Week 4 - Investigative Interviewing Techniques Flashcards
What are three ways that we can think about memory?
- stored information
- retrieved information
- output on a memory test
What is the initial consideration with testimony and recall reliability?
What do we mean by accuracy? Is it quantity, or is it accuracy?
How can we distinguish accuracy in testimony and recal
Global item vs. item accuracy - one error doesn’t equal an unreliable witness
What are the two interacting processes in the strategic regulation of memory outputs?
- monitoring process (assessing how likely that info is to be accurate)
- control processes (determine what witnesses report, determine the level of detail reported)
How do witnesses decide that retrieved detail is correct (monitoring process)?
Reliance on heuristics that are often, but not always reliable:
- amount and strength of info retrieved that supports the answer
- fluency (ease) with which information comes to mind
What is involved in the control processes?
- regulating report opinion (volunteering vs witholding info)
- regulating grain size (or precision), (detailed vs vague responses)
What is the tradeoff that occurs in the control processes?
Informativeness vs accuracy tradeoff (hence, strategic regulation)
What is report option and grain size influenced by when it comes to control processes?
- confidence (guided by heuristics)
- constraints imposed at test by interviewer
(e. g., “only tell us things about which you are certain” vs. “tell us everything so we can follow every possible lead”)
What is the key implication for strategic regulation in testimony and recall?
- EWs probably wont’ tell us everything they remember
- Reporting depends on
- witness metacognitions
- interviewer behaviour
How much research is there on strategic regulation for EW recall?
limited
What are some key issues with variables associated with accuracy?
- interview format (closed vs. open)
- number of interviews (freezing, RIF)
- delay to first interview and intervals between interviews
Closed questions:
increase reporting and decrease accuracy/
open interviews are:
recommended pratice
___ and __ can vary across interviews
report option, grain size
What is crucial for activating and maintaining trace strength?
early interview
What does emotional arousal predict at encoding (supposedly).
And is the data consistent with this?
Inverted U shape of arousal - medium arousal is optimal for encoding.
The data is not consistent with this hypothesis.
What is seen when it comes to the effects of emotional arousal? What has real life/field studies shown?
- unpleasant events recalled quite well
- holocaust survivors, ‘flashbulb’ memories
In the lab studies, what has research shown us with the effects of emotional arousal?
- unpleasant events recalled poorly
- interactions are likely
Are highly negative emotional events well remembered?
Not always - evidence confusing.
What is interacting when looking at how much we remember when it comes to emotional arousal?
emotional content x type of detail mediated by attention
Over multiple interviews, testimonial inconsistencies are likely:
- contradictions
- reminiscence
Most of us are unlikely to be convinced by witnesses who:
- contradict themselves
- forget information reported at earlier interviews
- report new information at later interviews