the cognitive interview Flashcards
what is meant by the cognitive interview?
a technique used by the police to obtain information from witnesses.
it is used to try and reduce the effects of factors that affect eyewitness testimony
who proposed the cognitive interview?
fisher and geiselman (1992)
what is meant by reporting everything?
witness includes every piece of data they can remember about an event. this is an attempt to trigger them to recall more info
what is meant by reinstating context?
returning to the science of the crime in their mind e.g the weather and their emotions.
linked to context dependent learning
what is meant by reversing the order?
events are recalled in a different order. this is so that people do not report their expectations and more actual facts
what is meant by changing perspective?
try to recall events from someone else’s perspective e.g what they would see as a perpetrator. this disrupts the effects of expectations on recall and the impact of schema on recall
what are some features of the enhanced cognitive interview?
interviewer should be trained to ensure appropriate social dynamics used e.g making eye contact, reducing witnesses’ anxiety, minimising distractions and talking slowly
who researched into the cognitive interview?
geiselman (1986)
what was geiselman’s aim?
to investigate the effectiveness of the cognitive interview
what was geiselman’s procedure?
intruder entered a room carrying a blue rucksack and stole a slide projector
2 days later p’s were questioned about the events with either a standard or cognitive interview
early in interview p’s were asked “was the man with the green backpack nervous?” and later they were asked “what colour was the man’s rucksack?”
what were geiselman’s findings?
participants in the cognitive interview were less likely to recall the rucksack as being green than those given the standard interview
what was geiselman’s conclusion?
the cognitive interview technique enhances memory recall and reduces the effect of leading questions
strengths of the cognitive interview
meta analysis by kohnken et al (1999) who combined data from 55 studies comparing the cognitive interview with the standard interview. cognitive interview produced 41% more correct information
support from geiselman
limitations of the cognitive interview
time consuming interview and does not produce a significant amount of additional information - may not be entirely beneficial in practice
some elements of interview are more useful than others - found reporting everything and reinstating context as most effective produced best recall
few police officers are trained on how to conduct the interview
