A cognitive interview is used in police interviews to help witnesses remember events more accurately. It uses techniques to overcome biases and emotions that can alter memories, including open-ended questions and recalling events in reverse order. The interviewer may also ask the witness to describe events from someone else’s point of view and use multiple senses to trigger stronger memories.
A cognitive interview is a specific type of interview that attempts to elicit a more vivid and accurate recollection of a particular event. This method is often used in police interviews of a witness to a crime and is intended as a way to help that witness remember what happened in a more accurate way. There are several techniques that can be used during this type of interview.
The idea of cognitive interviewing arose in large part due to psychologists’ research and study of human memory, especially how memory can be remembered more accurately. Early theories that human memory was similar to a camera, recording events for accurate recall later, have largely been disproved by research indicating that people inadvertently alter their memories due to emotions and personal opinions or beliefs . While someone may believe they recall a particular memory accurately, strong emotions and personal biases can often alter how a memory is actually remembered. A cognitive interview uses a number of different methods to help an interviewer get a more accurate recall of an interviewee’s memories.
While different interviewers may take slightly different approaches to a cognitive interview, there are certain procedures that are often used during this type of interview. The cognitive interview usually begins with the interviewer asking the witness to try to recover in the moment she is trying to remember. The witness will often be asked to close their eyes to block out other stimuli and focus on memories. Open-ended questions, those without a “yes” or “no” answer, are asked, and the interviewer typically does not interrupt the flow of a witness’s response, allowing him or her to remember an event more organically.
The witness in an interview will often be asked to recall events as they happened from beginning to end. Once this has been related, the respondent can then ask the witness to relate the events as they occurred in reverse order, or to start in the middle and recall the events going forward or backward. This can help a witness remember details that might otherwise have been missed or overlooked by forcing them to recall them in an unusual way.
An introductory interview often ends with a witness being asked to describe events from someone else’s point of view. This can help remove bias or personal emotion and help the witness focus on the events in an unbiased way. The interviewer will often ask questions that try to elicit details that have commonalities connecting them, such as humorous events, as well as questions that would use multiple senses, including smell and touch, as these can trigger stronger and more diverse memories.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
