Cognitive interview

• What is the cognitive interview?

  A questioning technique to enhance retrieval of information from an eye witness’ or victims memory
• Who developed the cognitive interview?

  Geiselman (1985)
• What are the retrieval routes of the cognitive interview?

  Context reinstatement,

  Recall events in reverse order

  Report everything

  Change perspective
• How effective is the cognitive interview?

  Recall with CI - 41.2%

  Recall without CI - 29.1%
• What are some strengths of the cognitive interview?

  • More effective than a standard interview
  • Useful when interviewing older witnesses (Wright and Holliday)
  • Applications
• What are some weaknesses with the cognitive interview?

  • Time consuming
  • Requires specialised training
  • Some elements of the interview may be more valuable than others - eg report everything may lead to irrelevant information