Cognitive Interview

Spot the Difference Try and spot 10 differences between the two pictures of interviews.

Answers Can you guess what today’s lesson is about? Write a learning objective you think might apply to today…

How will I know if I am learning? By the end of the lesson… Will be able to define the cognitive interview (CI). C Will be able to explain how the cognitive interview (CI) works. A Will be able to use research to evaluate the cognitive interview (CI).

Cognitive Interview This is a police technique for interviewing witnesses to a crime. It encourages them to recreate the original context in order to increase the accessibility of stored information.

Why is it important? Improving effectiveness of questioning witnesses in police interviews. (memories are made up from different types of memory. Apply findings of psychological findings to this area Fisher and Geiselman (1992) Reviewed memory literature – people remember things better if they are provided with retrieval cues. The technique they devised had 4 components. Cognitive interview made to help police COPE with EWT

Cognitive Interview: 4 Stages Create a storyboard of the different stages of a cognitive interview. Leave space as we will be adding to it later! Be creative as you like – use pictures as a revision aid if you wish! 1) REPORT EVERYTHING 2) Context reinstatement 3) Reverse ORDER 4) Recall from a different PERSPECTIVE

Activity C - answers

Now it’s your turn… Murder in a Pub Cognitive Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_QbTX2qS10

Now it’s your turn… Match up with another pair in the room. Write 4 questions that you could ask about the witness in the style of the CI Get into pairs, nominate one of you to be the interviewer, and one to be the eye witness. Interview the witness using about the murder in the pub using your questions. Match up with another pair in the room. Compare answers… Did the interview elicit accurate recall? How did the witness feel when they were being interviewed?

Example Questions Cognitive Interview Now revisit your storyboard and add in at least 1 example question for each of the stages in the interview. Complete activity B Tell me everything you can remember from start to finish in your own words….

Complete the evaluation handout

Exam question – model answer The student could ask the participants to recall the event in reverse order (1 mark) this would mean the interviewer would ask the witness to begin after the explosion and go backwards through the events (2 marks). For example, the student may ask the witness to report on what happened just before the accident but after take off. The student could then ask the witness to explain events during countdown, as the astronauts got onto the shuttle, the witness’s observations during pre- flight interviews and so on until they get to the first events of the day (3 marks). This would have the effect of the witness recalling events not in a stereotyped way and giving a more accurate account of the events (4 marks). Now you use a different cognitive interview technique to answer the question in activity E

Activity F (a) (P) The research findings have shown to be reliable, (E) for example, Kohnken et al (1999) carried out a meta-analysis of 53 studies investigating cognitive interview, albeit an enhanced version, and found, on average, a 34% increase in the amount of correct information generated compared with standard police interviews, (S) This shows that the findings are not a ‘one-off’ and we should be confident in suggesting that cognitive interview does produce more accurate EWT than standard interview, so the development and use of it have real tangible benefits

Activity F (b) (P) Additionally, since the initial reconceptualisation of the police interview, there have been a number of changes to the original use of the cognitive interview, and new techniques known as enhanced cognitive interviews (ECI) are now common (E) for example, dynamics were taken into account, such as when to (or not to) establish eye-contact, ways to reduce anxiety, minimising distractions, asking the witness to speak slowly and to ask open ended questions. (S) So although cognitive interview has shown to be beneficial, researchers and legal agencies should not stop developing research and refining the procedures, so that even more accurate EWTs can be garnered.

Activity F (c) (P) However, the economic impact of the cognitive interview must be considered. (E) The Cognitive Interview tends to take longer and use more resources than the traditional interview, and some critics suggest that some of the procedures are more valuable than others, whilst others are mindful of the increase in time and resources required to conduct the interviews, it also requires more training. (S) In times when police funding is under pressure, it may be more viable to only use aspects of the CI, or not use it at all, so that time and resources are not being used without good reason to do so, although it could be counter argued that the increase in accuracy has economic benefits in the long term, as the more accurate EWTs there are, the fewer cases will be dismissed, meaning taking cases to court becomes much more efficient.

Wright and Holliday (2007) Evaluation Wright and Holliday investigated how age affects recall – the older the participant (75-95 years old), the less complete and less accurate the recall. However, when they used the cognitive interview technique, the older participants recalled significantly greater detail without giving any false information. How can we use this as an evaluation point? Write a PES paragraph on the big whiteboards

Individual Differences Evaluation Mello and Fisher (1996) When CI and normal interview techniques were tested on both older adults’ (72 years) and younger adults’ (22 years) memory, CI was better for both. But was more significantly an advantage for the elderly.

Evaluation Milne and Bull (2002) Kohnken et al (1999) meta-analysis of 53 studies Found on average a 34% increase in amount of correct information generated in CI BUT Most of the sample were university students Milne and Bull (2002) Found that when they used a combination of “report everything” and “mental reinstatement”, participants’ recall was significantly higher. BUT Still in a laboratory - artificial

Evaluation Different police forces use different aspects of the CI technique so it is difficult to evaluate its effectiveness fully The technique takes more time than is often available Techniques that limit the eyewitnesses account to the minimum are often preferred Demands are placed on the interviewer to ‘probe’ effectively The quantity and quality of CI training is an issue

Evaluation Although cognitive interviewing produces an increase in ‘false positives’ (recall of additional items), there is a bigger increase in the amount of correct information recalled compared to a standard interview The CI is valuable in reducing miscarriages of justice in countries where these are likely to occur (e.g. Brazil)

Exam practice An American space shuttle exploded soon after it was launched. All of the astronauts on board were killed. Crowds of people were watching, including friends and relatives of the astronauts. Six months after the explosion, a student decided to investigate the accuracy of some of the eyewitnesses’ memory of this event. Explain how anxiety might have affected eyewitness testimony of this event. Refer to psychological research in your answer. (6marks)

Mark Scheme Candidates might refer to the Yerkes-Dodson law which suggests moderate anxiety is associated with better recall than very high or very low anxiety. In this case friends and relatives might show worse recall than other people in the crowd. Laboratory based research has generally shown impaired recall in high anxiety conditions. Loftus’ (1979) weapon focus However, in a real life study Yuille and Cutshill (1986) found witnesses who had been most distressed at the time of a shooting gave the most accurate account five months later. Also Christianson and Hubinette (1993) found victims of genuine bank robberies were more accurate in their recall than bystanders. Answers which do not make explicit reference to this event should be awarded a maximum of 4 marks.

Passing Notes… In your teams your aim is to get a complete set of correct notes without looking at your textbook or workbook and without consulting each other. Decide on an order in which each team member will have a turn. The first team member starts with the paper and writes down the first required note. They fold over their answer and pass the note to the next nominated team mate. They write down the next note and fold theirs over and pass it on…. Etc.

Passing Notes… In your teams your aim is to get a complete set of correct notes without looking at your textbook or workbook and without consulting each other. Decide on an order in which each team member will have a turn. The first team member starts with the paper and writes down the first required note. They fold over their answer and pass the note to the next nominated team mate. They write down the next note and fold theirs over and pass it on…. Etc.

Passing Notes… Player 1: Write down the name(s) of psychologist(s) who found that anxiety had a positive effect on EWT. Player 2 : Write down the name(s) of psychologist(s) who found that anxiety had a negative effect on EWT. Player 3: Describe the Weapon Focus Effect Player 4: Write down the name of the law which explains differences in the effect of anxiety on EWT. Player 5: Explain the Yerkes Dodson Law. Player 6: Draw a sketch of the Yerkes Dodson Graph. Player 7: Write down one evaluation of research into anxiety and EWT.