Cognitive interview is a police technique for
interviewing witnesses to a crime which
encourages them to recreate the original
context in order to increase the accessibility of
stored information. 4 main techniques used
1. Report everything
Witnesses encouraged to include every single
detail of the event no matter its relevance.
2. Reinstate the context
Witness should return to the original crime scene in their
mind and imagine the environment and their emotions.
Related to context dependent forgetting.
3. Reverse the order
Events should be recalled in a different
order than the original sequence to
prevent people reporting their
expectations of how the event must
have happened.
4. Change perspective
Witness should recall the incident from
another person's perspective. This is done to
disrupt the effect of expectations and
schema on recall.
Enhanced Cognitive Interview
Fisher et al (1987)
ECI has additional features such as
encouraging the witness to relax and speak
slowly, offering comments to help clarify
witness statements, and adapting questions.
Evaluation
Strengths:
Support for its effectiveness. A meta analysis found that
the CI gave an average 41% increase in information
accuracy compared to the standard interview. Shows that
the CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses to
recall information that is stored in memory but not
directly accessible.
Weaknesses:
CI is time consuming. It is both time
consuming to conduct and to train police
officers to use this method. Meaning it is
unlikely that the proper version of the CI is
used.
Some elements may be more useful than
others. Found that a combination of
report everything and reinstate the
context produced the best recall overall.
Casts some doubt on the credibility of the
overall cognitive interview.