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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive interview | 3/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_interview | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:11:04.645971+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Dependence on eyewitnesses === The usefulness of cognitive interviews depends upon the presence of eyewitnesses at the scene of a crime. If there are no eyewitnesses or bystanders present during a crime, the use in performing a cognitive interview becomes limited to non-existent. Cognitive interviews are most effective in situations such as robberies or batteries where eyewitnesses are more likely to be present.
=== Line-up recognition === Research has also demonstrated that cognitive interviews are not generally effective as a form of memory-enhancement with regards to the recognition of suspects in police lineups or photo arrays. Cognitive interviewing can impair an eyewitness's ability to accurately identify a face in comparison to a standard police interview. Though this problem can be resolved by implementing a short delay of as little as 30 minutes, if interviewers are unaware of the need for a delay, the impairment caused by cognitive interviewing strategies could potentially make things unreliable.
=== Accuracy === Although cognitive interviews aim to increase the amount of information reported from an eyewitness, implementing this method of memory-enhancement does not necessarily guarantee accurate information. During the interview process it is not uncommon for an interviewee to succumb to a social desirability bias. This means that the witness alters their story or response in a way that they feel makes their answer more acceptable in the eyes of the interviewer as well as society. A meta-analysis indicates that accuracy is almost identical to standard interviews.
=== Children === Despite the fact that cognitive interviewing methods have been modified for use with children, these modifications are not equally effective across all pre-adolescent age groups. Research has demonstrated that the cognitive interview is more successful with older children than with younger children. Studies have shown that younger children have more difficulty adhering to the more advanced components of the cognitive interview. This difficulty could be due to developmental reasons. Another study showed that cognitive interviewing proved to significantly increase the amount of correct information recalled in a group of 7 to 9 year olds, however, this group's amount of confabulation also increased. Despite the few limitations that may arise, cognitive interviewing as a whole has been an overall successful among interviewers and witnesses of a crime. Another advantage of the cognitive interview aside from its success in enhanced recall is that it can be learned and applied with a minimal amount of training. Several studies of the cognitive interview have provided results that support the effectiveness of this relatively new method of interviewing. The cognitive interview has proven to be a beneficial method for memory enhancement in police officers, children, adults and older adults when recalling the events of a mishap or crime.
== Effectiveness in different population segments ==
=== Police and interviewing === It has been demonstrated that cognitive interviews to be better than standard interviews. Field tests have shown that police officers trained in cognitive interviewing benefit from gathering more information from witnesses in investigative scenes. One particular study showed that more information (which the study also deemed accurate) is extracted when using cognitive interviews compared to standard police interviews.
=== Children: Age groups === Child participants have been able to provide interviewers with solid responses, which have proven to be both correct and detailed when given a cognitive interview. Researchers have recently reported that cognitive interviewing leads children to report detailed information that is particularly relevant to police investigations. The children demonstrate correct recall of the criminal, the crime, as well as objects and location in comparison to a controlled police interview. In one study, a modified version of the cognitive interview was deduced to ensure children fully understood the instructions of the interview as well as the questions they were being asked. They were taught to put themselves in another person’s perspective. For example, "Put yourself in the body of _________ and tell me what that person saw,". The children were made aware that they could use "I don't know" as a response. The MCI versions were found to be effective in children. Two additional studies were conducted to examine the effectiveness of the instructions used in both the cognitive interviews and of a new mnemonic, the 'cued recall' (CR), on children’s recall and suggestibility levels. In the first experiment 229 children ages 4–5 and 8-9, participated in a painting session. Afterward they were interviewed with one of the six interview protocols: A full CI, four modified versions of the CI, or a structured interview (SI). The children were then asked misleading questions. Results showed that the full CI and the variations of the CI elicited more correct details than the SI, without association in errors or confabulations, misrepresentation of events. In the second experiment 57 children were tested with a cognitive interview without the change order instruction (CO). The omission of the CO reduced children’s suggestibility level. Results confirmed the effectiveness of this protocol. Moreover, children who were tested using the CI and its four modifications, reported more correct information than children interviewed with the SI at any age. Furthermore, a study done by Geiselman and his fellow researchers found that the CI reduced the negative effects of misinformation when the witnesses were previously interviewed with a CI. This is referred to the Geiselman effect. . Thus, the CI reduces suggestibility if administered before the suggestive interview.