The Cognitive Interview, and Geiselman et al (1986)

Question 1

When was the Cognitive interview developed? and by who?

Answer 1

Developed by Geiselman et al (1984),

Question 2

What happens in a cognitive interview?

Answer 2

1) The interviewer tries to make the witness relaxed and tailor their language to suit their witness,
2) The witness mentally recreates the environmental context and internal context of the crime scene,
3) The witness reports absolutely everything that they can remember about the crime scene, even if it feels irrelevant,
4) The witness is asked to recall details of the crime in different orders,
5) The witness is asked to recall the event from various different perspectives,
6) The interviewer avoids any judgemental and personal comments.

Question 3

Geiselman et al. (1986) method

Answer 3

• Staged situation, intruder carrying a blue rucksack entered a classroom and stole a slide projector,
• Two days later, participants were questioned about the event,
• The study used an independent groups design,
• Participants were either questioned using a standard interview procedure or the cognitive interview technique,
• Early in the questioning, participants were asked ‘Was the guy with the green backpack nervous?’,
• Later in the interview, participants were asked what the colour of the man’s rucksack was.

Question 4

Geiselman et al. (1986) Results

Answer 4

• Participants in the cognitive interview condition were less likely to recall the rucksack as being green than those in the standard interview condition.

Question 5

Geiselman et al. (1986) Conclusion

Answer 5

• The cognitive interview technique reduces the effect of leading questions.

Question 6

Geiselman et al. (1986) Evaluations

Answer 6

• Experiment conducted as though a real crime had taken place; high ecological validity,
• Experiment used an independent groups design; disadvantage = participants in the cognitive interview condition could just have been naturally less susceptible to leading questions than the other group.