Cognitive interview
The cognitive interview is a method of interviewing eyewitnesses and victims about what they remember from a crime scene. Using four retrievals, the primary focus of the cognitive interview is to make witnesses and victims of a situation aware of all the events that transpired. The interview aids in minimizing both misinterpretation and the uncertainty that is otherwise seen in the questioning process of traditional police interviews. Cognitive interviews reliably enhance the process of memory retrieval and have been found to elicit memories without generating inaccurate accounts or confabulations. Cognitive interviews are increasingly used in police investigations, and training programs and manuals have been created.
History
In 1975, the RAND Corporation completed a study on criminal-investigations. The study found that the testimony of an eyewitness was an important determinant in whether the case was solved or not. However, it has been found that many eyewitness reports were unreliable as they could be incomplete, partially constructed and vulnerable to suggestions during the interviewing process. Studies have shown that interviewing techniques such as asking leading questions and closed-ended questions can influence the responses given by the interviewee. Many of the techniques were explored by Elizabeth Loftus, a researcher who studied eyewitness testimony, the misinformation effect, and false memories.Cognitive interviews were developed in 1984 by researchers Geiselman, Fisher and their colleagues in response to the ineffective police interviewing techniques used in the past. Their goal was to suggest methods that increased the accuracies of eyewitness testimony. They found that when participants were trained in memory retrieval techniques, the participants recalled more correct information about an event than occurred on a questionnaire. They based the techniques on four general memory retrieval rules based on the encoding specificity principle, and the assumption that memory traces are usually complex with various kinds of information. In 1985 Geiselman, Fisher and their colleagues MacKinnon and Holland further showed that the cognitive interview had ecological validity by having participants watch videos of simulated violent crimes. The original concept of the cognitive interview was revised in 1987 by Fisher, Geiselman and their colleagues. The revisions to the original cognitive interview incorporated the idea of structuring the interview to be more compatible with how the brain retrieves memories. The revised version of the cognitive interview showed an increase of 45 percent in correct information retrieved. In 1992, Fisher and Geiselman wrote a training manual for investigative services on how to conduct a cognitive interview. The techniques they developed are widely used today by a variety of investigative services such as police departments, private investigators, and attorneys.
Memory retrieval
The foundation for the creation of the cognitive interview was rooted in several well researched facts about human memory. Research has shown that memory deteriorates over time. This indicates that the more time that passes between initial encoding and subsequent retrieval the less likely accurate recall will be. This could be a potential issue during a cognitive interview if a large amount of time has elapsed between witnessing the crime and subsequently conducting the interview. It has also been demonstrated that human memory has a limited capacity for storing information, as well as a reconstructive nature. The reconstructive nature of human memory can be demonstrated through the use of schemas; a memory blueprint that provides insight and guidance as to what one might expect from certain events. As a consequence, a witness may incorrectly recall and subsequently report the events of a crime because they are reporting what their schema of a crime is, as opposed to what actually transpired. It has also demonstrated that the recall of information from memory is influenced by the strategies used to gain access to that information. This information has since been integrated in the field of forgetting in eyewitness testimonies.Theoretical background
Cognitive interviewing is rooted in two cognitive theories: the encoding specificity principle and the multi-component view of memory. The encoding specificity principle was introduced by Endel Tulving. This theory states that cues presented will be more effective in facilitating recall when the cues have some degree of similarity to cues that were present at the time of encoding. Thus, a retrieval environment that effectively reinstates the original environment should enhance memory. This demonstrates that an eyewitness will remember most about an event when there is maximal overlap between the context in which the crime was witnessed and the context in which the recall attempt is made. Based on this principle, an interviewer will receive better results using the first two retrieval rules if they are able to encourage the participant to recreate an overall environment similar to that of the event the participant had witnessed. For example, the interviewer could encourage the witness to recreate their original state during the interview. Past research has demonstrated that memories that have been encoded during a high, emotionally aroused state may be accessible only if the same affect is reinstated during retrieval. The last two retrieval rules are based on the multi-component view of memory which maintains that memory trace is not a linear representation of the original event, but rather is a complex. As a consequence, information about an event can be retrieved using a number of different routes; each of which might provide information about rather different aspects of the original event.Retrieval rules
The use of the cognitive interview is based on four memory retrieval rules and several supplementary techniques. These rules are referred to as mnemonics.- Mental Reinstatement of Environmental and Personal Contexts: The participant is asked to mentally revisit the to-be-remembered event. The interviewer may ask them to form a mental picture of the environment in which they witnessed the event. This picture could include the placement of objects such as windows or furniture, the lighting, or even the temperature. The participant is also asked to revisit their personal mental state during the event and then describe it in detail. The purpose of this process is to increase the feature overlap between initial witnessing and subsequent retrieval contexts.
- In-depth Reporting: The interviewer encourages the reporting of every detail, regardless of how peripheral it may seem to the main incident. This step is important for two reasons. First, the participant may only initially report what information they assume to be important regardless of the fact that they are unaware of what information will have value. Second, recalling partial details may lead to subsequent recall of additional relevant information.
- Describing the TBR Event in Several Orders: The participant creates a narrative of the TBR event. He or she is then prompted to start the narrative from a point that is different from their initial starting point. This process may provide a new perspective of the event which subsequently provides an opportunity for new information to be recalled.
- Reporting the TBR Event from Different Perspectives: The participant is asked to report the event from several different perspectives; like that of another witness or even a participant. If the participant witnessed a robbery, the interviewer may ask ‘What do you think the cashier saw?’ and then ask for the participant’s perspective.
- Supplementary Techniques: These techniques are used to elicit specific items from the narrative that the participant provides about what they witnessed. These techniques are questions posed to the interviewee that may jog their memory for details such as physical appearance, objects, or speech characteristics.