The Cognitive Interview Flashcards
Who developed The Cognitive Interview?
Fisher & Geiselman
What is The Cognitive Interview?
It is an interview designed to improve the accuracy of EWTs by incorporating pyschological techniques.
What are the 4 techniques of The Cognitive Interview?
- Report Everything
- Reinstate Context
- Change Perspective
- Reverse Order
How does Reporting Everything aim to aid the accuracy of recall?
It encourages the reporting of even seemingly trivial, insignificant details which may actually be of importance
How does Reinstating Context aim to aid the accuracy of recall?
By encouraging the participant to mentally return to the scene of the altercation, further details that are available in their memory but they have forgotten may be prompted
How does Reversing The Order aim to aid the accuracy of recall?
It prevents EW’s from lying or from unconsciously filling in blanks in their memory, as it’s harder to be dishonest when reversing the order of a story
How does Changing Perspective aim to aid the accuracy of recall?
It helps to prevent the influence of schemas, expectations and other people’s influences
What is the Enhanced Cognitive Interview?
It includes an added focus on the social dynamics of the interview, such as minimising distractions, when to break and maintain eye contact, and encouraging the witness to speak slowly.
What percentage did Könkens meta-analysis reveal The Cognitive Interview improves the accuracy of recall by?
41%
Describe Geiselman’s Study into the effectiveness of The Cognitive Interview in terms of recall compared to other methods
- Participants watched a violent film
- 2 days later, they were interviewed on it using either The Cognitive Interview, The Standard Interview or hypnosis.
- The Cognitive Interview produced the best recall.
Who developed the Enhanced Cognitive Interview?
Fisher
Why has the The Cognitive Interview had an important practical application?
It has improved the accuracy of EWTs and therefore the justice system overall
Why is the Cognitive Interview not always utilised by police forces?
It’s time-consuming and requires specialist training
What approach to police forces tend to adopt in terms of The Cognitive Interview?
A pick-and-mix approach in terms of what techniques they do and don’t use, making it difficult to determine its overall effectiveness
Why have Milne & Bull criticised The Cognitive Interview?
Their study found some elements to be more useful than others, reducing its overall credibility
