Improving accuracy of e.w.t

• The cognitive interview is a method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories.
• Report everything (R.E) = Witnesses encouraged to include every single detail of the event, even if it seems irrelevant.
• Reinstate context (R.C) = Witness encouraged to imagine the environment (the weather for example) and their emotional state (how they were feeling).

  ->Relates to context/state dependant forgetting.
• Reverse the order (R.O) = Witnesses recalls events in a different order. This is done to reduce dishonesty and make sure they are reporting the actual event rather than their expectations of the event.
• Change perspective (C.P) = Witness recall incident in another perceptive.
• Strength) Participants interviewed using Hypnosis, Regular police interview, and Cognitive interview found that they recalled the most when using cognitive interview
• Limitation) Police officers may be reluctant to use this method of interviewing because it takes more time and training then the standard.
• Limitation) Some elements are more useful than others. It was found that each of the four techniques used alone produced more info than the standard police interview. But they also found that using a combo of R.E and R.C produced the most information.