The cognitive interview: A survey of its forensic effectiveness

The cognitive interview has been shown to have the potential to enhance wit ness recall. Consequently, it has been adopted by all police forces in Engl and and Wales. The present paper surveyed 96 police officers trained in the cognitive interview and 65 untrained police officers, using a questionnair e. Officers rated how frequently they used and how useful they found compon ents of the cognitive interview. Trained officers were significantly more l ikely to use instructions to mentally reinstate context, use different orde rs, change perspectives and imagery. Amongst trained officers there was a c onsensus that some components of the cognitive interview were used more fre quently and were believed to be more useful than others. Rated as most usef ul and most frequently used were establish rapport, report everything, enco urage concentration, witness compatible questioning, and mental reinstateme nt of context. Rated as less useful and less frequently used were recall in different orders, imagery, change perspectives and transfer control. Furth er responses indicated that the cognitive interview was generally perceived to be a useful procedure that increases correct recall, although officers were still aware that incorrect information can also be generated. However, a major problem for many officers was that they do not have the time to co nduct a full cognitive interview.