outline and evaluate the cognitive interview

Question 1

outline

Answer 1

cognitive interview (CI) -designed to increase accuracy of EWT

context reinstatement - witness asked to mentally recreate context of event.
- acts as cue to put the witness in same context as they were when they witnessed event to help trigger memories
- asked to describe the setting event took place in e.g. weather or time

change the order - witness asked to recall event in a different order where they may have to give later events first followed by earlier parts
- helps verify accuracy of testimony > if they are lying or getting mistaken they are unlikely to be able to recall same testimony when told in a different order

report everything - describe all details from important to trivial so to reduce chance any info is ignored

change the perspective - witness asked to recall event from perspective of another witness or viewpoint
- gets them to think about event as a whole rather than from just their view and so can increase recall

compared to standard interview - witness is encouraged to relax and speak slowly - uses open ended questions where a detailed answer can be given

Question 2

strength 1

Answer 2

more effective than standard interview, shown by research

geiselman (1985) found that in study where 89 ppts shown videos of crimes, participants correctly recalled an average of 41 statements using CI, compared to 29 with standard interview

suggests CI improves accuracy of EWT

Question 3

strength 2

Answer 3

there is support for effectiveness of enhanced CI

from kohnken (1999)

found that, in meta-analysis of 50 studies, enhanced CI consistently provided more correct info than standard interview

research such as this highlights practical benefits to police of using enhanced CI

Question 4

limit 1

Answer 4

time consuming

kebbell and wagstaff (1996) found that use of CI requires special training and many police forces have not been able to provide more than a few hours and police are reluctant to use it as it takes longer than SI

means it is unlikely that proper version of CI is being used

Question 5

limit 2

Answer 5

produces an increase in inaccurate information as shown by research

kohnken et al (1999)

found 81% increase in correct info but also 61% increase in incorrect information when the enhanced CI was used compared to the SI

suggests that the police should continue to use the CI but should treat all information collected with caution