Eyewitness testimony: Cognitive interview

• Cognitive interview- Fisher and Geiselman:

  • Fisher and Geiselman (1992) claimed that EWT could be improved if the police use techniques based on psychological insights into how memory works
  • These techniques should be based on psychological insights into how memory works
  • Aim is to help the retrieval of more accurate information
• What is report everything?

  • Witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event, even though it might seem irrelevant or the witness doesn;t feel confident about it
  • Aim: Trivial details may be important and moreover, they may trigger other important memories
  • uses Tulving's encoding specificity principle
• What is reinstate the context?

  • Witnesses are encouraged to return to the scene 'in their mind' and imagine the environment (weather, what they could see etc) and their emotions (bored, happy, tired)
  • Aim: Reinstating the context may trigger other important memories
  • uses Godden and Baddeley context dependent forgetting where cues link to recall
• What is reverse the order?

  • Events should be recalled in a different order from the original sequence
  • Aim: Prevents people reporting their expectations and makes dishonesty less likely as it's harder to stick to a story if asked to reorder it
• What is changed perspective?

  • Recall the incident from the other people's perspectives. For example, how it would appear to other witnesses or the perpetrator
  • Aim: disrupt the effects of expectations and the effect of schema on recall. Schemas for a particular setting generate expectations of what would have happened, and it is the schema that is recalled rather than the event itself.
• What is enhanced cognitive interview technique (ECIT)?

  • Fisher et al developed some additional elements of CIT to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction
  • E.g. when to establish and relinquish eye contact, reduce anxiety, minimise distractions, speak slowly nad ask open ended questions
• Strength: supporting clinical evidence

  P- One strength of the use of CIT is that there is support for the effectiveness of the CI and evidence that it works

  E- For example, a meta-analysis by Köhnken et al combined data from 55 studies comparing the CI with the standard police interview. The Ci gave an average 41% increase in accurate information compared with the standard interview

  E- Only four studies in the analysis showed no difference between the types of interview

  L- This shows that the CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses to recall information that is stored in memory but not immediately accessible
• Counterpoint:

  P- However there is an issue surrounding the data on the effectiveness of CIT

  E- Köhnken et al also found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by participants

  E- This was a particular issue in the ECI, which produced more incorrect details than the CI. Cognitive interviews may sacrifice quality of EWT in favour of quantity

  L- This means that police officers should treat eyewitness evidence from CIs/ECIs with caution
• Limitation: aspects of CIT

  P- One limitation of the original CI is that not all of its elements are equally effective or useful

  E- Milne and Bull (2002) found that each of the four techniques used alone produced more information than the standard police interview

  E- But they also found that using a combination of report everything and reinstate the context produced better recall than any of the other elements or combinations. This confirmed police officers' suspicions that some aspects of the CI are more useful than others

  L- This casts some doubt on the credibility of the overall cognitive interview
• Limitation- time consuming:

  P- Another limitation is that the police officers may be reluctant to use the CI because it takes more time and training than the standard police interview

  E- For example, more time is needed to establish rapport with a witness and allow them to relax

  E- The CI also requires special training and many forces do not have the resources to provide more than a few hours. This is particularly pertinent at a time when costs are such a significant issue for public services

  L- This suggests that the complete CI as it exists is not a realistic method for police officers to use and it might be better to focus on just a few key elements.
• Limitation: variations of the CI

  P- Police forces have taken a 'pick and mix' approach to the various techniques in the CI

  E- This means that it is hard to compare the effectiveness in the different approaches in research studies

  E- On the other hand, this 'pick and mix' approach is more flexible. It means that individuals can develop their own approach according to what works best for them

  L- Therefore, it is hard to conclude the extent to which the CIT is useful or not to the police.