Improving Accuracy Of EWT

Question 1

What three factors lower accuracy of EWT?

Answer 1

Anxiety, leading questions, post event discussion

Question 2

What did Fisher (1987) study?

Answer 2

Studied techniques of Florida police when interviewing witnesses and identified factors needing improvement and was called the standard interview

Question 3

What did the standard interview involve?

Answer 3

• witnesses given a large number of quick, direct and closed questions in a short time
• order of questions were not asked in a way that matches witnesses mental representation
• witnesses were not able to talk freely about their experience and frequently interrupted

Question 4

What is the cognitive interview and who designed it?

Answer 4

• range of techniques that Fisher and Geiselman (1985) suggested police interviewers can use in order to improve accuracy of EWT

Question 5

What four aspects were involved in cognitive interview?

Answer 5

• Context Reinstatement (CR)
• Report Everything (RE)
• Recall from a changed perspective (CP)
• Recall in reverse order (RO)

Question 6

Context reinstatement?

Answer 6

• mentally returning to scene of crime, including the physical environment and emotional state.
• this is based on cue dependent forgetting

Question 7

Report everything?

Answer 7

• all details, even if they seem irrelevant should be mentioned, triggering memories

Question 8

Recall from a changed perspective?

Answer 8

• mentally recreate how crime would be recalled from other witnesses perspectives. ‘Holistic’ view of event to minimise bias and reduce schemas

Question 9

Recall in reverse order?

Answer 9

• recall switched to different chronology (end to start, middle to start)
• this challenges expectations/schemas

Question 10

What was the reason for the enhanced cognitive interview and who designed it?

Answer 10

• Fisher (1987)
• focused on building rapport and making the interviewee feel comfortable

Question 11

Enhanced cognitive interview characteristics?

Answer 11

• no distractions to witness
• witness controls flow of information
• open ended questions
• reminded not to guess and use “Don’t know” option when necessary
• reduced anxiety in witness and get them to relax

Question 12

AO3 Strength - Point

Answer 12

Empirical evidence suggesting CI improves EWT effectively

Question 13

AO3 Strength - Evidence

Answer 13

Kohnken (1999) - 55 study meta-analysis, CI provided 34% increase in correct info than standard interview used by police

Question 14

AO3 Limitation - Point

Answer 14

Contradictory research

Question 15

AO3 Limitation - evidence

Answer 15

Kohnken (1999) - 81% increase of correct information but also 61% increase of incorrect information where the enhanced CI was used over the standard interview