AS Psychology - The Cognitive Interview 2

In 1987, Fisherman et al. reviewed police practice and, with detailed analysis, decided to make some amendments to The Cognitive Interview. The new techniques that were introduced are:

• The interviewer should minimise distractions.
• The interviewer should actively listen to the witness.
• Open-ended questions should be asked to encourage longer answers that could lead to a more accurate conviction.
• A pause should be introduced after each response.
• Interruptions should be avoided.
• The use of imagery should be encouraged so to stimulate the witnesses memory.
• The language used by interviewers should be adapted to suit the individual witnesses needs.
• Judgemental comments should be avoided.

The Testing of the Cognitive Interview Technique

Geiselman et al. (1985) compared the Cognitive Interview Technique to the standard interview by showing 89 students a police training video of violent crimes and then using law enforcement officers, who had been trained in either CIT or standard techniques, to interview them. 

Results:

Item recall                                  CIT                                       …