Cognitive interview & improving accuracy of EWT

• Cognitive interviews are used by police officers when questioning witnesses, they can be conducted face-to-face or over the phone.
• What are the four main techniques that are used in CI?

  1. Report everything
  2. Reinstate the context
  3. Reverse the order
  4. Change perspective
• Why is it important to report everything in a CI even if it seems like a minor detail?

  It may actually be important even if you don't think it is, and it may tigger other memories
• Who developed the enhanced CI?

  Fisher et al.
• Give 4 elements used as part of the enhanced cognitive interview.

  Minimising distractions, reducing eyewitness anxiety, getting the witness to speak slowly, asking open-ended questions
• Why did Fisher et al. develop the enhanced Cl?

  To add some additional elements of the cognitive interview to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction.
• Cognitive psychologist argued that EWT could be improved if the police used better techniques when interviewing witnesses.
• Give some support evidence of the Cognitive interview.

  From a meta analysis, cognitive psychologists found from 55 data studies, that the accuracy of CIs were improved by almost half when using the 4 techniques.
• What are 2 limitations/counterpoints to the CI?

  1. More time consuming
  2. Requires special training