Improving EWT- the cognitive interview

• state and describe the stages of the cognitive interview

  • mental reinstatement- recall key details of the scene/environment eg- weather, criminal's face/clothes, time of day, etc. Recalling retrieval cues which can help trigger larger or more useful memories
  • report everything- even if seemingly insignificant. May help trigger the recall of larger or more useful memories
  • Change order- tell the story in a different order- eg backwards. Avoids schema
  • Change perspective- imagine yourself as a different witness seeing the crime from a different angle. Avoids schema.
• state aspects of the standard interview

  • interviewer does most of the talking- ask closed/forced questions which can limit info
  • witnesses are discouraged from giving extra info
  • the interviewer asks misleading questions to confirm their beliefs about what they think happened- leads to inaccurate memories
• Evaluation of the cognitive interview?

  • ☹️Requires a lot of training- it elicits more freedom in asking questions therefore requires more skill, can be expensive and takes more time
  • 😊research into effectiveness- increase of 34% in the amount of correct info recalled compared with standard interviewing
  • ☹️quality of info given may be limited- Kohnken et al found 81% increase in correct info but 61% increase incorrect info compared to standard interview- CI doesn't guarantee accuracy
  • ☹️hard to make comparisons- many police forces don't use a standardised procedure of CI but many different elements of it- like the Thames Valley police doesn't include changing perspectives- hard to measure effectiveness when police forces use it differently