The Cognitive Interview

Question 1

What do Geiselman and Fisher (2014) say the typical police interview involves?

Answer 1

• Leading questions
• Interruptions
• Interviewer dominating interview

Question 2

What has that cognitive interview been designed to do?

Answer 2

Maximise the accuracy of information obtained during interviews.

Question 3

What is its design based on?

Answer 3

Principles from cognitive psychology that help to explain memory.

Question 4

What 4 memory models can be used to explain poor recall for the cognitive interview?

Answer 4

1) Multi-store model
2) Working memory model
3) Tulving’s theory
4) Reconstructive memory

Question 5

When looking at the multi-store model, what factors may cause and unreliable witness testimony?

Answer 5

• If attention isn’t paid to the event it may never encode in the short-term memory
• Can be displaced in STM by other things
• Length between crime and interview may lead to decay
• If not rehearsed may lead to decay in long-term memory

Question 6

When looking at the working memory model, what factors may cause and unreliable witness testimony?

Answer 6

• May be too many things for the central executive to focus on
• e.g. too many visuals that displace each other before going to LTM

Question 7

When looking at Tulving’s theory, what factors may cause and unreliable witness testimony?

Answer 7

• Not being interviewed at scene of crime may reduce what is remembered due to lack of cues to trigger episodic memories
• Episodic memories are less resilient than semantic and so may be forgotten

Question 8

When looking at reconstructive memory, what factors may cause and unreliable witness testimony?

Answer 8

• Everyone’s schemas are different

- They may remember, rationalise, or confabulate different things

Question 9

What are the 4 main elements of a cognitive interview?

Answer 9

1) Contextual reinstatement
2) Reporting every detail even if trivial
3) Reporting event from different perspectives
4) Report event in different orders

Question 10

State what the first element of the cognitive interview involves.

Answer 10

1) Contextual reinstatement
- Witness is asked to form image of the event in their mind and to retell the event
- Asking about objects and smells in the environment uses Tulving’s theory of cues from the environment to prompt the witness into remembering other details

Question 11

State what the second element of the cognitive interview involves.

Answer 11

2) Reporting every detail even if trivial
- Witnesses are encouraged to recall everything about the event even if they think the information is unimportant
- An unimportant detail may trigger key information that the witness had previously gotten wrong or forgotten
- They are not interrupted

Question 12

State what the third element of the cognitive interview involves.

Answer 12

3) Reporting event from different perspectives
- Witnesses are asked to report the event from different perspectives
- This can include the offender or another witness in a different position
- However this could lead to the witnesses making up what they think another person might have seen

Question 13

State what the third element of the cognitive interview involves.

Answer 13

4) Report event in different orders
- The witness is asked to recall the event from different points
- This can be working backwards or starting from a particular detail previously mentioned
- Geiselman and Callot (1990) found that working backwards was more effective than working from the start twice

Question 14

List 3 other elements which are important to consider in a cognitive interview.

Answer 14

1) Open questions
2) No leading questions
3) Using focused questions only on things the witness has mentioned to get more detail

Question 15

How does the enhanced cognitive interview differ from the original?

Answer 15

• It includes ways of improving communication between the interviewer and the interviewee
• Avoiding distractions
• Gaps between questions

Question 16

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘evidence’ points.

Answer 16

P - Geiselman et al (1985) support
E - They found the average of correctly recalled facts about two films of violent crimes was significantly higher when using the cognitive interview compared to the standard interview
E - This demonstrates the effectiveness of the cognitive interview compared to standard interviewing techniques
P - Fisher, Geiselman, and Amador (1989) support
E - They found detectives who were trained in the cognitive interview, they produced the most accurate recall than those trained in normal standard interviewing
E - Therefore showing the cognitive interview’s effectiveness due to being applied in other clinical settings

Question 17

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate a ‘how’ point.

Answer 17

P - Fisher, Geiselman, and Amador (1989) have high validity
E - They used a field experiment and people in a blind condition who analysed most accurate recall
E - Therefore the findings can be applied to real life and are free of subjectivity making them more credible

Question 18

Are there applications?

Answer 18

P - Yes
E - The cognitive interview can be used to interview suspects and debrief jurors
E - Therefore showing how it is widely effective due to being utilised in a range of settings

Question 19

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘criticisms’ points.

Answer 19

P - Koehnken et al (1999) rejects
E - He carried out a meta-analysis of 42 studies into the effectiveness of cognitive interviewing and found that witnesses recalled more incorrect information when using the cognitive interview compared to the standard interview
E - Therefore refuting the idea that the cognitive interview is more effective at obtaining factually accurate information
P - Can be difficult to compare
E - The cognitive interview compromises of several techniques that are used differently by different police forces
E - Therefore hard to test for consistency and reliability