Memon and Higham research

Question 1

what is the design of the study?

Answer 1

review article

Question 2

what is the aim of this study

Answer 2

• to investigate how effective each component of the cognitive interview is
• to compare with other methods such as the standard or structured interview
• to investigate how to measure memory performance
• to investigate how training quality influences the quality on interview performance

Question 3

what is the effectiveness of the various components of the cognitive interview?

Answer 3

Milne found that the cognitive interview is more accurate in its recall across all of the component groups (context reinstatement, changing order and changing perspective) with the exception of context reinstatement - this shows that cognitive reinstatement part of the interview is the most effective as a single component but it is important to note that it may be the effectiveness of the components combined rather than just the singular component and in order to test this every possible combination of techniques must be tested

Question 4

what is the relationship between the cognitive interview and other interviewing techniques such as the standard and the structured interview?

Answer 4

• the cognitive interview may be more effective than the standard interviewing technique because the interviewers have received more training and it may not be due to the different components used in the CI
• there is no difference between the accuracy rates of the standard and cognitive interview, the CI just acquires more information but this doesn’t mean to say that it is more accurate

Question 5

what is the different measures of memory performance and the effect this has on research findings?

Answer 5

they claim that the majority of studies measures performance in terms of a percentage of correct statements or an absolute number of correct and incorrect statements; this causes problems as it neglects to consider the nature of unreported information
in terms of the CI, measures of memory need to be able to take account of the fact that the CI may be changing an interviewee’s understanding of what the interviewer expects

Question 6

what is the interviewer variable and the effect of training quality on interview performance?

Answer 6

cognitive interviewers report that conducting a cognitive interview is demanding and exhausting - this would suggest that this interview technique places greater cognitive demand on interviewers and may well produce more errors
furthermore, whether or not training is effective is up to the individuals as they may deliberately resist their training; they may not feel motivated and may fail to follow instructions and use poor interviewing techniques but this may also be due to the individual who is providing the training - the response to training provided by senior officers is likely to be different to researchers at a university; individuals may be more cooperative and willing to learn

Question 7

what is the PEACE model of interviewing?

Answer 7

• P - preparation and planning; the interviewer should be prepared with a set of objectives they want to meet and facts they already know about the interviewee but that requires verification and the interviewer should also be prepared for any practical issues
• E - engage and explain; the interviewer should build a rapport with the interviewee and make sure they know and understand the purpose behind the interview
• A - account, clarification, challenge - the interviewee is asked to draw an account of what has happened, at first with know interruption and then the interviewer will summarise their account and ask questions if they require further detail and clarification
• C - closure; the interviewer is required to shut down the interview appropriately by ensuring that the interviewee can contact the officers with further details if necessary
• E - evaluation; this is when the interviewer needs to analyse whether they have covered what they wanted and if there were any inconsistencies

Question 8

what is forensic hypnosis?

Answer 8

forensic hypnosis is an inaccurate method of collecting a witness statement as individuals are in a suggestible state where they can be easily misled by the interviewer
For example, Sanders and Simmons study highlights that those who were hypnotised were less accurate when identifying the suspect, when answering questions and more likely to be misled by foils in a line up
Gibson argued that there are a number of problems with forensic hypnosis including increased errors and alterations of memories