What Is A Cognitive Interview: Helpful Or Harmful?

The Rand Corporation conducted a study of criminal-investigation processes, reporting that the principal determinant of whether a case was solved was the completeness and accuracy of eyewitness accounts (Ronald Fisher, 1985). People learn things differently, so in a direct correlation, they tend to remember things differently as well. When it comes to witnessing an event, a crime being committed, or merely hearing someone say something; pieces of memory are going to be built that must be recalled later when asked by an investigator to provide a statement. If the memory of the event is extremely emotional, how that information is recalled can be quite difficult. If someone is personally involved, and the event was quite traumatic, recalling

A hypnotic interview is conducted by a trained clinical specialist and places the subject into a relaxed, almost sedative state which theory says allows the subject to access more of a subconscious level of memory not normally recalled while completely alert or awake. A cognitive interview is similar to hypnosis as neither one is recommended over the standard police interview; but hypnotic interviews face strict guidelines in order to be conducted and admissible in

Whitehouse, 2008). Due to its use, the courts have created restrictions on applicability and admissibility in court; creating such restrictive use that law enforcement has often looked toward other methods, to include the Cognitive interview, because the subject is awake, coherent, and not easily influenced by subjective interviewers. Within the scope of the cognitive interview, subjects can be allowed free expression in order to gain as many facts as possible, without interruption or suggestive input by the interviewer. Once rapport is gained, and the free story mode is complete, and interviewer can walk the subject back through their statement, filling in gaps, and quite possibly gaining new insight by examining another’s point of view. This is all done with the subject awake and aware, vice the hypnotic interview where the subject can be made to “remember” information input from the interviewer; thereby reduced validity and accuracy of data. The courts are much more receptive to the cognitive technique versus the hypnotic interview results; simply based on the restrictions of admissibility that have been