Memory Flashcards

Question

THE WORKING MEMORY MODEL (WMM) Outline one limitation of Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) WMM, regarding lack of clarity over CE.

Answer 1

LIMITATION: lack of clarity over central executive - Baddeley (2003) "The CE is the most important but the least understood component of working memory" - needs to be more clearly specified than being just simply 'attention' - e.g. some psychologists believe the CE may consist of separate subcomponents ~~> CE is an unsatisfactory component and this challenges the integrity of the WMM HOWEVER: more comprehensive than MSM - WMM appreciates the complexity of STM much more than the MSM does - demonstrates a growth in our understanding of memory THEREFORE: credibility is increased to an extent due to the WMM representing an improved (but not complete) understanding of memory.

Answer 2

Baddeley and Hitch (1974): devised the Working Memory Model, which describes how STM is organised and how it functions Shalice and Warrington (1970): studied patient KF, whose PL was damaged and so struggled with auditory processing but could process visual data normally Baddeley et al (1975): their ptps were able to carry out a verbal and visual task simultaneously but failed to carry out two tasks which competed for the same subsystem (i.e. two visual or two verbal) Baddely (2003): said "The CE is the most important but least understood component of the working memory"

Answer 3

Episodic Memory Semantic Memory Procedural Memory

Answer 4

EPISODIC MEMORY - our ability to recall events (episodes) from our life (like a diary/record of daily personal experiences) - memories are time-stamped (we remember when they happened and how they relate to other events in time) - memory of a single episode will include several elements (e.g. people, places, objects and behaviours) which are interwoven to produce a single memory - must make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories; it's quick but you're aware you're searching for that memory

Answer 5

SEMANTIC MEMORY - our shared knowledge of the world (like a cross between an encyclopedia and a dictionary) - e.g. how to apply to uni, meaning of words, taste of an orange, understanding of concepts like love - memories are not time-stamped - semantic knowledge is less personal and more about the facts we all share - immense collection of material, constantly being added to - less vulnerable to distortion and forgetting than episodic

Answer 6

PROCEDURAL MEMORY - memory for actions, skills: how we do things - can be recalled without conscious effort but requires practise - difficult to explain to someone else - memories of learned skills, unlikely to forget but must be practised to recall/be good at them

Answer 7

STRENGTH: clinical evidence (HM + Clive Wearing) - episodic memory of both men was severely impaired due to brain damage - but semantic memories were relatively unaffected (still understood meaning of words) - e.g. HM could not recall stroking a dog 30 mins earlier but he didn't need to have the concept of 'dog' explained to him - procedural memories were also intact - e.g. still knew how to walk and speak, and Clive Wearing could still read music and play piano ~~> evidence supports Tulving's view that there are different memory stores in LTM, one store can be damaged while the others are unaffected HOWEVER: lack of control over variables in clinical studies - brain injuries experienced by patients were usually unexpected, so researchers had no way of controlling what happened to the ptp before or during the injury - the researcher has no knowledge of an individual's memory before the damage => difficult to judge how much worse it is afterwards ~~> lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about different types of LTM FURTHERMORE: lack of generalisability from case studies - both of these cases are very unusual and unique - idiographic approach means that the findings are not necessarily generalisable to the whole population and so have low population validity. THEREFORE: psychologists must be cautious about the extent to which we can generalise the findings from these case studies to the wider population, therefore the credibility of the theory of different types of long-term memory is increased but only to an extent

Answer 8

LIMITATION: conflicting neuroimaging evidence (locating LTM stores) - Buckner and Petersen (1996): semantic memory located in left prefrontal cortex, episodic on the right - however, other research links left prefrontal cortex with encoding episodic memories and the right with episodic retrieval ~~> challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located HOWEVER: the fact that these LTM stores are located in different places provides supportive evidence for the idea that there are different types - episodic was located on the right while semantic was located on the left - therefore this conflicting neuroimaging evidence is actually supporting Tulving's idea of 3 separate stores of LTM THEREFORE: credibility of LTM stores is increased

Answer 9

STRENGTH: real-world application - memory loss experienced in old age, but research has shown this seems to be specific to episodic memory - Belleville et al (2006) devised an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people - the trained ptps performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group ~~> shows that distinguishing types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed FURTHERMORE: positive implications for economy - improved episodic memory => less need for care since they are more capable of looking after themselves (they can remember whether they have eaten and showered etc in extreme cases) THEREFORE: credibility of the 3 separate LTM stores is increased due to having real-world application

Answer 10

Tulving (1985): felt the MSM was too simplistic and inflexible so proposed 3 stores of LTM Buckner and Petersen (1996): said that semantic memory located in left prefrontal cortex, episodic on the right, which contrasts other research which links left prefrontal cortex with encoding episodic memories and the right with episodic retrieval Belleville (2006): devised an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people; the trained ptps performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group

Answer 11

- interference is forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both to be forgotten - proposed mainly as an explanation in LTM - once a memory reaches the LTM it is more-or-less permanent; any forgetting of LTMs is likely because we can't get ACCESS to them even though they're AVAILABLE - interference between memories makes it harder for us to locate them, which is experienced as forgetting

Answer 12

PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE (PI) - old memory interferes with new memory - "pro" meaning working forwards; old memories move forwards to interfere with the recall of new memories - e.g. teacher has learned so many names in the past that she struggles to remember new names RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE (RI) - new memories interfere with old ones - "retro" meaning backwards; new memories move backwards to interfere with the recall of new memories - e.g. teacher has learned so many new names that she struggles to remember old ones

Answer 13

- in both PI and RI, interference is worse when the memories are similar PROCEDURE - varying level of similarity between two sets of materials - ptps learned a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy - then learned a new list - 6 groups: antonyms of original words, synonyms of original words, unrelated to originals,, consonant syllables, 3-digit numbers, control condition (no new words learned, just rested) FINDINGS - when ptps asked to recall original list of words, recall was worse for most similar material CONCLUSION - interference is strongest when materials are similar

Answer 14

- could be due to PI: previously stored info makes new info more difficult to store - could be due to RI: new info overwrites previous similar memories because of the similarity

Answer 15

STRENGTH: real-world interference - Baddeley and Hitch (1977): asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams they had played against during a rugby season - all players played for the same time interval (one season) - number of intervening games varied (some players missed matches due to injury) - players who played the most games (most interference for memory) had poorest recall ~~> increased validity due to real-world application HOWEVER: could be other explanations - there were varying numbers of games played due to some having to miss matches because of injuries - rugby is a physically demanding game and can easily result in head trauma - could result in in poorer functioning memory regardless of whether there were the right conditions for interference THEREFORE: credibility of interference theory is reduced

Answer 16

STRENGTH: support from drug studies of retrograde facilitation - Coenen and van Luijtelaar (1997): gave ptps a list of words to be recalled a week later, assuming intervening experience would act as interference - found that when word list was learned under influence of the drug diazepam, recall was poorer than the control group - when list was learned before drug was taken, recall was better than placebo (control group) - drug improved recall of material - Wixted (2004): suggests the drug prevents new info reaching parts of brain associated with memory, so it cannot interfere retroactively with info already stored ~~> forgetting can be due to interference; reduce the interference and reduce you reduce the forgetting (credibility for theory increased) HOWEVER: artificial scenario - not everyday activity (learning and recalling word lists) - would interference affect us the same in day-to-day life? - findings have low eco validity THEREFORE: credibility increased but to an extent because the supportive research is flawed

Answer 17

LIMITATION: insufficient explanation - interference can be overcome with cues - Tulving and Psotka (1971): gave ptps word lists organised into categories (ptps not told what categories were) - recall averaged 70% for 1st list - became progressively worse with each additional list learned (proactive interference) - when ptps were told what the categories were, recall rose again to about 70% ~~> interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material in LTM, which is not predicted in interference theory FURTHERMORE: unusual, conditions for interference are rare - memories have to be fairly similar for them to interfere with each other - can occasionally happen outside the lab but not often ~~> forgetting may be better explained by other theories like retrieval failure

Answer 18

McGeoch and McDonald (1931): discovered that in both PI and RI, interference is worse when the memories are similar Baddeley and Hitch (1977): asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams they had played against during a rugby season; found that players who played the most games (most interference for memory) had poorest recall Tulving and Psotka (1971): gave ptps word lists organised into unknown categories; recall became progressively worse with each additional list learned; when informed of categories, recall rose again to about 70%; => interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material in LTM, which is not predicted in interference theory Coenen and van Luijtelaar (1997): (evidence supporting state-dependant forgetting) found that when word list was learned under influence of the drug diazepam, recall was poorer than the control group; when list was learned before drug was taken, recall was better than placebo (control group) Wixted (2004): (explanation of supportive evidence of state-dependant forgetting) suggests the drug prevents new info reaching parts of brain associated with memory, so it cannot interfere retroactively with info already stored

Answer 19

- cues are triggers of info that allow us to access a memory - they may be meaningful or indirectly linked by being encoded at the same time as learning - indirect cues may be external (environmental context) or internal (mood or degree of drunkenness) - when info is initially placed in memory, associated cues are stored at the same time - if these cues are not present at time of recall, it may appear that you've forgotten the info but you're just unable to access the memories

Answer 20

- cues must be present at both encoding and retrieval otherwise there may be some forgetting - some are meaningful (e.g. "STM" allows you to recall facts about the STM) - some are not meaningful: context-dependant forgetting (recall depends on external cue, e.g. weather or place) and state-dependant forgetting (recall depends on internal cues, e.g. emotions or being drunk)

Answer 21

AIM: to investigate whether training on land helped or hindered the work of deep-sea divers underwater PROCEDURE - word list learned and recalled in 4 conditions: - learn on land, recall on land - learn on land, recall underwater - learn underwater, recall on land - learn underwater, recall underwater FINDINGS - accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matched conditions CONCLUSIONS - external cues available at learning were different to the ones available at recall, which led to retrieval failure

Answer 22

PROCEDURE: - gave antihistamine drugs to ptps - drugs had a mild sedative effect, making ptps drowsy - creates an internal psychological state different from the 'normal state' of being awake and alert - ptps had to learn and recall word lists and passages of prose: - learn on drug, recall on drug - learn on drug, recall off drug - learn off drug, recall on drug - learn off drug, recall off drug FINDINGS: - performance was significantly worse in mismatched conditions CONCLUSIONS: - when cues are asbsent, there is more forgetting

Answer 23

STRENGTH: real-world application of context-dependent forgetting - e.g. walking into a room and forgetting what you went in for, but when you go back to original room, you remember again ~~> research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall, such as in exam/school situations FURTHERMORE: cognitive interview - "reinstate the context" in the cognitive interview has been shown to increase the quantity and accuracy of information recalled by a victim about a crime - real-world application in our ability to more accurately convict criminals of crimes and promote justice for victims THEREFORE: real-world application of context-dependent forgetting leads to increased credibility of the theory

Answer 24

STRENGTH: research support for context-dependent forgetting *(as well as Godden and Baddeley's (1975) research)* - Grant et al (1998) had ptps read an article in either silence or noisy environments and recall information about the article in either silent or noisy environments - they found that less accurate recall in mismatched conditions - provides supportive evidence for Godden and Baddeley's (1975) underwater vs on land context-dependant forgetting research ~~> evidence shows that retrieval failure occurs in real-world situations (reading and understanding articles is a very realistic scenario) as well as in the highly controlled lab conditions FURTHERMORE: research support for state-dependent forgetting *(as well as Carter and Cassaday's (1998) research)* - Lowe (1983): ptps asked on day one to memorise a geographical map and an audio description of a set of instructions to follow a particular route on the map - ptps memorised this either sober or drunk and asked to recall this info 24hrs later, being either drunk or sober - recall was again lower for mismatched conditions

Answer 25

LIMITATION: limited explanation - different contexts would have to be very different before an effect is seen - e.g. difficult to find environments as different as underwater and on land - learning and recalling in different rooms is unlikely to cause much forgetting because these environments are generally not different enough ~~> retrieval failure due to lack of contextual cues may not actually explain much everyday forgetting FURTHERMORE: recall vs recognition - Godden and Baddeley (1970) replicated their underwater experiment but used a recognition test instead of a recall test (ptps had to say whether they recognised words from a list rather than recalling it themselves) - no context-dependant effect; performance was the same in all 4 conditions ~~> suggests retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting, only applies when person has to recall info rather than recognise it THEREFORE: credibility reduced to an extent due to it being a limited explanation

Answer 26

Tulving (1983): discovered the encoding specificity principle, which states that cues must be present at both encoding and retrieval otherwise there may be some forgetting Godden and Baddeley (1975): did research on context-dependent forgetting; found that mismatched conditions led to 40% less recall when learning and recalling word lists on land vs water Carter and Cassaday (1998): did research on state-dependent forgetting; found that mismatched conditions led to significantly worse performance on a memory test when word list was learned on/off the drug diazepam and recalled on/off it Eysenck and Keane (2010): argue that retrieval failure occurs in real-world situations as well as in highly controlled lab conditions Baddeley (1997): argues that context effects aren't strong; the two contexts would have to be extremely different to lead to retrieval failure Godden and Baddeley (1980): replicated their context-dependent underwater study but used a recognition test instead of recall; found that there was no context-dependent effect (performance was the same in all 4 conditions); this suggested retrieval failure was a limited explanation for forgetting since it only applies when a person has to recall info rather than recognise it

Answer 27

AIM: to investigate the effects of leading questions on eye-witness testimony PROCEDURE: - 45 ptps watched a video of a car accident, then asked follow-up questions - critical question: "how fast were the cars going when they [hit/contacted/bumped/collided/smashed] each other?" - each group had a different verb FINDINGS - mean estimated speed calculated for each group - "contacted" group said 31.8mph - "smashed" group said 40.5mph CONCLUSION - leading question biased eyewitness's recall of an event

Answer 28

response bias explanation: - leading questions influence how they decide to answer, rather than affecting the memory itself - e.g. "smashed" encouraged them to choose a higher speed substitution explanation: - supported by Loftus and Palmer's (1974) second experiment - "smashed" group were more likely to report having seen broken glass (there was none) than "hit" group - critical verb altered their memory of the event

Answer 29

AIM: to investigate the effects of post-event discussion on EWTs PROCEDURE: - ptps studied in pairs, who had seen different perspectives/angles of the same crime (on videos) - ptps then discussed what they'd seen, before individually taking a recall test FINDINGS: - 71% ptps mistakenly recalled aspects of the event that they didn't see in the video but picked up in discussion - in a control group it was 0% CONCLUSION: - evidence of memory conformity, post-event discussion affects EWT accuracy

Answer 30

memory contamination: - co-witness discussion leads to EWT becoming distorted/altered - because they combine (mis)information from other witness with their own memories memory conformity - Gabbert et al (2003) concluded that witnesses go along with each other because they either seek social approval or believe other witness are right and they're not - unlike memory contamination, the memory is unchanged

Answer 31

STRENGTH: real-world application in criminal justice system - police warned about severe distortion effect of leading questions - psychologists explain limits of EWT to juries in court ~~> psychologists help improve legal system, especially by protecting innocent people from faulty convictions based on unreliable EWT HOWEVER: ethical implications; undermining the personal experience of victims of crimes - victims look to police and criminal justice system for help in times of crisis and injustice - denying the accuracy of their account of the crime could make them feel distrust towards the police - can have knock-on effects such as fewer crimes being reported (due to the belief that justice won't be served because the victim's EWT doesn't matter) and therefore criminals would be punished and convicted less for crimes, causing crime rates to go up etc THEREFORE: ethical implications of research into factors affecting the accuracy of EWT reduces the credibility of this research

Answer 32

LIMITATION: evidence against substitution explanation of effect of leading questions - EWT is more accurate for some events than others - Sutherland and Hayne (2001): ptps shown a video clip, then asked follow-up misleading questions - recall was more accurate for central details of the event than peripheral ones - presumably where ptps attention was focussed on central features of event, such memories were resistant to misleading information ~~> original memories for central details survived and were not distorted, an outcome which is not predicted by the substitution explanation FURTHERMORE: evidence challenging memory conformity explanation for effects of post-event discussion, that it does actually alter the memory - Skagerberg and Wright (2008): showed ptps a film clip and discussed in pairs - 2 versions: mugger's hair was dark brown in one and light brown in the other - often reported a blend of the two versions after discussion ("medium brown") ~~> suggests the memory itself is distorted through contamination by misleading post-event discussion, rather than a result of memory conformity HOWEVER: low internal validity - Loftus and Palmer (1974), Sutherland and Hayne (2001) and Skagerberg and Write (2008) all based their findings from on lab studies using video clips of crimes rather than real crimes - much less stressful than it would be in real life because we have removed the (powerful) effect of anxiety on EWT => less realistic - also no consequences in a lab, less motivation to be accurate ~~> we are left no clearer about the effect of post event discussion and misleading questions on the accuracy of EWT due to both the supporting evidence and contradictory evidence having low internal validity

Answer 33

Loftus and Palmer (1974): ptps asked a question about a car crash video with a critical verb that varied from "contacted" to "smashed"; found that these leading questions biased the EWT Loftus and Palmer (1974): conducted a second experiment that supported the substitution explanation; ptps who heard "smashed" were more likely to report seeing broken glass (there was none) Gabbert et al (2003): ptps watched different video angles of the same event; post-event discussion led to 71% of the ptps mistakenly recalling aspects; 0% in control group where there was no discussion (evidence of memory conformity) Foster et al (1994): pointed out ptps are less motivated to be accurate in research, which casts doubt over the effects of misleading info due to flawed research Sutherland and Hayne (2001): ptps' recall of central events of a video was more accurate than peripheral ones after being asked leading questions; suggests memories for central details survived and weren't distorted (an outcome not predicted by substitution explanation) Skagerberg and Wright (2008): showed ptps two similar versions of a film clip (hair of mugger was a different shade of brown in each); ptps reported a blend of what they had seen and what they had discussed; suggests memory itself is distorted through contamination by misleading post-event discussion, rather than a result of memory conformity

Answer 34

- anxiety creates physiological arousal in the body which prevents us from paying attention to important cues, so recall is worse - presence of a weapon => weapon focus, reducing a witness's recall for other details of the event

Answer 35

PROCEDURE: - (ptps thought it was a lab study, and were "waiting" in a waiting room) - low anxiety condition: ptps overheard a casual convo, then a man walked past with a pen with grease on his hands - high-anxiety condition: ptps overheard a heated argument, then a man walked past carrying a bloody knife FINDINGS: - ptps later picked out a photo of the man, 49% of those in pen + grease condition identified him correctly, compared to 33% in knife + blood condition CONCLUSIONS - the tunnel theory of memory argues that people have enhanced memory of central events - weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect

Answer 36

anxiety => physiological arousal in the body => triggers flight or flight response => increased alertness

Answer 37

PROCEDURE: - actual shooting in a gun shop, 21 witnesses and 13 took part in this study - interviewed 5 months after incident, compared with original interviews at time of event (- accuracy determined by number of details reported in each account) - witnesses also asked to report stress levels at time of incident, and whether they'd had any emotional problems since (e.g. sleeplessness) FINDINGS: - very accurate accounts, little change after 5 months - those who reported the highest stress levels were most accurate, 88% (compared to 75% for less-stressed group) CONCLUSIONS: - anxiety doesn't have a detrimental effect on EWT, may even enhance it

Answer 38

- Yerkes and Dodson (1908): relationship between emotional arousal and performance = inverted U shape - Yerkes-Dodson law: there is an optimum level of anxiety, too much or too little reduces accuracy of EWT

Answer 39

STRENGTH: support for positive effects - Christianson and Hübinette (1993): interviewed 58 witnesses of actual bank robberies in Sweden - some were directly involved (bank workers), some indirectly (bystanders) - researchers assumed that those directly involved would experience most anxiety - found that recall was more than 75% accurate for all witnesses - direct witnesses (most anxious) were even more accurate ~~> findings from actual crimes confirm that anxiety doesn't reduce the accuracy of EWT and may even enhance it HOWEVER: confounding variables - interviewed months after the event - no control over post-event discussion in intervening time - effects of anxiety impossible to assess by the time ptps were interviewed THEREFORE: a lack of control over confounding variables may invalidate thee study's findings and their support for positive effects of anxiety on accuracy of EWT

Answer 40

STRENGTH: support for negative effects - Valentine and Mesout (2009): study supports research on weapon focus, finding negative effects on recall - used heart rate (objective measure) to divide ptps into high-anxiety and low-anxiety groups - high anxiety groups recalled less correct details and made more mistakes than low anxiety groups - anxiety clearly disrupted ptps' ability to recall details about the actor in the London Dungeon's Labyrinth ~~> high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on immediate EWT of a stressful event FURTHERMORE: high eco validity - real world scenario, so the representation of a stressful event and the effect of anxiety on the EWT is more realistic than lab studies THEREFORE: credibility of anxiety having a negative effect on recall is increased due to the ecologically valid supportive research

Answer 41

LIMITATION: unusualness, not anxiety - Johnson and Scott's (1976) study might not have tested anxiety but unusualness - the reason the ptps focussed on the weapon could have been because they were surprised at what they saw, rather than being scared - Pickel (1998): used scissors, handgun, wallet, raw chicken in salon video (scissors would be low unusualness) - EWT accuracy was significantly poorer in high unusualness conditions (chicken and handgun) ~~> weapon focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety/threat, therefore tells us nothing specifically about the effects of anxiety on EWT FURTHERMORE: ethical issues - ptps were deceived (told they were waiting for the experiment to start but had already started) so they didn't consent (didn't know what they were consenting to) and so did not have the right to withdraw (didn't know what was going on). they were also exposed to more harm than they would be in everyday life (protection from psychological harm) due to the stress of hearing a heated argument and seeing a man with a bloody knife THEREFORE: the credibility is reduced due to low internal validity and ethical issues

Answer 42

Johnson and Scott (1976): negative effect of anxiety on recall: ptps picked out a photo of a man they'd seen in (two conditions): 49% of those in pen + grease condition identified him correctly, compared to 33% in knife + blood condition; suggested the tunnel theory of memory (argues that people have enhanced memory of central events); weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect Yuille and Cutshall (1986): positive effect of anxiety on recall: ptps were witnesses to an actual shooting in a gun shop; interviews from 5 months after were compared with police interviews at time of event; ptps also rated stress levels at time of event; those who reported higher levels of stress were more accurate (88%) than those who were less stressed (75% accurate) Yerkes and Dodson (1908): devised a law that states that there is an optimum stress level for best performance; curvilinear relationship Pickel (1998): Valentine and Mesout (2009): Christianson and Hübinette (1993):

Answer 43

Report everything Reinstate the context Reverse the order Change perspective

Answer 44

REPORT EVERYTHING - witnesses encouraged to include every detail of the event - regardless of how irrelevant it may seem - regardless of witness' confidence about it - seemingly trivial details may be important and may trigger other important memories

Answer 45

REINSTATE THE CONTEXT - witness to return to the crime scene in their mind - imagine the environment (e.g. weather, what they could see) - imagine their emotions (- related to context-dependant forgetting)

Answer 46

REVERSE THE ORDER - event should be recalled in a different order from the original sequence (end>middle>beginning or middle>beginning>end etc.) prevents people reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened, instead reports actual event - prevents dishonesty (harder to produce an untruthful account if they have to reverse it)

Answer 47

CHANGE PERSPECTIVE - witness to recall event from someone else's perspective (e.g. different witness or perpetrator) - done to disrupt effect of expectations and effect of schema recall (the schema you have for a particular setting will generate expectations of what would have happened; this is the schema which is recalled rather than what actually happened)

Answer 48

Fisher et al (1987) developed additional elements of CI to focus on: - social dynamics of the interaction (interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it) - reducing EW anxiety - minimising distractions - getting witness to speak slowly - asking open-ended questions

Answer 49

P: One strength of the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of EWT is that there is supportive evidence for its effectiveness. E: For example, Geiselman et al (1985) had participants watch police training videos of simulated violent crimes and then interviewed them all individually using either the standard interview or the cognitive interview. They found that the cognitive interview produced significantly more accurately recalled items than the standard interview. E: This is a strength because it suggests that the congitive interview improves the likelihood of accurately recalled information during police interviews, which means we are more likely to to get the information we need to correctly convict criminals. E: However, Köhnken et al (1999) did a meta-analysis of 42 studies which included nearly 2500 interviews. Whilst they did find that using the CI led to a 41% average increase in accurately recalled information compared with standard interview, they found that the enhanced CI led to more errors produced than the standard CI. This is a weakness because it suggests that the enhanced CI prioritises quantity over quality, which reduces the credibility of this technique. L: As a result, the credibility of the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of EWT is increased but only to a certain extent due to the reduced effectiveness for its supposed "further improved" variation, the enhanced cognitive interview.

Answer 50

P: One limitation of the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of EWT is that it is time-consuming. E: For example, the CI, particularly the enhanced CI, not only takes a lot of time to carry out and establish rapport with the victim, but it also takes time to train interviewers to properly conduct the interview. E: This is a weakness because many police forces don't have the time or the resources to train interviewers and conduct the CI and so the technique is less likely to be used in practise. This then means we may sacrifice the chance to get more accurately recalled information and risk not having the information we need to correctly convict criminals. E: However, Fisher et al (1989) had 7 detectives trained in the CI and 9 untrained detectives in the CI interviewed victims of real-life robberies. They found that those trained in the CI produced 63% more information than the untrained detectives, with over 90% accuracy. This shows that the cognitive interview, when conducted properly, produces highly accurate recall of information. This suggests that although the cognitive interview is time-consuming to conduct and be trained for, it is much more successful to be trained in doing it than not being trained, suggesting that the time is worth taking in order to maximise the quality and quantity of the information we get. L: As a result the credibility of the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of EWT is increased, despite it being time-consuming.