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Collection of Evidence (Cognitive) - Coggle Diagram
Collection of Evidence (Cognitive)
Collection and use of evidence from witnesses and suspects
Evidence from witnesses - The cognitive interview (CI)
Police collect evidence from witnesses using standard interview involving rapid fire questions and frequent interruptions
More recently, CI, Fisher and Geiselman (1992) consists of set of 4 components that allows interviewer maximum information
(1) context reinstatement (2) report everything (3) recall from a changed perspective 94) recall using a changed order
A toolbox:
For CI to be effective, cannot be followed directly, must be implemented as a toolbox of skills to be used strategically for specific scenario
Original development:
Development based largely on theoretical work to context-dependent memory and eyewitness testimony
'context-reinstatement' element based on context dependent memory research and 'changed order' aims to prevent expectations generating what happened next
Research evidence:
Fisher et al (1989) tested CI in field using interviews with real witnesses conducted by 16 detectives
7 trained in CI
Team at University of California analysed but blind to conditions
63% more information obtained using CI
The enhanced cognitive interview (ECI):
Getting social dynamics right. This involves personalising the interview and establishing rapport with he interviewee
Facilitating communication and control. Importantly, it is at this point in the interview that witnesses are given control of the interview so they can report everything
Free reporting and context reinstatement. The most accurate information is obtained at this stage
Use of open ended questions or prompts to encourage detailed responses. Another useful technique to promote extensive retrieval is asking the witness to recall the event in a different temporal order
Introduce important questions to the investigation such as information that has not already been mentioned by the witness
Closure for the witness leaving them in a positive frame of mind
The interviewer should evaluate the interview by listening to or watching the recording
Evidence from suspects
A suspects rights when being questioned:
UK: "You do not have to say anything./ But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you may later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in as evidence"
US: "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney, and if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you"
Interviews and interrogations:
Interview techniques aim to psychologically manipulate a suspect/witness to confession
Non-accusatory questions
Reid technique popular in US
The Reid technique: Nine steps of interrogation
The suspect is isolated in a small, bare, preferably sound proofed room. The interrogator confronts the suspect with a strong assertion of guilt, often accompanied by incriminating evidence, real or contrived
The interrogator urges the suspect to tell the truth, and minimise the seriousness of the offence or offers moral justifications
The interrogator interrupts all denial efforts if the suspect continues to maintain his or her innocence
The interrogator aims to overcome the suspect's morals, factual and emotional objections as to why they could or would not have committed the crime
If the suspect responds to the pressure by passive withdrawal, the interrogator must regain the suspect's attention
This is done by showing sympathy and understanding to get the suspect to cooperate
Two guilty interpretations of the crime are presented, one of which is more acceptable than the other
If the suspect accepts the lesser alternative, a preliminary admission of guilt, then the interrogator seeks a fuller admission with details about the crime
This is converted into a full written confession detailing what, how and why, that will prove credible in court
False confessions:
Innocent suspects sometimes induced to confess to crimes they didn't commit
Kassin et al (2010) -> interrogation is guilt-presumptive
Innocent suspects hope for reevaluation of their evidence and beliefs
Number of factors that mitigate against this: confirmation bias, willingness to comply, psychological disorders, youth
Memon et al (1999) on the Cognitive Interview
Background and aims
Discussion organised around 4 themes:
Effectiveness of various components of the CI
Relationship between CI and other interviewing methods
Different measures of memory performance
The effect of training quality on interviewer performance
Aims:
Aimed to make comments on theoretical and methodological issues to be considered in CI research and practical uses of CI in the field
Effectiveness of the CI
Context reinstatement (CR):
Interviewer can help witnesses recreate context of crime scene by asking to form image in head of original scene -> context dependent memory
Cue is effective as it's specifically encoded with the to-be-remembered information
Report everything (RE):
Witnesses encouraged to report all detail they remember, regardless of relevance
Aids recall of other information
Change perspective (CP):
Encourages witnesses to view scene as others may have seen it (victim, perpetrator)
Use number of pathways to increase retrieval of detail
Could lead to fabricated details and confusion for witness
Change order (CO):
Encourages witnesses to recall events in different orders
Can result in additional information being recalled
Isolating the effective components of the CI:
One way to isolate is to experimentally isolate and test effectiveness of each component
5-8 year olds -> interviewed with one technique, control instructed to 'try harder'
No significant difference between groups
1996 results replicated using 5-9 year olds
CR provides most recalled information
ECI improves communication and retrieval of information
Comparing the CI with other interviews
Standard interview:
Technique typically used by police
Not standardised, lots of rapid fire questions/interruptions
Doesn't provide more appropriate experimental control
Guided memory interview (GMI):
Draws upon principles of contextual reinstatement as does CI
Reasonable comparison group for determining whether CI effects can be attributing to context reinstatement alone or whether combination of techniques is responsible
More appropriate control would be procedure that achieves a good rapport with witness without special memory techniques
Structured interview (SI):
Builds rapport to rpovide opportunity for narrative description of crime
Non-interruptive, confidence building, fosters use of good questioning
Both CI and SI effective
SI provides reasonably good control for determining role of CI techniques
Measures of memory
Measures of performance % of correct interview statements
CI suggests witnesses should report everything
More information, less accurate
No loss of accuracy in CI
Cognitive techniques of CI improve retrieval of correct details
Quality of training
Interviewers should be given adequate training in CI for techniques, a two day training programme is best
The quality of the traning needs to be considered, which may be governed by available resources
Candidates who have potential to become good interviewers should be guided toward the role of investigative detective and poor interviewers towards other aspects of police work. However this assumes poor interviewers will not benefit from training
Conclusions
Research into effectiveness of CI is inconclusive
Not clear how CI relates to other interviewing procedures and what would make suitable control group
Strategies for police interviews
PEACE framework - UK 1990s
Planning and preparation:
Interviewers should create and record a written interview plan, including details of characteristics of interviewee and arrangements for interview
Engage and explain:
Engage witness and establish/maintain rapport
Allows for conversation to be managed
Account, clarification and challenge:
Important to support account with active listening, allowing witness to pause to search memory
Interviewer clarify/expand account by breaking down to manageable topics
Closure:
Planned and structured so interview doesn't end abruptly
Witness statement prepared if appropriate or if suspect, announce date/time before ending recording
Evaluation:
Interviewer needs to evaluate what has been said with view to determining how account fits with investigation
Audio recording interviews - England/Wales 1984
Making the recording:
Recording starts as soon as suspect enters room
Must be obvious to suspect
Interviewer should: explain that the interview is being audibly recorded; give their name and rank and that of any other interviewer present; ask the suspect and any other party present, e.g. a solicitor or interpreter to identify themselves; state the date, time of commencement and place of the interview; state that the suspect will be given a notice about what will happen to the recording
Ending the interview:
Suspect cautioned and reminded of entitlement to free legal advice
Master recording sealed and labelled and treated as exhibit
Also saved as digital file
Evaluation
Validity
Valid:
Blind procedure
Witness interviews analysed by team who were unaware of if interviews were analysed by trained CI detective or not
Field experiment so reduced demand characteristics
Not valid:
Reduced control extraneous variables due to use of field experiment
Reliability
Reliable:
Standardised approach of the CI to collecting evidence
Interviews used conducted by CI detectives -> all followed CI protocol
Not reliable:
Standard interview used by police is less standardised, with factors that would cause inconsistent and less reliable testimonies
Sampling bias
Bias:
5-9 year olds used -> this age has difficulty in using cognitive techniques -> validity can be questioned
No bias:
Results that were partially replicated by adults allow results to be generalisable
Freewill/determinism
Determinism:
Coercive, interrogative nature of the Reid technique responsible for confessions
Information recalled by witness determined by an effective CI
Freewill:
CI instruction to report everything suggests element of freewill on behalf of witness to report as much information as they wish about the crime
Usefulness
Useful:
Increases understanding of ways that police interviewers can collect evidence using CI
Memon and Higham review useful as it highlights police interviewers should be given adequate training in CI techniques to be most effective
Not useful:
Reid technique less useful as it focuses on aggressive interrogation of suspect to obtain a confession -> may lead to false confessions
Ethical considerations
Not ethical:
Reid technique used in US is confrontational and puts suspect under pressure to confess
Ethical:
PACE (1984) code of conduct ensures that all UK suspects are not coerced into providing confessions
Conducting socially sensitive research
Not socially sensitive:
Research into interview techniques encourages police to try new methods of interviewing that will avoid false confessions
Psychology as a science
Science:
Use of control group to test whether increase in recall with CI was due to additional retrieval attempts when each new instruction is applied -> testing of hypothesis supports psychology as a science