The cognitive interview - EWTs

• based on psychological understanding of memory.


  fisher et al. claims that EWT could be improved if police use more psychological techniques. rapport is built with the interviewee in CIs
• Report everything


  witnesses are encouraged to include even the most trivial details in their answers
• Reinstate the context 


  witness returns to the crime scene in their mind and imagines the environment (e.g. weather, time, what they saw, etc.) clues from the context may trigger recall
• Reverse the order 


  events are recalled in backwards chronological order. this prevents people from using their expectations of how the event must have happened rather than the actual events. also prevents dishonesty
• Change perspective


  witnesses recall the event from other people's point of view. this prevents the influence of expectations and schema on recall
• Enhanced cognitive interview (CI)

  fisher et al. developed additional elements to the CI. they include focus on the social dynamics of the interaction - like establishing and relinquishing eye contact. the enhanced CI also includes ideas such as reducing anxiety, minimising distraction and using open ended questions
• strength of the CI- some elements of the full CI are useful

  milne et al. found that each element of the CI was valuable. though they did find that a combination of 'report everything' and 'context reinstatement' produced better recall than the other techniques. even if the full CI isn't used at least these two should.
• strength of the CI - support for its effectiveness

  a meta-analysis by kohnken combined data from over 50 studies. the use of the enhanced CI consistently provided more correct information than the standard interview used by police. studies like this show how there are practical benefits to law enforcement using the enhanced CI
• limitation of the CI - research may be unreliable due to variations of the CI

  studies of the effectiveness of the CI inevitably use slightly different techniques. different researchers may use variations on the CIs or police even develop their own methods. this means it is difficult to draw proper conclusions about the CI