Cognitive interview

• What is a cognitive interview?

  A method of interviewing witnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories
• which psychologists stated testimonies could be improved with techniques?

  fisher and geiselman 1992
• what are the techniques?

  1. report everything
  2. reinstate context
  3. reversing order
  4. change perspective
• how does reporting everything work?

  may trigger other important memories
• how does reinstating the context work?

  related to context-dependent forgetting
• how does reversing the order work?

  prevents people reporting their expectations of how event must have happened,as well as, dishonesty
• how does changing perspective work?

  • disrupts the effect of expectations and schema on recall
  • the schema for a particular setting generate expectations of what would have happened and it is the schema that is recalled rather than what actually happened
• who suggested enhanced cognitive interview?

  Fisher et al 1987
• what did fisher et al 1987 do?

  developed elements of the CI to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction:

  • eye contact
  • reducing anxiety
  • minimising distractions
  • speaking slowly