Cognitive Interview

• 1/4

  Fisher & Geiselman argued EWT could be improved if police used better techniques when interviewing witnesses.

  Report everything- witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event even if it seems irrelevant or they don't feel confident about it. Trivial details may be important or trigger other memories.
• 2/4

  Reinstate the context-witnesses should return to the original crime scene in their mind and imagine the environment and their emotions at that time. This is relevant to context - dependant forgetting.
• 3/4

  Reverse the order - events should be recalled in a different order than the original sequence from C to A or B to A. This prevents people from reporting their expectations of how the event must've happened rather than reporting the actual events. It also prevents dishonesty.
• 4/4

  Change perspective - witnesses should recall the event from another person's point of view or from the perpetrators. This is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and scheme on recall. Schemas generate expectations.
• The enhanced cognitive review

  Fisher developed some additional elements to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction. The interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it. The enhanced CI includes ideas such as reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimising distractions, getting the witness to speak slowly and asking open-ended questions.