Lesson 12 - Cognitive Interview

Question 1

Cognitive Interview - Fisher et al. (1987)

Answer 1

Studied real police interviews over a four month period
Found questions were brief, direct, fact based and closed
Witnesses often disrupted and not allowed to expand answers
Referred to as the standard interview
Contributed to failure of eyewitnesses to accurately recall events witnessed

Question 2

Cognitive Interview - Geiselman et al. (1985)

Answer 2

Developed cognitive interview to improve police interview techniques and obtain more accurate information from eyewitnesses.
Consists of four main stages

Question 3

Four main stages of cognitive interview

Answer 3

Context reinstatement
Report everything
Recall from changed perspective
Recall in reverse order

Question 4

What is context reinstatement

Answer 4

Witness tries to mentally recreate an image of the situation including details of environment, weather conditions and emotion state including feelings.
Act as retrieval cues (context dependant) to improve recall

Question 5

What does report everything involve

Answer 5

Interviewer encourages witnesses to recall all details about the event even if details are not important
Highlights details which have been overlooked and trigger other memories

Question 6

What does recall from changed perspective involve

Answer 6

Witness tries to mentally recreate situation from different point of view
Promotes more holistic view of event which enhances recall and reduces influence of schema
Schemas are mental structured of preconceived ideas

Question 7

What does recall in reverse order involve

Answer 7

Witness is asked to recall the scene in a different chronological order
Verifies accuracy of the witnesses’ account and reduce the possibility that recall may be influenced by schemas/expectations

Question 8

Fisher (1987) additional police interview guidelines

Answer 8

• Encourage the witness to relax and speak slow (reduce anxiety and enhance recall)
• Avoid distractions
• Use of open-ended questions
• Offer comments to help clarify witness statements (may improve detail of statement)

Question 9

Cognitive Interview Evaluation - Positive +

Geiselman et al. (1985)

Answer 9

Showed participants video of simulated crime and tested recall using cognitive interview, standard interview or hypnosis
Cognitive interview led to the most information being recalled

Question 10

Cognitive Interview Evaluation - Positive +

Fisher et al. (1990)

Answer 10

Trained police officers in Miami to use enhanced cognitive interview when interviewing eyewitnesses
Found on average 46% increase in amount of information from witnesses.
90% of information could be verified was accurate

Question 11

Cognitive Interview Evaluation - Negative -

Koehnken et al. (1999)

Answer 11

Witnesses recalled more incorrect information when interviewed with the cognitive interview compared to standard interview technique
More detail recall increases chance of making a mistake

Question 12

Cognitive Interview Evaluation - Negative -

Memon et al. (1993)

Answer 12

Police officers believed that recall from changed perspective stage of the cognitive interview misleads witnesses into speculating about the event they witness rather than reporting what they actually saw
Police were reluctant to use it

Question 13

Cognitive Interview Evaluation - Negative -

Time

Answer 13

Time consuming to implement and police officers often do not have the time, training and resources to use it