Interviewing Witnesses- complete Flashcards
What does PEACE stand for?
Prep and Planning Engage and Explain Account clarification and challenge Closure Evaluation
What are the 4 components of the cognitive interview?
Report everything
Mental reinstatement of context
Change temporal order
Change perspective
What are the theories underlying the cognitive interview?
Multiple Trace Theory - Bower 1967
Encoding Specificity Principle - Tulving 1973
Schema Theory - Schank 1977
What are the two main differences between CI and ECI?
Incorporate social psychology
Introduce phase structure
What are the three extra instructions used in the ECI?
Transfer control
Summary
Questioning
Rapport
What did Fisher et al (1987) find when comparing CI and ECI? What was the main evaluative point?
Used 16 undergraduates
ECI had 45% more correct details than CI
No significant differences for incorrect or confabulated details
Low EV
What did Geiselman et al (1985) find in their research?
CI 30% more effective than SI making ECI 75% more correct in recall than SI
What did Fisher et al (1989) find in his field study? What was the main evaluative point?
Used real witnesses/victims
Used Trained vs. Non trained officers
There was 63% more information given post-training
93% accuracy for pre-trained officer
94.5% accuracy for post-trained officers
Cant work out accuracy due to real events - interviewers don’t know what the truth is.
What did Memon et al (2010) find in their meta analysis?
Used 46 studies
Compared CI (original or enhanced) with a structured or standard
CI had a stat. sig. increase in correct details compared to control interviews
CI led to small increase in incorrect details yet no difference in confabulations.
What is the overall effectiveness of CI?
Beneficial in interviews in the lab and field by professional and non professional interviewers and a variety of interviewee’s i.e. children
Enhances the quantity of information recalled by witnesses with jeopardising quality
What are the police perceptions of the ECI?
Kebbell et al (1999) surveyed England and Wales trained and untrained officers in how often they used and how useful CI is
The trained group more likely to use MRC, CP, CTO than untrained
No differences in non cognitive aspects
Reported to be a useful tool but aware could increase incorrect details
Problem of time
What are junior officers perceptions ?
Dando et al (2008)
junior officers typically investigate volume crime
Surveyed 221 junior PO’s
Some CI techniques were reported as being most easy to use and most effective
Some techniques reported as never used
Explain police officers interviewing behaviour
Clarke and Milne (2001)
Suspects - supervision had an impact, aims of interview and instructions were given clearly
Witnesses - each phase of PEACE interview was rated as poor e.g. 40% of interviews no rapport 83% of interviews CI wasn’t properly used 43% of interviews contained inappropriate/ leading questions
Explain junior police officers interviewing behaviour
Dando et al (2009)
Junior officers interviews mock witnesses about an event they had seen immediately post training
97% of officers got a free recall account, 47% built rapport, 10% used RE 6% used MRC
There were significant differences in officers use of different components
What are the effects of problematic application?
Poorly applied CI could limit/ hinder witness recall and can introduce post event information
Training is tiered and builds previous skills so if there is no basic skills acquired then there will be a difficulty in progression
What are the issues with ECI?
- Cognitively demanding of the interviewer
- working memory
- flexibility of approach
- tool box of techniques - not all are appropriate
- Explaining some of the more complex techniques - Time consuming
- Training (CI) not conducive to grasping the CI techniques
- Believed to be bulky for many less serious crimes
- Many of the components believed to be ineffective
Explain witness compatible questioning
Very cognitively demanding - active listening, plus planning subsequent questions
Explain category clustering recall
Recall instructions rather than questioning - recall again, but this time organise information into categories (persons details etc.)
More natural - naturally encode, organise and recall according to semantic categories
Less difficult for interviewee because its natural
Less challenging for interviewer as they do not have to design questions and its fairly standardised across interviews
Less interference from interviewer thus less contamination
What is the modified CI ?
Addresses issues with MRC and CTO - not often used - conducted poorly - Difficult to conduct Swaps MRC for Sketch MRC(Dando et al, 2009)
What are the benefits of sketch MRC?
Less time consuming
Witness providing retrieval cues rather than interviewer verbally guiding them
Cues are therefore more relevant
Less cognitively tasking
Shown to be equally good as MRC in comparison to no MRC
- same increase in correct details
-Sketch MRC is significantly quicker than MRC
Explain the use of sketch MRC in particular populations and future research
Sketch MRC is beneficial for children, elderly, children with ASD
What is the Revised CI for frontline Officers
Three conditions : Modified CI, PEACE CI procedure and SI(structured interview)
Modified CI ; ECI but replaced MRC with Sketch RC and CTO and additional FR
PEACE CI: ECI, no CP
Why were witnesses forgetting?
Tulving and Pearlstone (1968)
- Memory trace no longer available
- It was inaccessible (ci helps with this)
