Psychology of interviewing and episodic memory

Question 1

What type of memory is crucial in collecting testimonies?

Answer 1

Episodic memory

Question 2

What are the 6 different types of Episodic retrieval?

Answer 2

• Incomplete
  (Not every available information can be retrieved at any given time)
  (Available information - info stored in memory)
• Cue dependent
  (The likelihood of recollection depends on associated cues)
  (Internal - e.g., a thought, food / External - a song, a word)
• Context/State-dependent
  (Episodic recollection is enhanced when the rememberer is in the same physical context/mental state at both encoding and retrieval)
• Reconstructive
  (Memory retrieval is a reconstructive process - influenced by (i) interpretation & subjective understanding of what happened, (ii) cultural norms, (iii) knowledge, schemas and expectations about the world.)
• Highly suggestible
  (memory can be contaminated)
• Memory can be activated
  (Recalling one piece of information can lead to the recollection of another related piece of information)

Question 3

How was the quality of early police field interviews?

Answer 3

• the interviewer interrupted on average after 7.5 seconds.
• Witnesses who went off-track were interrupted.
• Questions were asked rapidly one after another (an average 1 sec. separated qsts).
• Questions were directive and constraining which obstructed retrieval.
• Leading questions and judgemental comments were common.
• Incorrect structure.
• Stylised language, technical terms and jargon were commonly used.
• No assistance to enhance recollection

Question 4

What are the disadvantages of early police field interviews?

Answer 4

• corrupting memory
• containing memory
• not enough time to recall memory
• there are no external cues, which helps retrieval and memory is reconstructive

Question 5

What are the advantages of open questions?

Answer 5

They are more likely to:
- activate a memory
- elicit longer narratives
- elicit more details
- elicit more accurate accounts

Question 6

What are the four components of the Cognitive interview?

Answer 6

1. Mental Reinstatement of context (MRC)
2. Report everything (RE)
3. Recall in a variety of temporal orders (CTO)
4. Change perspective (CP)

Question 7

Where did effect sizes produced in from the Cognitive interview?

Answer 7

• Age of witness
• Type of event
• Retention interval

Question 8

What are some of the limitations of the Cognitive interview?

Answer 8

• High-skill training needed.
• Time-consuming.
• Instruction needs to be spoken carefully
• In-depth interview