Improving accuracy of EWT: cognitive interview

Improving accuracy of EWT: cognitive interview

1. The cognitive interview

   • Fisher and Geiselman (1992) argued EWT could be improved if police used better techniques when interviewing witnesses.
   • They recommended techniques based on psychological insights into how memory works, and called these the cognitive interview.

2. Evaluation

   • CI is time consuming- takes longer sand needs special training.
   • Some elements may be more valuable than others- report everything and reinstate the context used together produced better recall.
   • Support for the effectiveness of the ECI- ECI consistently produces more accurate recall than standard interview.

3. Stages if cognitive interview

   • 1. report everything-
   • 2. reinstate the context-
   • 3. reverse the order-
   • 4. change perspective-

4. The enhanced cognitive interview (ECI)

   • Fisher et al (1987) developed some additional elements of the CI to focus on social dynamics of the interaction.