Isolating the effects of the cognitive interview techniques (original) (raw)
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THE COGNITIVE INTERVIEW AND ITS EFFECT ON WITNESSES’ CONFIDENCE
Psychology Crime & Law, 2004
Today there is ample evidence that the Cognitive Interview (CI) enhances witnesses' memory. However, less is known about how the CI affects eyewitnesses' confidence. To address this shortcoming we conducted a study analyzing how realism in confidence was affected by the CI. All participants (n0/79) were first shown a filmed kidnapping. After 2 weeks we interviewed one-third of the participants according to the guidelines of the CI, one-third according to a Standard Interview (SI), and one-third were not interviewed at all (Control condition). Participants in all three conditions were then asked to answer 45 forced-choice questions, and to give a confidence judgment after each choice. For the 45 questions, no differences in accuracy were found between the three conditions. Confidence was higher in the CI and SI conditions, compared with the Control condition. CI and SI did not differ in metacognitive realism but both showed lower realism compared with the Control condition, although only CI significantly so. The results indicate that the inflation in confidence is more likely to be explained in terms of a reiteration effect , than as a consequence of the particular mnemonics characterizing the CI (e.g. ''mental reinstatement of context''). In sum, CI does not seem to impair (or improve) the realism in witnesses' confidence, and does not inflate confidence in erroneous recall, compared to a SI.
Swiss Journal of Psychology, 2014
This study examines the influence of familiarity on witnesses' memory and the individual effectiveness of each of the four cognitive interview instructions in improving witnesses' recall of scripted events. Participants (N = 195), either familiar or unfamiliar with the hospital script, were presented with a video of a surgical operation. One week later, an interviewer used one of the four cognitive interview instructions or a control instruction to ask them about the video. Participants familiar with the surgery context recalled significantly more correct information and, in particular, more consistent and irrelevant details than those unfamiliar with the surgery context. Furthermore, the results confirmed the effectiveness of all four cognitive interview mnemonics in enhancing the amount of correct information reported, irrespective of the participants' familiarity with the critical event. However, their efficacy differed depending on the category of details considered. The practical implications of these results are discussed.
Cognitive Interview Techniques for Use with Children as Victims and Witnesses of Crime
1991
This paper describes research leading to the development and evaluation of techniques for effectively interviewing children who are witnesses to or victims of crime. The techniques were developed from basic theoretical principles of memory recall that were modified to accommodate the capabilities and limitaticns of children. The first experiment staged an event that resembled the type of crime that children testify about. The event was witnessed by pairs of children who were either 7-8 or 10-11 years old. One child in each pair participated in the scenario as victim, while the other child witnessed the event. Two days later, each child was questioned about the event by one of nine Sheriff's Deputies who were skilled in interviewing children. Each deputy used either cognitive questioning procedures or their own, "standard" methods. Findings indicated that questioning techniques of memory guidance based on principles of cognitive psychology significantly increased the number of facts recalled at each age level without affecting the number of iLcorrect items generated. The second experiment evaluated the usefulness of a practice cognitive interview about an innocuous staged event that took place prior to interviews about the event targeted for investigation. Both cognitive interviewing and practice with the technique increased the number of correct iters recalled. (RH)
Effect of questioning techniques and interview setting on young children's eyewitness memory
1998
The goal of this research was to learn if supposed ineffective questioning techniques (e.g., question repetition within the interview) would reduce the accuracy of five-year-olds' eyewitness memory. In the first study, children viewed a slide show depicting a minor crime and were then interviewed either with a standard interview or one which incorporated ineffective questioning techniques. The results indicated that the type of interview did not affect children's eyewitness memory. In a second study, children were presented with the ineffective interview by an authoritative interviewer in a formal office setting. The results again indicated little influence of interview setting or question technique on children's eyewitness memory, identification accuracy, and suggestibility.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2005
The cognitive interview utilizes mnemonic instructions and social facilitative techniques to increase correct recall from eyewitnesses without concomitant increases in errors. Recent studies however have suggested that police may neglect this technique in time-critical situations. The present study investigated mnemonic components to determine whether a shorter, but still effective, technique was possible. Forty-five participants viewed a film of a simulated crime and were interviewed with one of three techniques: the cognitive interview; a modified version that replaced the change order and change perspectives techniques with additional free recall attempts; or a structured interview. It was hypothesized that the modified technique would be as effective as the cognitive interview, while both would be superior to the structured interview. Results supported these hypotheses. Further analysis suggested that a shortened version, with the two mnemonics removed, may substantially reduce interviewing time while still offering an effective interview strategy in time-critical situations. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 1989
The Cognitive Interview was tested in the field to enhance the recollection of actual victims and witnesses of crime. The technique is based on laboratory-tested principles of memory retrieval, knowledge representation, and communication. Seven experienced detectives from the Metro-Dade Police Department were trained to use the technique and were compared with 9 untrained detectives. Before and after training, all detectives tape-recorded interviews with victims and witnesses of crime. The trained detectives elicited 47% more information after than before training, and 63% more information than did the untrained detectives. Overall collaboration rates (94%) were extremely high and were equivalent for pre-and posttrained interviews. Because the Cognitive Interview reliably enhances memory and is easily learned and administered, it should be useful for a variety of investigative interviews.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 1989
The Cognitive Interview was tested in the field to enhance the recollection of actual victims and witnesses of crime. The technique is based on laboratory-tested principles of memory retrieval, knowledge representation, and communication. Seven experienced detectives from the Metro-Dade Police Department were trained to use the technique and were compared with 9 untrained detectives. Before and after training, all detectives tape-recorded interviews with victims and witnesses of crime. The trained detectives elicited 47% more information after than before training, and 63% more information than did the untrained detectives. Overall collaboration rates (94%) were extremely high and were equivalent for pre-and posttrained interviews. Because the Cognitive Interview reliably enhances memory and is easily learned and administered, it should be useful for a variety of investigative interviews.
This study examined witnesses' memories for an event experienced 2 years earlier. Ss in 4 age groups (6-, 8-and 10-year-olds and adults; N= 79) answered repeated questions about an ambiguous incident that occurred as part of an earlier study (D. A. Poole & L. T. . Surprisingly, the effects of question repetition were similar to the patterns observed 2 years ago. There were important differences in the testimonies of children and adults, however, that were not observed in the initial study: Children were less consistent than adults across sessions on yes-no questions, less accurate in response to open-ended questions, and more likely to fabricate answers to a question about a man's occupation. Some children also confused the actions of 2 research assistants. These results indicate the need for additional research on qualitative and quantitative changes in children's testimonies over long delays.
Nordic Conference on Police Research, 2007
It is found that open memory prompts tend to elicit longer and more accurate responses than do closed prompts. Reliance on open-ended questions during the early stages of interviews may not only produce greater amounts of uncontaminated information but also reduce acquiescence to misleading information introduced later in the interview. However, focused and closed questioning has been found to be dominant in forensic interviews of children in several countries. Aim The purpose of the present study is to examine the information provided by young children in Estonian police interviews of them. It is hypothesized that interviewers use more option-posing and direct questions than prompting children's free recall and the proportions of usage of different questioning techniques will vary across time within interviews. Method Videotaped interviews with 17 children (mean age 8 years 10 months, range 5 to 13 years) were analyzed. The interviewers had received some formal training in interviewing but no special training for the questioning of child witnesses. Results A pattern of long interviewer questions and short child answers was often apparent. During the interview, with time the proportion of direct questions was found to decrease and the proportion of option-posing and suggestive questions to increase. Longer answers were provided in response to general or central invitations, whereas option-posing or closed questions produced less information. Conclusions When taking into consideration the frequency of the different interviewer utterance types, investigative interviews in Estonian sample share heavy reliance on directive and option-posing utterances found in the interviews conducted in other countries. Better police training in the adoption of best-practice guidelines in interviewing children is required. Therefore, more structured methods such as the NICHD protocol or cognitive interview are strongly recommended to structure the interviews, increasing both quality and quantity.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2010
A critical issue for developmental psychology is how to obtain accurate and complete eyewitness memory reports from preschoolers without offering suggestions that might result in false allegations. We examined effects of two interviewing strategies (police/verbal interviews and clinician/prop-assisted interviews) on young children's reports about a medical examination. A total of 58 4-yearolds participated in the study, which conformed to a 2 (Interview Type) Â 2 (Number of Interviews) factorial design. Analyses revealed that interviewers spent less time off topic and asked more free recall questions in the police/verbal interviews than in the clinician/prop-assisted interviews. Compared with police/verbal interviews, clinician/prop-assisted interviews resulted in significantly more correct rejections and commission errors in children's memory reports. However, on a final free recall test, error rates were comparable across conditions. Higher child verbal intelligence predicted memory accuracy in police/verbal interviews, and greater parental attachment anxiety predicted children being asked a higher number of misleading questions. The study provides new insights into interview techniques that promote preschoolers' accurate eyewitness reports.