the cognitive interview

Question 1

what is the cognitive interview?

Answer 1

● method of interviewing eye witnesses

● to help them retrieve more accurate memories / info about an event such as a crime / accident

Question 2

what are the 4 main techniques of the cognitive interview?

Answer 2

● report everything

● context reinstatement

● reverse order

● change perspective

Question 3

what is the technique of report everything in a cognitive interview?

Answer 3

● witnesses encouraged to include every single detail of event

● even if it seems irrelevant

Question 4

why is the technique of report everything used in the cognitive interview?

Answer 4

irrelevant details could be important and act as a cue to trigger other memories

Question 5

what is the technique of context reinstatement in the cognitive interview?

Answer 5

● witnesses should return to original crime scene ‘in their mind’

● and imagine environment ( e.g. what weather was like, what they could see)

● and emotions (e.g. whether they were happy or bored)

Question 6

why is the technique of context reinstatement used in the cognitive interview?

Answer 6

● based on concept of content and state dependant forgetting

● external / internal cues which trigger memories

Question 7

what is the technique of reverse order in the cognitive interview?

Answer 7

events should be recalled in different order from original sequence

Question 8

why is the technique of reverse order used in the cognitive interview?

Answer 8

● prevents dishonesty

● harder to keep up a consistent lie in reverse

Question 9

what is the technique change perspective in the cognitive interview?

Answer 9

witnesses should recall incident from other people’s perspectives

Question 10

why is the technique of change perspective used in the cognitive interview?

Answer 10

prevents influence of expectation and schema on recall