improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony - cognitive interview

Question 1

what is a cognitive interview?

Answer 1

• the witness is interviewed with the view to enhance their retrieval of the original memory
• focus is on the witnesses’ recollections not just the facts

Question 2

what is a standard interview?

Answer 2

• uses a direct question and answer approach
• who, what, when, where, why, how

Question 3

features of a cognitive interview

Answer 3

• open questions
• listen to witness
• active listening
• detailed responses
• emotional responses
• avoid leading questions
• no post event information provided

Question 4

features of a standard interview

Answer 4

• brief questions
• less detailed responses
• no free talking
• little emphasis on emotional responses

Question 5

detail on cognitive interview

Answer 5

• based o principles of how the mind works, memory and cognition/perception, social dynamics of how people communicate

social dynamics - important to develop rapport and treat witness as an individual, allow them to talk about their feelings, encouraged to actively participate to promote a detailed response

memory and cognition - encouraged to recreate context of event, recall from a different perspective and in reverse order, report everything

Question 6

detail on standard interview

Answer 6

• rhythm is developed that shows interviewee that their role is strictly to respond, no more and no less
• may make person feel intimidated or reluctant to offer small details
• some individuals who are important to an investigation may be overlooked, and the interviewer would only gain superficial information

Question 7

4 stages of cognitive method

Answer 7

report everything - report every detail you can even if they seem irrelevant or trivial - info may trigger memory

context reinstatement - recall the scene, the weather what you were thinking and feeling

recall from a changed perspective - describe event as it would’ve been seen from different viewpoints, disrupting expectations from schemas

recall in reverse order - prevents recall of expectations or assumptions, likely based on schemas of event

Question 8

geiselman study

Answer 8

procedure - participants viewed film of violent crime, then after 48 hours were interviewed using one of three methods - cognitive interview, standard interview, hypnosis interview. number of facts accurately recalled and number of errors was recorded.

findings - cognitive interview average was 41.2, hypnosis was 38.0, standard was 29.4, no significant difference in number of errors

conclusion - cognitive interview leads to better memory for events, witnesses can recall more relevant information.