

Who enhanced the cognitive interview?

Answer 13

Fisher et al

Question 14

When did Fisher et al enhance the cognitive interview?

Answer 14

1987

Question 15

What were the new enhances of the cognitive interview due to Fisher et al (1987)?

Answer 15

• Social dynamics of interaction (e.g knowing when to make eye contact etc.)
• Reducing the eyewitnesses anxiety
• Minimising distractions
• Getting witness to speak slowly
• Asking open-ended questions

Question 16

Did Milne and Bull (2002) research support or hinder CI?

Answer 16

SUPPORT

Question 17

What did Milne and Bull (2002) find?

Answer 17

-Each individual aspect of CI were equally valuable

Question 18

Why may Milne and Bull (2002) also be used to suggest that the whole CI doesn’t have to be carried out?

Answer 18

-Found that ‘report everything’ and ‘ context reinstate’ produced better recall than any other technique individually

Question 19

What type of analysis did Kohnken et al (1999) do?

Answer 19

Meta-analysis

Question 20

Did Kohnken et al (1999) research support CI or enhance CI?

Answer 20

Enhanced CI

Question 21

What did Kohnken et al (1999) do?

Answer 21

• 50 studies

- Enhance CI showed to produce more correct information than standard interview by the police

Question 22

Does Kohnken et al (999) show the practical application of CI?

Answer 22

Yes, you can use them in police interviews

Question 23

Why is CI time-consuming?

Answer 23

• More time need to establish rapport

- Special training (which some force have only had a few hours to learn so they may not have been taught properly)

Question 24

What may be different from each research study into CI?

Answer 24

Using different variations of CI

Question 25

Why may different variations of CI be a problem?

Answer 25

• Unreliable research

- Difficult to draw a general conclusion

Question 26

What were the findings of Kohnken et al (1999)?

Answer 26

• 81% showed increase in correct information

- 61% showed increase in incorrect information

Question 27

What does the findings of Kohnken et al (1999) suggest about information from CI?

Answer 27

• Police should use CI

- BUT take information with caution