Cognitive Interview [IMPROVING EWT]

Question 1

Why was the cognitive interview brought into practice?

Answer 1

To improve eye-witness testimonies & improve the legal system

Question 2

What are the 4 stages of the cognitive interview?

Answer 2

REPORT EVERYTHING
CONTEXT REINSTATEMENT
REVERSE THE ORDER
CHANGE THE PERSPECTIVE

Question 3

What significance does ‘report everything’ have in the cognitive interview?

Answer 3

It allows the witness to recall everything they can with no constraints
= sometimes trivial details might trigger other memories

Question 4

What significance does ‘context reinstatement’ have in the cognitive interview?

Answer 4

It allows witnesses to mentally return to the crime scene and imagine the environment
= reduces effect of context-dependent forgetting

Question 5

What significance does ‘reverse the order’ have in the cognitive interview?

Answer 5

Allows the witness to recall the events in a different chronological order
= prevents reporting of expectations and stops dishonesty

Question 6

What significance does ‘change the perspective’ have in the cognitive interview?

Answer 6

Allows the witness to recall the event from another person’s perspective
= disrupts effect of schema

Question 7

What is the enhanced cognitive interview?

Answer 7

An improved version of the cognitive interview which also focuses on the social aspect - the interviewer must aim to reduce anxiety, work on eye contact, and focus on asking open-ended questions

Question 8

What are 2 problems with the cognitive interview?

Answer 8

• It’s time consuming, therefore most police stations may not have time to carry them out, and not as much info is collected
• It requires special training, so it’s costly and unlikely that it’s being carried out properly each time

Question 9

What evidence is there to support the cognitive interview?

Answer 9

KOHNKEN carried out a meta-analysis with 50+ studies, and found that the enhanced cognitive interview consistently produced better results than the standard police interview
= not a waste of time/money

Question 10

What did Milne & Bull find about the cognitive interview?

Answer 10

Each individual element is equally valuable BUT a combination of ‘report everything’ and ‘context reinstatement’ is most effective

Question 11

How does Milne & Bull’s findings affect the use of cognitive interview?

Answer 11

If the full CI cannot be used, ‘report everything’ and ‘context reinstatement’ can be used and produce an improved EWT