Improving Eye Witness Testimony Flashcards
(16 cards)
What was the standard interview that used to be used by police and who studied it?
• Fisher
• Witnesses given large number of quick, direct and closed questions in a short time
• Order of questions were not asked in a way that matched witnesses’ mental representation
• Witnesses not able to talk freely about their experience and were frequently interrupted
Who was the cognitive interview suggested by?
Fisher and Geiselman
What are the 4 aspects of Cognitive Interview?
• Context reinstatement
• Report everything
• Recall from a changed perspective
• Recall in reverse order
What is context reinstatement?
Mentally returning to the scene of the crime, including physical environment and emotional state
Based on cue dependant forgetting
What is report everything?
All details, even if they seem irrelevant, should be mentioned
Triggers memories
What is recalling from a changed perspective?
Consider/mentally recreate how the crime would be recalled from the perspective of other witnesses/ the perpetrator
‘Holistic’ view of event to minimise bias and disrupt schema
What is rcall in reverse order?
Recall is switched to different chronology/timelines
E.g. from end to beginning
This challenges expectations/schema
What is the enhanced cognitive interview?
Focused on building rapport and making the interviewee comfortable
What are the 5 aspects of enhanced cognitive interview?
• Interviewer not distracting witness
• Witness controlling flow of information
• Open ended questions
• Reminded not to guess or use ‘I don’t know’ as much as possible
• Reduce anxiety in witness and getting them to relax
What study suggests the cognitive interview is effective in enhancing memory?
• Fisher, Geiselman & Amador
• Used a field study to compare 7 detectives trained in cognitive interview with 9 detectices using standard interview
• Found that detectives who used cognitive interview recieved 63% more information than standard interview detectives
What meta-analysis suggests that cognitive interview may be of limited practical use due to increased errors?
• Kohnken et al
• Meta-analysis of 42 studies, including over 2500 interviews
• Found a significant increase in the amount of correct information recalled
• However, also a significant increase in the amount of incorrect information recalled
• Resulted in very close accuracy rates: 85% CI, 82% SI
What study suggests that not any single aspect is more important in the cognitive interview?
• Milne and Bull
• Investigated the effect on recall on eafh of the 4 aspects of the cognitive interview seperately
• Each aspect produced a similar level of recall
• However, the context reinstatement and report everything condition produced significantly more correct recall
What are the practical issues of the cognitive interview?
• Can be time-consuming, requiring more time than most officers have, especially in time-sensitive cases
• Cognitive interview requires significant training and investment, diverting officers from normal work
• May mean CI could not be adopted due to the limited financial resources available
Why should there be a cost-benefit analysis of cognitive interview?
• Would consider the effect on the overall justice system and economy of the cognitive interview
• Could be worth the additional resources invested in training to make a more effective police force as the CI ultimately reduces crime and its cost to wider society
The cognitive interview is not effective in improving the recognition of suspects in identity parades and from photographs, what does this mean?
The cognitive interview has limited usefulness in a number of common police activities involving witness testimony
Who created a modified cognitive interview to aid very young children and why?
• Holliday
• CI was found as not effective with young children as they are egocentric (can only see the world from their view)
• Holliday created the modified cognitive interview adapted to children’s developmental level
- Provided more accurate testimony in 4-5 year olds than a standard interview
