Improving the accuracy of EWT: cognitive interview

• Describe how there is research supporting The Cognitive Interview:

  supports that the ECI may offer special benefits(Kohnken et al 1999)

  • a meta analysis which combined data from 50 studies
  • the CI consistently provided more correct information
  • indicates that there are real practical benefits to the police (greater chance of catching and charging criminals )
• Why are some elements of the Cognitive Interview being more valuable than others a strength?

  (Milne and Bull 2002)

  • found that each technique was valuable ( each produced more information)
  • found that a combination of report everything and context reinstatement produced better recall than all of the other conditions
  • suggests that at least these two elements should be used to improve police interviewing, even if the CI isn’t used
  • increases the credibility
• 2 strengths of cognitive interview

  • Some elements of may be more reliable than others
  • Support for the effectiveness of the ECI
• How does the Cognitive interview have little practical value?

  • too time consuming since more time is needed to establish rapport with the witness
  • taking longer than the standered police interview
  • Keble and Wagstaff argued that only a few hours of training is insufficient to adequately train interviewer.
  • forces may be reluctant and unimpressed with the CI as it takes up more time
• 1 limitation of the cognitive interview

  May have little practical value
• What is the enhanced cognitive interview?

  (Fisher et al)

  • additional elements to the CI to focus on the social dynamic of the interaction
  • Interviewer needs to know when to make eye contact
  • includes ideas such as reducing anxiety, minimising distraction, open ended questions
• Who developed the enchanted cognitive interview (ECI)?

  Fisher et al
• Describe the cognitive interview technique, Change perspective.

  • Recall from another persons perspective
  • Disrupt the effect of expectations and schema recall.
  • the schema you have for a particular setting generates expectations, the schema is recalled rather than what is actually happening
• Describe the cognitive interview technique, Reverse the order.

  • Recall the events in a different order to the original
  • Prevents people from their expectations
  • Prevents dishonestly
• Describe the cognitive interview technique, Reinstate the context.

  • imagine the environment and their emotions
  • related to context
  • dependant forgetting
• Describe the cognitive interview technique, Report everything.


  Encouraged to include every single detail of the event ( even if it seems irrelevant)
• What are Fisher and Gesieleman’s (1992) 4 main cognitive interview techniques?

  1. Report everything

  2. Reinstate the context

  3. Reverse the order

  4. Change the perspective
• Who argued that EWT could be improved if the police used better techniques?

  Ronald fisher and Edward Gesieleman (1992)
• What is a cognitive interview?

  A method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories