understanding individual offender: interviewing Flashcards
(25 cards)
what is the cognitive interview
- questioning technique used by police and forensic psychologists
- helps make witness testimony more reliable
- avoids problems like leading questions
- improves how much and how accurately a person remembers
who developed the cognitive interview
- geiselman et al (1984)
- wanted to improve police interview methods
- focused on more accurate ewt
what ideas is the cognitive interview based on
- memory is not like a tape-recorder
- memory is reconstructed
- people might add details to make sense of events
- based on bartlett’s (1932) theory of reconstructive memory
what is confabulation
- when someone adds made-up details to a memory
- helps memory make more sense to them
- can happen without them knowing it’s wrong
what does the cognitive interview link together
- knowledge from psychology about memory
- practical methods for police interviews
- aims to improve witness and offender interviews
what was a standard police interview like before the cognitive interview
- only a short attempt to build rapport
- asked direct questions like ‘tell me what happened’
- witness gave facts in a short burst
- interviewer often interrupted with short questions
- used leading questions
- interviewer was in control and witness stayed passive
why was the old police interview method a problem
- didn’t help witnesses remember clearly
- leading questions could change memories
- witness didn’t feel in control
- less accurate and detailed answers
what are the four techniques in the cognitive interview
- reinstate the context
- report everything
- change the order
- change perspective
what does reinstate the context mean
- recall details from the time of the event
- think about feelings, weather, smells, time of day
- helps trigger cue-dependent memory
what does report everything mean
- say everything even if it seems unimportant
- witness talks freely without interruption
- small details can be useful cues
- avoids leaving out info that doesn’t fit their schema
what does change the order mean
- recall events in a different or reverse order
- stops story-telling based on expectations
- helps avoid skipping over important info
- interrupts usual memory patterns
what does change perspective mean
- recall the event from someone else’s point of view
- like another witness or a different person there
- helps recall things that might be missed
- must only report what they know, not guesses
what was the aim of geiselman et al (1985) study
- to compare cognitive interview with standard police interview
- tested how well each method helped recall of violent crimes
what was the method in geiselman et al (1985) study
- 51 volunteer ppts from mixed backgrounds
- watched two films of violent crimes
- interviewed 48 hours later
- used cognitive interview, standard interview or hypnosis
what were the results of geiselman et al (1985) study
- cognitive interview led to more correct info recalled
- no big difference in made-up (confabulated) info
- all methods had low levels of confabulation
what was the conclusion of geiselman et al (1985) study
- cognitive interview helps people remember more info
- guided questions help trigger memory
- more info remembered but not more accurate
what did fisher et al (1989) find about the cognitive interviews
- detectives got 47% more useful info after training
- used cognitive interview with real crime witnesses
- better than standard interview
is the cognitive interview effective with children
- yes, even with children as young as 5
- more useful than a standard interview
- supported by holliday (2003)
is the cognitive interview effective in real life
- yes, works well in real crime settings
- helps get more useful info
- supported by fisher et al (1989) and holliday (2003)
what are some limitations of the cognitive interview
- results may be affected by individual differences
- changing perspective could lead to guessing or speculation
- not always practical at a chaotic crime scene
does the cognitive interview need all four components
- not clear if all four parts are needed
- more research is needed
- some parts might be more useful than others
what is a problem with using the cognitive interview in real police work
- needs specialist training to be effective
- training is expensive and time-consuming
- not ideal for quick info at a crime scene
why are ethics important in interviews
- interviewers must stay open-minded and neutral
- helps avoid asking leading questions
- ensures fair and reliable information is gathered
how has modern policing changed interview techniques
- moved away from aggressive interrogation
- now focuses on supportive, truthful interviews
- goal is to gather facts, not force confessions
