The Cognitive Interview

Question 1

What is the cognitive interview

Answer 1

• the cognitive interview is a police technique which helps witnesses recall events of what occurred

Question 2

What is the first stage of the cognitive interview

Answer 2

1. Report everything
   - witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event. Even though it may seem irrelevant or the witness doesn’t feel confident about it.
   Seemingly trivial details may be important and moreover they may trigger important memories

Question 3

What’s the second stage of the cognitive interview

Answer 3

2. Reinstate the context
   - the witness should return to the original crime scene ‘in their mind’ and imagine the environment and their emotions. This is related to context - dependent forgetting

Question 4

What’s the third stage of the cognitive interview

Answer 4

3.reverts the order
- events should be recalled in a different order from the original sequence, for example from the final point back to the beginning, or from the middle to the beginning.
This is done to prevent people reporting their expectations of how the vent must have happened rather than reporting actual events. It prevents dishonesty

Question 5

What is the 4th stage of the cognitive interview

Answer 5

4. Change perspective
   - witnesses should recall the incident from other peoples perspectives. This is done to disrupt the effects of expectations and also the effect of schema on recall

Question 6

Limitations of cognitive interview

Answer 6

• different police forces use different aspects of the CI technique so it is difficult to evaluate its effectiveness fully
• the technique takes more time than is often available
• expensive as need a professional to do it - costs a lot

Question 7

Evaluate the cognitive interview

Answer 7

• John Ken found it increased by 84% in the amount of correct info compared to standard but they also found a 61% increase in correct information although some challenge it
• some elements of CI may be more effective than others, in practise they are not at all used equally
  -requires training and investment in time, police forces may not be able to commit and may have had only a few hours of training making it less effective
• the success of the CI may be greater in older witnesses than younger ones ( mellow & fisher)

Question 8

Enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 8

• Fisher et al 1987 added some extra elements to the CI
• knowing when to establish eye contact
• reducing the interviewees anxiety
• minimising distractions
• asking the witness to speak slowly
• asking open ended questions

Question 9

CI - 4 STAGES

Answer 9

1. Report everything
2. Reinstate the context
3. Reverse the order
   4.change perspective

Question 10

Weapon focus phenomenon

Answer 10

The witness concentrates on the weapon and is distracted from processing other aspects of the situation IE what the person looked like