L4: Eyewitness memory Flashcards
What are the three stages of memory?
Encoding: Making mental representations of information for storage in memory.
Retention: Placing encoded information into relatively permanent memory for later recall.
Retrieval: Recalling information that was previously stored in short- and long-term memory
Why is full and accurate memory recall challenging during a police interview?
- difficult due to potential mistakes in any of the three memory stages (encoding, retention, and retrieval)
What is the Cognitive Interview (CI)?
- a tool developed by Geiselman and Fisher in 1984 to enhance adult eyewitness testimony
- involves four basic principles:
1. mental reinstatement: witness mentally recreates environment & personal state during incident
2. report everything: encourage witness to report all detail, even if it seems trivial
3. change order: witness recalls events in different chronological order
4. change perspective: witness describe incident from different perspective e.g. perpetrator
why is establishing rapport important in an investigative interview?
- reduces anxiety, creates a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere & empowers the interviewee to feel in control of the interview
- helps build empathy and understanding between the interviewer & witness
What does research tell us about the effects of rapport-building in investigative interviews?
- Vallano and Schreiber Compo (2011) found that verbal rapport-building led to more accurate & fewer inaccurate information in adult witness recall
- participants who experienced rapport-building reported better recall & were less susceptible to incorporating post-event misinformation.
Why is it essential to ask witnesses to report everything, including seemingly unimportant details, during the interview?
- unimportant detail might act as a trigger for key information about the event
- witness may not know info is forensically relevant/what other witnesses have already reported to the police so ensures nothing is overlooked
- reduces anxiety about breaking communication rules
What is mental context reinstatement, and how does it help in an investigative interview?
- when the interviewer instructs the witness to recreate in their mind the context in which the event took place
- may trigger the recall of context-dependent memories
(this technique accesses multiple retrieval paths to memory - enabling info not accessible via one route to be accessible through another) - it helps enhance memory recall during the interview
What is the purpose of varied extensive retrieval during an investigative interview?
- involves changing temporal order of events or asking witness to report event from a different perspective
- the more retrieval attempts = the more information will be recalled
- it helps minimize the use of prior knowledge, expectations, or schemas in memory recall
(interviewers must be cautious as it may also elicit inaccurate information)
What is involved in closure in an investigative interview, and what is its importance?
- involves thanking the witness, asking if they have any questions, discussing neutral topics, and leaving a positive last impression
- important for traumatised and fearful witnesses - it helps them leave the interview in a positive frame of mind & reduces stress associated with the process
Is the Cognitive Interview (CI) effective for enhancing memory recall?
- empirical evaluations of CI have shown that it’s effective in enhancing memory recall, particularly in adults
- research has demonstrated that CI techniques, such as rapport-building, free recall, and varied extensive retrieval, lead to more accurate & detailed information from witnesses
Is the Cognitive Interview (CI) also effective with children as witnesses?
- CI found to be useful with child witnesses
- children’s spontaneous recall may be sparse & they may not know what details have forensic value
- CI helps children report more accurate & detailed info by providing strategies such as: mental context reinstatement & varied extensive retrieval, which enhance their memory recall
What techniques are used in the questioning phase of the CI?
- includes open questions, focused questions, paraphrasing, and varied extensive retrieval
- enabling the interviewee to provide unrestricted answers and control the flow of information
Why is the combination of Mental Context Reinstatement (MCR) and Report Everything (RE) effective?
- MCR + RE combination leads to higher correct recall compared to individual techniques, reducing the risk of interviewer-imposed views and promoting unrestricted answers
What research method was used by Milne and Bull (2002) to assess the efficacy of different CI techniques?
- Milne and Bull (2002) examined the effectiveness of CI mnemonics (RE, RO, CP, MCR, and MCR + RE) in subjects (students, children aged 8-9 years, and children aged 5-6 years) who watched a video and underwent interviews with various CI techniques
What were the main findings of Milne and Bull’s (2002) study on the effectiveness of CI mnemonics?
- combination of MCR + RE resulted in the highest recall of information compared to other CI techniques (RE, RO, CP, MCR) and a control condition.
- no significant differences in the effectiveness of CI techniques based on age group (students, children aged 8-9 years, and children aged 5-6 years).
- all CI mnemonics, including individual techniques and the MCR + RE combination, helped increase number of details recalled during interviews
