Memory - The Cognitive Interview (Improving EWT) Flashcards
CI
Cognitive interview
Aim of CI
To improve how effective an interviewer is to question witnesses by improving the techniques used
What is the CI based on?
Research and scientific evidence
What have psychologists been trying to develop over time?
Trying to develop memory retrieval techniques aimed at trying to entice more accurate information out of witnesses
Who developed the CI?
Geiselman
When was the CI developed?
1984
What was psychological research applied to the standard interview to show?
To show that memory isn’t like a camera, but more like an active process
Active processes that may affect EWT
Schema
Post-event discussion
Distortion
Misleading information
Interference
Anxiety
Adjective to describe an eyewitness account as a result of memory being an active process
Fallible
Fallible def
Capable of changing
What acronym is used to remember the stages of the CI?
ROPE
R of ROPE
Reinstate the context
During the reinstating of context stage of the CI, what does the interviewer ask the witness to do?
To mentally recreate the scene of the crime
What details will interviewers ask the eyewitness in the reinstate the context stage of the CI?
Details such as:
Weather
Mood
Anybody who was around
Distinctive smell
Lighting
(As much detail as possible)
O of ROPE
Order
What order would witnesses be asked to describe the information in in standard interviews?
Chronological order
Why is recalling information in chronological order an issue?
Memory is an active process which is effected by lots of different factors so any event that one witnesses isn’t stored chronologically in memory
In a CI, what order are witnesses asked to recall information in?
A completely different order e.g. reverse order or an order starting from particular point
Why is the order changed for a CI?
Because stating information from a point not at the start may lead to another memory trace
P of ROPE
Perspective
What do interviewers ask witnesses during the perspective stage?
They ask witnesses to describe what the crime would look like from a different persons perspective
Why is perspective there least likely stage of a CI to be used?
Because it involves making the witnesses think about other viewpoints which are not their own (inaccurate)
E of ROPE
Everything recalled
What do interviewers not do during the everything recalled stage of a CI?
Interviewers don’t interrupt their witnesses to not disturb their thought processes
Encoding challenges of EWT
Setting e.g. lighting and distance from crime
Distractions
Stress or guilt
Retrieval challenges of EWT
Schemas
Emotional factors
Interviewer challenges of EWT
Types of questions being asked e.g. leading questions
Body language
Schemas
Emotions
Who carried out research support to support the CI?
Geiselman
Aim of Geiselman’s research into CI
Test the effectiveness of the CI by comparing it to the standard interview
How many participants were there in Geiselman’s research into CI?
89 undergraduate students
What were the participants shown in Geiselman’s research into CI?
A police training video of violent crimes
What took place 48 hours after the participants were shown a police training video Geiselman’s research into CI?
Students were interviewed individually by CIA investigators, detectives and private investigators
What techniques had the students been interviewed with in Geiselman’s research into CI?
Using standard police interviewing techniques and the CI
What were the results recorded as in Geiselman’s research into CI?
Recorded as number of correct items recalled correctly and number of error
Which interview did students recall more information in in Geiselman’s research into CI?
CI
Error rates of both interviewing techniques Geiselman’s research into CI
Very similar
Mean correct items recalled for CI group in Geiselman’s research into CI
41.5
Mean correct items recalled for standard interview group in Geiselman’s research into CI
29.4
Mean incorrect items recalled for CI group in Geiselman’s research into CI
7.3
Mean incorrect items recalled for standard interview group in Geiselman’s research into CI
6.1
Conclusion of Geiselman’s research into CI
Memory is still fallible when carrying out a cognitive interview as error rates were very similar between both techniques
Positive evaluation of CI: research
Research supports that CI is better interviewing technique for EWT than standard interview
Negative evaluation for CI: time
Time consuming and costly
Negative evaluation for CI: training
Specialist training required
Negative evaluation for CI: stages
Not all stages are that important
Negative evaluation for CI: research
Research shows that some inaccurate information can be gathered
