Lesson 12- cognitive interview

Question 1

cognitive interview intro

Answer 1

Fisher et al 1987 studied real police interviews over a four month period and found that questions were brief, direct, fact based and closed
witnesses were often interrupted and not allowed to expand upon their answers- standard interview
fisher argued that this may be contributing to the failure of eyewitnesses to accurately recall the event they witnessed

Question 2

cognitive interview

Answer 2

Geiselman et al 1985 developed cognitive interview to improve police interview techniques and obtain more accurate info from eyewitnesses
four stages: context reinstatement, report everything, recall everything from changed perspective, recall in reverse order

Question 3

enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 3

FIsher 1987 additional guidelines
encourage the witness to relax and speak slowly, reduces anxiety and may enhance recall
avoid distractions
use open-ended questions
offer comments to help clarify witness statements, might improve detail of statement

Question 4

cognitive interview evaluation

Answer 4

-Geiselman et al 1985 showed participants a video of a stimulate crome and tested recall using the cognitive interview, standard interview of hypnosis, cognitive interview led to the most info being recalled by eyewitnesses
-Fisher et al 1990 trained real police officers in miami to use enhanced cognitive interview when interviewing eyewitnesses, found on average there was 46% increase in amount of info witnesses gave, 90% of info that could be verified was accurate
-Koehnken et al 1999 found witnesses recalled more incorrect info when interviewed with cognitive interview compared to standard interview, perhaos because more detailed recall increases the chance of making a mistake
-cognitive interview is time consuming to implement and police officers often do not have the time, training and resources to use it
-Memon et al 1993 reported police officers believed that recall from changed perspective stage of cognitive interview misleads witnesses into speculating about the event they witnessed rather than reporting what they actually saw, for this reason police were reluctant to use it