The Cognitive Interview

• what are the 4 key principles in the cognitive interview?

  1. context reinstatement - These details can then act as a trigger, to help the person recall more information. There are clear links here between this and context‐dependent and state‐dependent remembering.
  2. report everything - when a person recalls every detail they can remember
  3. recall from changed perspective - when a person considers the event from someone else’s point of view.
  4. recall in reverse order - where a person recalls the events in reverse chronological order.
• method of geiselman (1985)

  • 89 students watched a video of a simulated crime
  • 2 days later the students were interviewed using the standard police interview or the cognitive interview
• results of geiselman (1985)

  Cognitive Interview:

  • average number of correct items recalled - 41.5
  • average number of incorrect items called - 7.3

  Standard Interview:

  • average number of correct items recalled - 29.3
  • average number of incorrect items called - 6.1
• strength of cognitive interview

  • researchers examined the effectiveness in real police interviews. 16 experienced detectives who were then divided into two groups. One group was trained to use the cognitive interview, while the other (control) group continued using the standard interview. The trained detectives elicited 46% more information after their cognitive interview training, in comparison to the control group. Where it was possible to confirm the information, over 90% of it was found to be accurate. These results provide support for the effectiveness of the cognitive interview.
• limitations of cognitive interview (1)

  • research into police interview procedures, and the subsequent development and testing of the cognitive interview technique, suffers from experimental reductionism: there could be many explanations for difficulties that victims and eyewitnesses experience in recalling an event, apart from the technique that is actually used to interview them. For example, the research does not address a possible culture bias, in that the researchers and the participants are from a Western culture but the results are taken to apply to all cultures.
• limitations of cognitive interview (2)

  • still susceptible to misleading information. research showed participants a video of a bank robbery and then provided participants with a misleading or neutral post‐event summary. The participants who were questioned using a cognitive interview, recalled 35% more information. However, the participants in both conditions were equally susceptible to misleading information. although the cognitive interview enhances the quantity of information recalled, need to be careful that participants are not exposed to misleading information