CHANGING PERSPECTIVES LN COGNITIVE INTERVIEWING

A study is presented which investigated aspects of a specialist method for taking evidence from witnesses known as 'Cognitive Interviewing'. Specifically, the study sought to evaluate four techniques used in th is form of interviewing, namely the Report All, Reinstate Context, Cha nge Order, and the Change Perspectives mnemonics. The findings suggest that while none of these mnemonics significantly increased inaccuracy , all but the Change Perspectives mnemonic facilitated recall of accur ate information. The findings are discussed in terms of the applied fu nctional utility of each of the mnemonics and the Cognitive Interview procedure in general.