I finished my psychology A-level last year with an A*. I have compiled a list of improvised essays I done as mocks and each of these essays fall into band 4 (13-16 marks)
Discuss the use of the cognitive
interview as a means of
improving the accuracy of
eyewitness testimony. (16 marks)
Geiselman et al. (1985) created the cognitive interview, identifying four key principles
that they believed would improve recall of eyewitness testimony when compared to the
standard police interview: context reinstatement (CR), report everything (RE), recall
from changed perspective (CP), and recall in reverse order (RO). CR occurs when a
person mentally recalls the context of an incident, such as the time of day and weather.
These facts serve as a trigger, allowing the person to recall additional information. RE
occurs when a person recalls every information they can recollect, including those that
are insignificant. CP occurs when a person views an event from the perspective of
another person, such as the offender. Finally, RO is the process by which a person
recalls events in reverse chronological order.
Geiselman (1985) tested the impact of the cognitive interview on students who watched
a simulated crime tape. Participants were interrogated two days later using either the
regular police interview or the cognitive interview. Those who took the cognitive
interview remembered much more correct information than those who took the regular
interview. This shows that the cognitive interview is more effective at obtaining
information from eyewitnesses than a traditional interview.
Fisher et al. (1989) complement Geiselman's findings and hence the usefulness of the
cognitive interview. The effectiveness of the cognitive interview in real-world police
interviews was investigated by these researchers. Experienced detectives used a
conventional interviewing technique to record a selection of their interviews. After that,
the detectives were separated into two groups. The cognitive interview was taught to
one group, while the normal interview was taught to the other. Following training, their
following interviews were examined.
Discuss the use of the cognitive interview as a means of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (16 marks) 1
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