Improving the accuracy of EWT

• The cognitive interview

  The cognitive interview is a technique used by police officers to obtain more accurate and detailed information from witnesses in comparison to that gained from the standard police interview.
• The cognitive interview uses 4 main techniques:

  • Report everything
  • Context reinstatement
  • Recall from a changed perspective
  • Recall in reverse order
• Describe Report everything

  the interviewer encourages the witness to report all details about the event, even though these details may seem to be unimportant.
• Context reinstatement

  the interviewer asks the witness to try to mentally recreate an image of the

  situation. This can involve thinking about the weather conditions and the

  individual’s emotional state at the time.
• Recall from a changed perspective

  the interviewer asks the witness to try to mentally recreate the situation from

  different points of view.
• Recall in reverse order

  the interviewer asks the witness to recall the event in a different chronological order e.g. from what happened at the end to what happened at the beginning.
• How does report everything improve the accuracy of EWT

  This technique may highlight something that has been overlooked and may encourage recall of detail that may trigger othermemories.
• How does context reinstatement improve the accuracy of EWT

  This technique is based on the retrieval failure explanation of forgetting. This is

  because the technique aims to reinstate context-and state-dependent cues that can aid recall.
• How does Recall from a changed perspective improve accuracy of EWT

  This technique reduces the influence of the individual’s schema and promotes a more holistic view of the event which may enhance recall.
• How does Recall in reverse order improve the accuracy of EWT

  This technique reduces the possibility that recall may be influenced by schemas. It also makes it harder for people to produce an untruthful account. This technique therefore offers a way to both verify and improve the accuracy of the EWT.
• The enhanced cognitive interview

  An enhanced version of the cognitive interview was later developed to include some additional elements that focus on the dynamics of the interaction. The suggestions include:

  • Reducing eyewitness anxiety
  • Minimising distractions
  • Asking open-ended questions
  • Getting the witness to speak slowly
• Evaluation of the use of the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of EWT

  • research supports its effectiveness Kohnken et al. (1999)
  • it may be particularly useful when interviewing older witnesses
  • the cognitive interview is that it does not improve the accuracy of EWT in all cases
  • it may not be a readily available technique