The Enhanced Cognitive Interview
Fisher and Geiselman (1987) suggested an amended version of the CI known as the enhanced cognitive interview that seeks to build a trusting relationship between interviewer and witness and improve the quality of communication between the two
Extra features of the ECI include :
The interviewer not distracting the witness with unnecessary interruptions/questions
The witness controlling the flow of information
Asking open ended questions
Getting the witness to speak slowly
Participants being reminded not to guess and to use the 'don't know' option when necessary, in order to reduce confabulations (false memories)
Reducing anxiety in witnesses
The ECI starts by getting the witness to control the flow of information through asking them open ended questions on neutral topics
The next stage then involves context reinstatement, followed by the witnesses free recall of events
During this time the interviewer stresses the importance of report everything and not guessing if details are unknown
The interviewer then moves on to asking about the information recalled using focused memory techniques that involve asking the witness to concentrate on mental images of the memory, such as the persons face and using these to guide recall
The idea here is that details are most retrievable when they are perceptually related to the witnesses mental image and so interviewers should time their questions accordingly
Modified versions of the CI and ECI have been produced for different reasons
Holliday (2003) produced a modified cognitive interview suitable for use with children, which stresses building a trusting relationship between interviewer and witness, gives control to the witness and removes the change perspective component as children are seen as being too young to effectively empathise with others
Other MCI's are shortened versions as many police forces have found that the CI and ECI take more time than they have available. These generally omit the change narrative order and change perspective components
Fisher et al (1989) assessed the performance of police officers in gathering facts when using the ECI compared to the SPI, finding the ECI to be superior
Coker (2013) found that an ECI technique that stressed the use of focused mental imagery produced increased accurate detail in comparison to the CI technique, especially concerning personal details of people being recalled and that this effect was greater if the ECI took place one week after the event rather than immediately afterwards. This suggests that the ECI is an improvement on the CI but that the timing of when an interview is conducted is vital to its success
Holliday (2003) showed children aged 4-5 and 9-10 years old, a five minute video of a child birthday party, with all the children being interviewed the next day using either SPI or a MCI specifically designed for use with children. The MCI produced more accurate detail than the SPI, illustrating the effectiveness of MCI's with specific groups of witnesses
Evaluation
Although the ECI has proved a more effective technique, its also more prone to producing confabulations, where incorrect items are recalled
The development of MCI's means groups of witnesses, such as children and those with learning difficulties, can be interviewed effectively : 45% of MCI's are designed for use with children
