A01

• What is the best way to improve EWT?

  The cognitive interview
• Who devised the CI?

  Geiselman et al (1985)
• Who used the CI?

  Detectives in police investigations
• The 4 instructions of CI

  • Recreate the context of the original incident
  • Report every detail
  • Recall the event in different orders
  • Recall the event from a variety of perspectives
• Recreate the context of the original incident

  1. Recall an image of the setting/event including details such as the weather, lighting, distinctive smells, any people nearby

  2. Recall from an emotional context - how they were feeling at the time
• Report every detail


  Witnesses are asked to recall any information they can remember about the event, however trivial or unimportant it may seem
• Recall the event in different orders

  1. Recall the event in reverse order

  2. Recall the event starting with the most memorable part and work backwards or forwards from there
• Recall the event from a variety of perspectives


  Describe the event from the perspective of a third party who was present at the time
• Where were the witnesses interviewed?

  In a quiet, private setting so that distractions don't impair the memory retrieval process
• What does the interviewer avoid doing?

  Interrupting