The Cognitive Interview

The Cognitive Interview

1. 1) REPORT EVERYTHING

   • the interviewer encourages the reporting of every single detail of the event, even if it seems irrelevant

2. 2) MENTAL REINSTATEMENT OF ORIGINAL EVENTS

   • the interviewer encourages the interviewee to mentally recreate the environment and contacts from the original incident

3. 3) CHANGING THE ORDER

   • the interviewer may try alternative ways though the timeline of the incident, for example by reversing the order in which events occurred

4. 4) CHANGING THE PERSPECTIVE

   • the interviewee us asked to recall the incident from multiple perspectives, for example by imagining how it would have appeared to other witnesses present at the time