The cognitive interview

• Outline the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. 


  The cognitive interview is a technique used by police officers to obtain more accurate information from eyewitnesses in comparison to the standard police interview.

  It comprises of 4 main techniques: report everything, context reinstatement, recall from a changed perspective and recall in reverse order.
• Outline the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. 


  The report everything technique involves the officer encouraging witnesses to report all details of the event regardless of how unimportant they may seem. This improves accuracy by encouraging witnesses to report details they may have initially overlooked.
• Outline the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. 


  Context reinstatement involves the officer asking the witness to try and mentally place themselves back at the scene of the crime and recall environmental information. This improves accuracy by reinstating context-dependent cues which could trigger other memories.
• Outline the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. 


  Recall from a changed perspective involves the officer asking the witness to try and describe what another witness may have seen. This improves accuracy by promoting a more holistic view of the event.
• Outline the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

  Recall in reverse order involves the officer asking the witness to recall the event backwards i.e. from the end to the beginning. This improves accuracy as it can verify whether the witness is telling the truth (as it is harder to lie when telling a story backwards).
• Evaluate the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: contradictory evidence.

  E.g. one piece of research found that while the cognitive interview did lead to an 81% increase in correct information, it also led to a 61% increase in incorrect information. This is a limitation because it would be difficult for the police to assess which parts of an eyewitness' testimony is correct or incorrect and, if they use the incorrect information, it could mislead the police investigation.
• Evaluate the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: beneficial in older witnesses.

  This is because negative stereotypes about older people's memories (i.e. that it gets worse with age) makes elderly people reluctant to provide details in case they are wrong. This is a strength because the cognitive interview emphasises the importance of reporting everything and so has helped encourage older witnesses to report more details to improve their testimonies.
• Evaluate the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: does not improve the accuracy of EWT in children.

  This is because research has found that in children under 6, their recall of events was less accurate when using the cognitive interview than when using the standard interview. This is a limitation because it suggests that some of the techniques used (such as recalling in reverse order) may be too challenging for younger witnesses
• Evaluate the cognitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: not always practical to carry out.

  This is because it requires training police officers which can be time consuming and costly. This Is a limitation because limited police resources mean officers may not be adequately trained and so may not carry out the cognitive Interviews correctly. If this was the case, they would have no benefit in improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimonies.