7 - cognitive interview

What Is the Cognitive Interview?

A police interviewing technique designed to improve EWT accuracy, based on cognitive psychology.

Includes 4 key techniques:

1. Report everything (recall all details)

2. Reinstate the context (mental reconstruction of environment + emotions)

3. Reverse the order (reduces schemas filling gaps)

4. Change perspective (recall from another person’s viewpoint)

The Enhanced Cognitive Interview (ECI) adds social skills (minimise distractions, open questions, pausing)

Geiselman et al (1985)

argued that police interviews must consider the characteristics of human memory:

• memories are reconstructed, misleading info can rewrite the memory

• retrieval cues are important, and their absence can lead to inaccuracy

• other similar memories can interfere with accurate recall

Fisher et al. (1987/1989): Enhanced CI

Fisher added ‘social’ elements to improve interviewer–witness interaction.
Includes:

• Minimising distractions

• Allowing pauses

• Establishing rapport

• Transferring control to the witness

Strength: Köhnken et al. (1999) Meta-analysis

P: Strong supporting evidence.
E: Köhnken analysed 50+ / 53 studies comparing CI vs standard interview.
E: Found CI produced 34% more accurate info on average.
L: Increases validity of the CI as an effective EWT tool.

Strength: Geiselman et al.

P: CI is reliable because results are consistent across studies.
E: Geiselman repeatedly found that CI improves accuracy + amount of correct recall.
E: Replications (lab + field) support consistency.
L: Strength → CI has high reliability and generalisable findings.

Limitation: Milne & Bull (2002)

P: Not all CI components are equally effective.
E: Milne & Bull found that combining ‘report everything’ + ‘reinstate context’ produced the best recall.
E: Other elements (like change perspective) add little.
L: Suggests the full CI is time-consuming and not all parts are necessary.

Limitation: Practical Issues

P: CI requires extensive training, making it impractical.
E: Officers need hours of training and interviews take longer.
E: Many police forces use partial CI, reducing effectiveness.
L: CI may not always work in real life due to resource limitations.