The Cognitive Interview Technique

Question 1

Name the 4 techniques used in the cognitive interview.

Answer 1

1. Report Everything
2. Reinstate the Context
3. Reverse the Order
4. Change the Perspective

Question 2

What is ‘report everything’?

Answer 2

Witnesses are asked to say all things that they have seen, including small details that may seem irrelevant.

Question 3

Why are witnesses encouraged to report everything?

Answer 3

Small details that could seem trivial could potentially trigger other memories

Question 4

What is ‘reinstate the context’?
Give examples of what people should be imagining when reinstating the context.

Answer 4

Witnesses are asked to revisit the scene of the incident in their heads so other memories can be triggered.

Question 5

Give examples of what people should be imagining when reinstating the context.

Answer 5

This involves the setting, the people, how others were feeling, the weather etc.

Question 6

What type of forgetting may act as a cue when ‘reinstating the context’?

Answer 6

Context dependent forgetting - Imagining the environment may act as a cue to help recall memories.

Question 7

What is ‘reverse the order’?

Answer 7

Witnesses are asked to to recall events in a different sequence to what they actually happened in.

Question 8

Explain how ‘reversing the order’ prevents dishonesty.

Answer 8

It would be much harder to recall an untruthful account in a different order.

Question 9

Explain how reversing the order reduces the effects of schema.

Answer 9

Reversing the order makes us report what actually happened instead of us reporting what we expected to have happened.

Question 10

What is ‘changing the perspective’?

Answer 10

Witnesses are asked to recall the events from how another person may have viewed it eg: from the perspective of the perpetrator or a bystander.

Question 11

Why are witnesses asked to recall from a different perspective?

Answer 11

To disrupt the effects of schema.

Question 12

What is the enhanced cognitive interview?

Answer 12

An extended version of the cognitive interview which focuses more on the social interaction between the interviewer and interviewee.

Question 13

Give 4 examples of techniques used in the enhanced cognitive interview.

Answer 13

Knowing when to establish eye contact and when to cut it.
Reducing anxiety of the witness.
Minimising distractions.
Asking the witness to speak slowly.

Question 14

What type of questions are asked in the enhanced cognitive interview?

Answer 14

Open ended, non leading questions.

Question 14

Explain the strength of the cognitive interview being effective.
Gunter Kohnken conducted what type of research on how many studies?
The cognitive interview gave a __% increase in accuracy of information than normal police interviews.
How many studies in the research showed no difference in accuracy between the cognitive interview and standard police interview?
Which type of interview did Kohnken find an increase in inaccuracy in? Why might this be the cause?

Answer 14

A meta analysis conducted by Gunter Kohnken compared 55 studies focusing on the cognitive interview compared to the standard police interview. The cognitive interview gave a 41% increase in accuracy of information than normal police interviews. Only 4 studies in the analysis showed no difference between the 2 types of interview. Kohnken also found an increase in inaccurate information recalled by PPTs, mostly in the ECIT. The ECIT may actually sacrifice quality of EWT in favour of quantity, so police should be careful when considering EWT obtained using the ECIT.

Question 14

Explain the strength of the CIT producing more effective data than standard police interviews.
Who discovered this?
Which 2 elements of the cognitive interview did they find to produce the best recall than any other elements or a combination of them?
Why does this cast some doubt about the overall credibility of the CIT?

Answer 14

Milne and Bull found that each of the four techniques used alone produced more information than standard police interview. But they also found that using a combination of ‘report everything’ and ‘reinstate the context’ produced better recall than any of the other elements or a combination of them. This confirms police officers suspicions that some aspects of the CI are more useful than others. This casts some doubt on the credibility of the overall cognitive interview.

Question 15

Explain the strength that police can use different parts of the CIT to obtain maximum information.
Name the approach police have taken to using the CIT.
How does this approach affect the ability to compare the effectiveness of other different approaches in research studies?
On the other hand, what are the benefits of this approach?
How does this affect the amount of information gathered by police?

Answer 15

Police have taken a pick and mix approach to various techniques in the CI. This means that it’s hard to compare the effectiveness of the different approaches in research studies. On the other hand, a pick and mix approach is more flexible, as it allows individuals to develop their own technique according to what ever works best for them. This ensures police can gather as much information as possible.

Question 15

Explain the limitation that the CIT is time consuming as it takes longer to interview witnesses and train interviewers.
Why might more time be needed during interviews?
Why might the CIT not be a realistic technique to use in the real world?

Answer 15

For example, more time is needed for rapport to build between the witness and the interviewer, so the witness feels more at ease to share more information. The CIT also required more time to train interviewers, so they know exactly how to behave (such as knowing when establish and cut eye contact). This suggests the complete CIT is not a realistic technique to use in the real world as it is not efficient enough.