Geiselman et al - Cognitive interview

• Geiselman and colleagues (1985)

  Identified ways that standard police interview methodology could negatively affect eye witnesses' recall accuracy of crimes
• Standard police questioning techniques

  1. Prompted regular jumps between memory modalities (such as describing physical appearances and recalling dialogue)

  2. Prompted event recall in a non-chronological order
• Cognitive interview


  New questioning methodology integrated by Geiselman et al. to achieve more detailed and accurate eye witness testimonies
• Cognitive interview


  1. Interviewer attempts to help the witness feel relaxed

  2. Interviewer seeks to tailor their language to suit the individual

  3. Witness is encouraged to recreate their internal and external conditions at the scene

  4. Witness recalls the event backwards and forwards in time

  5. Witness recalls the event from other people's perspectives

  6. Interviewer aims to be non-judgmental and avoids personal comments
• Retrieval cues


  Recalling details of an event in a variety of different contexts is key to 'cueing' retrieval of a large amount of accurate information from memory
• Standard police interview


  Was restrictive in utilising retrieval cues
• (+) Cognitive interview technique

  • Witnesses reported greater detail in their accounts of crimes when American detectives had been trained to use the technique (Fisher et al., 1990)
  • More structured than the standard technique
  • Appropriate for crime-related interviews to be very thorough in order to gather the detail required for a useful testimony
• (+) Witnesses interviewed with the cognitive interview


  Recalled more incorrect information compared to the standard interview technique (Koehnken et al., 1999)
• (-) Reason for more incorrect information

  More detailed recall increases the chances of making mistakes
• (-) Cognitive interview technique

  Far more time-consuming than the standard interview