Improving the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony: Cognitive Interview Flashcards
Who claimed that the eyewitness testimony could be improved?
Fisher and Geiselman
When did Fisher and Geiselman propose the cognitive interview?
1992
What are four aspects of the cognitive interview?
- Report everything
- Reinstate the context
- Reverse the order
- Change perspective
What does reporting everything mean in terms of cognitive interviews?
Witness encouraged to include every detail of an event (even if thought irrelevant)
Why is it important to get the witness to report everything during an interview?
- As thought to be irrelevant details oiled be very important
- May trigger other memories
What does reinstate the context mean in terms of cognitive interviews?
- Witness encouraged to return to original crime scene in their ‘mind’
- Encourage thought of emotions, and the environment
Why is it important to get the witness to reinstate the context during an interview?
- Context-dependent forgetting
- Cues from context may trigger recall
What does changing the perspective mean in terms of cognitive interviews?
Witness recalls the incident from other people’s point of view
Why is it important to get the witness to change the perspective during an interview?
Prevents the influence of expectation and schema recall
What is a schema?
- Packages of information developed through experience
- Generate a framework for interpreting incoming information
What does reverse order mean in terms of cognitive interviews?
Events are recalled in different chronological order
Why is it important to get the witness to reverse the order of the event during the interview?
- Prevents people using their expectations of how the event happened
- Prevents dishonesty
Who enhanced the cognitive interview?
Fisher et al
When did Fisher et al enhance the cognitive interview?
1987
What were the new enhances of the cognitive interview due to Fisher et al (1987)?
- 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
Did Milne and Bull (2002) research support or hinder CI?
SUPPORT
What did Milne and Bull (2002) find?
-Each individual aspect of CI were equally valuable
Why may Milne and Bull (2002) also be used to suggest that the whole CI doesn’t have to be carried out?
-Found that ‘report everything’ and ‘ context reinstate’ produced better recall than any other technique individually
What type of analysis did Kohnken et al (1999) do?
Meta-analysis
Did Kohnken et al (1999) research support CI or enhance CI?
Enhanced CI
What did Kohnken et al (1999) do?
- 50 studies
- Enhance CI showed to produce more correct information than standard interview by the police
Does Kohnken et al (999) show the practical application of CI?
Yes, you can use them in police interviews
Why is CI time-consuming?
- 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)
What may be different from each research study into CI?
Using different variations of CI
Why may different variations of CI be a problem?
- Unreliable research
- Difficult to draw a general conclusion
What were the findings of Kohnken et al (1999)?
- 81% showed increase in correct information
- 61% showed increase in incorrect information
What does the findings of Kohnken et al (1999) suggest about information from CI?
- Police should use CI
- BUT take information with caution
