Memory: Improving eyewitness testimony

Question 1

Who designed the cognitive interview??

Answer 1

Fisher & Gieselman (1992)

Question 2

What are the 4 steps of the cognitive interview??

Answer 2

1. Report everything (even if it seems irrelevant, details could trigger other memories)
2. Reinstate context (Return to crime scene in their mind -> uses context dependent forgetting)
3. Reverse the order
4. Changing perspective (To control for expectation or schema recalled)

Question 3

Why does reversing the order improve the witness statement??

Answer 3

Prevents lying & assuming how things should have gone

Question 4

Who designed the enhanced cognitive interview??

Answer 4

Fisher et al (1987)

Question 5

What are the 4 things that the ECI focuses on??

Answer 5

• Eye contact
• Reducing witness anxiety
• Minimise distractions
• Ask open questions

Question 6

Discuss the evaluation point:
‘The CI is time-consuming’!

Answer 6

• Takes more time than standard police interview
• Kebbell & wagstaff (1996) found most police officers don’t have time to conduct a full CI
  -> Means it’s unlikely that proper CI is used which is why police haven’t been that impressed by it

Question 7

Discuss the evaluation point that there’s support for the effectiveness of the ECI!

Answer 7

Kohnken et al (1999):
- Meta-analysis of 50 studies
- Enhanced CI provided more correct info than standard interview
- Practical use to police of giving them a greater chance of catching criminals

Question 8

Discuss the evaluation point that some elements may be more valuable than others!

Answer 8

Milne & Bull (2002):
- Found each element to be equally valuable
- Each technique used singly produced more info than standard interview
- Used combo of ‘report everything’ and ‘context reinstatement’ and it produced the best recall
- Suggests that at least 2 elements should be used
- Increased CI credibility amongst police

Question 9

What’s the study used for the evaluation point that the CI is time-consuming??

Answer 9

Kebbell and Wagstaff (1996)

Question 10

What’s the study that supports how effective the CI is??

Answer 10

Kohnken et al (1999)

Question 11

What’s the study that shows that some parts of the CI are more valuable than others??

Answer 11

Milne & Bull (2002)