Factors affecting the accuracy of EWT

the use of the cognitive interview

What is the cognitive interview (CI)

It is a method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories

it uses 4 main techniques

1. report everything

2. reinstate the context

3. reverse the order

4. change the perspective

what is step 1 => report everything

• the witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of an event

• even irrelevant information must be reported => can help to trigger other important memories (used as a cue)

What is step 2 => reinstating the context

• the witnesses should return to the original crime scene (in their mind)

• this helps them to imagine the environment and their emotions they had

What is step 3 => reversing the order

• events should be recalled in a different order from the original sequence e.g. final point to the beginning point

• helps to prevent people from reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened rather than reporting the actual events

• it prevents dishonesty => harder for people to produce a different term of events if they have to reverse what happened

What is step 4 => changing the perspective

• witnesses should recall the incident from other peoples perspectives

• e.g. how it would have appeared to other witnesses or to the perpetrator

• this helps to disrupt the effect of expectations and also the effect of schema on recall

Who developed the enhanced cognitive interview

Fisher et al 1987

• developed additional new elements of CI to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction

• e.g. the interviewer needs to establish eye contact and keep it when asking the questions

• to reduce EW’s anxiety => need to minimise distractions + get the witness to speak slowly and ask open end questions

What are some strengths of the cognitive interview

• Supporting research on the effectiveness of CI is a meta-analysis carried out by Kohnken et al. (1999), who analysed 55 different studies comparing CI and standard police interviews

  • The findings showed that CI improved the accuracy of EWT by 41%

  • This suggests that the CI is an effective procedure to aid witnesses in recalling accurate memories that are available but not immediately accessible following an event

• The CI may aid elderly witnesses in recalling accurate details of events

  • Mello & Fisher (1996) compared younger and elderly participants who witnessed a simulated crime

  • The CI was more effective for the older participants

  • This suggests that the CI can be used for different individuals where a standard police interview may have limited effectiveness in the accuracy of EWT

What are some limitations of the cognitive interview

• Kohnken et al. (1999) found an increase in the number of inaccuracies in memory recall of events

  • This suggests that CI may improve the quantity of details recalled but limit the quality (accuracy) of these memories

• Not all components of the CI are useful and effective at recalling accurate details of an event

  • Milne & Bull (2002) found that combining the stages 'report everything' and 'reinstate the context' gave better accuracy than the other stages of the CI when used alone

  • This suggests that some components of the CI are more effective than others

• Carrying out a CI is a time-consuming process

  • Police officers' time is limited and there may be resistance to carrying out a full CI due to the time constraints involved in not only conducting the interview but also training police officers in the technique

  • This suggests that carrying out a full CI is not a realistic procedure for police officers to use