AO1

• Cognitive interview


  A technique used by the police to help improve the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
• Main techniques of the cognitive interview

  • Report everything
  • Context reinstatement
  • Recall from changed perspective
  • Recall events in a different order
• Report everything


  Interviewer encourages the witness to report all details about the event, even though these details may seem to be unimportant
• Context reinstatement


  Asks the eyewitness to try and mentally recreate an image of the situation, including details of the environment, such as the weather conditions and the individual's emotional state including their feelings at the time of the incident
• Recall from changed perspective

  Involves trying to mentally recreate the situation from different points of view, e.g. describing what another witness present at the scene would have seen
• Recall events in a different order


  The witness is asked to recall the scene in a different chronological order, e.g. from the end to the beginning
• Enhanced version of the cognitive interview

  Establishes key social skills that are needed for the interviewer, such as maintaining eye contact but releasing it when needed, using open-ended questions, and asking the witness to speak slowly