Improving EWT

• What is the cognitive interview?

  • Fisher and Geiselman (1992) argued EWT could be improved with better police techniques during interviews
  • Techniques should be based on psychological insight into how memory works
• What are the first 2 techniques of the cognitive interview?

  1. Report everything: witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event even if seemingly irrelevant, as these may be important or could trigger other key memories
  2. Reinstate the context: witness should revisit the crime scene 'in their mind', imagining the environment and their emotions as remembering important cues may improve recall (context-dependent forgetting)
• What are the last 2 techniques of the cognitive interview?

  3. Reverse the order: events to be recalled in a different order from the original sequence, to prevent people reporting expectations as well as dishonesty as it is hard for people to be untruthful in reverse

  4. Change perspective: witnesses to recall the incident from other people's perspective to disrupt the effects of their own schemas on their recall and achieve more objective accuracy
• What is the enhanced cognitive interview?

  • Fisher et al. (1987) added some additional elements to the CI to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction
  • Interview should know when and when not to establish eye contact
  • Eyewitness anxiety should be reduced, distractions should be minimised, witness should speak slowly and open-ended questions should be used
• What is one strength of the cognitive interview?

  • Support for effectiveness: Kohnken et al (1999)'s meta-analysis of 55 studies comparing CI to standard police interviews
  • CI gave an average 41% increase in accurate information compared to standard interviews, showing it is an effective technique in helping witnesses recall information available but not immediately accessible
• What is one limitation of the cognitive interview?

  • Counterpoint: Kohnken et al also found an increase in the amount of INACCURATE information recalled by participants, more particular when using the enhanced CI
  • ECI produced more incorrect details than the CI, showing they may sacrifice quality of accuracy in favour of quantity
  • Means police officers should treat CI/ECI evidence with caution and shows it isn't the most reliable approach
• What is another limitation of the cognitive interview?

  • Not all elements are useful: Milne and Bull (2002) found each technique used alone produced MORE information that standard interviews
  • Also that a combination of report everything + reinstate context produced better recall than any other independent or combination of elements
  • Shows some aspects of CI are more useful than others, casting doubt on the credibility of the overall interview
• What is another limitation of the cognitive interview?

  • Time-consuming: police officers may be reluctant to use CI as it takes more time and training than the standard interview
  • Establishing a rapport with the witness and allowing them to relax requires more time, also requires special training that many forces don't have the resources to provide
  • Suggests the CI is not a realistic method for officers to use, may be better to focus on a few key elements