The role-taking interview: an assessment technique for adolescents

This paper presents the Role-Taking Interview (RTI) as a tool for assessing the subjective experiences of adolescents in crisis. The RTI is intended as an adjunct to traditional assessment approaches and can provide clinicians with information regarding adolescents' perceptions of social relationships. A five-step approach for utilizing the method is presented along with its theoretical basis, rooted in role theory and psychodramatic concepts. Illustrative case examples are provided.     

The child-psychoanalytic play interview: a technique for studying thematic content.

Child psychoanalysts have long viewed play as a reflection of children's inner lives and have used the themes children represent in play for diagnostic and therapeutic work. Given the central role children's play has for clinical work, few studies have addressed play empirically. This paper presents a technique for studying the thematic content of children's play as it emerges during a play session with a child analyst. We report the steps involved in developing this investigative technique and describe the interobserver agreement among four rates using the technique with videotaped play sessions. Implications for future research using such an approach are discussed.     

The cognitive interview: Its origins,empirical support,evaluation and practical implications

This paper provides a background to current research on the cognitive interview (CI), which is a set of cognitive retrieval techniques designed to facilitate memory search (for example, via reinstatement of contextual cues). One of the principal aims of this research is to identify and develop techniques which police investigators can themselves use. A series of studies were conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, using police officers as interviewers and students, non-students and children as witnesses to realistic crimes. In all studies the CI elicited significantly more correct information with no apparent increase in errors or confabulations. The CI has been tested in a field study involving police officers in Florida. This paper will critically review this research, as well as more recent unpublished work including CI studies conducted in Germany and the UK. Some important modifications of the original CI procedure are described, and there is a theoretical discussion and explanation of the various components of the CI procedure. Finally, we will consider applications of the CI in clinical and organizational settings.     

An independent replication of the effectiveness of the cognitive interview

The cognitive interview developed by Geiselman and co-workers is a set of memory retrieval aids to enhance recall in memory tasks such as eyewitness reports. This research is a replication of the study of Geiselman, Fischer, Firstenberg, Hutton, Sullivan, Avetissian and Prosk (1984) with a German version of the cognitive interview. Twenty-nine subjects participated and saw a short film in an incidental learning situation. Approximately 6 days later the participants were questioned about one scene of the film. Fourteen subjects received the cognitive interview instructions and 15 were questioned without special instructions. First, subjects gave a written free report of the scene and subsequently answered more specific questions concerning details. The results clearly indicate that the cognitive interview enhances memory retrieval in free recall conditions but this effect is reduced to specific questions. The effects are discussed in terms of a possible underlying memory organization and the use of retrieval strategies.     

The role of visual imagery in the enhanced cognitive interview: guided questioning techniques and individual differences

The cognitive interview utilises mnemonics and other techniques to facilitate obtaining information from victims and witnesses. Research has indicated superior recall to standard police interviews. However, there has been minimal research regarding the role of individual differences. One area that has generated spirited theoretical debate is imagery ability, as guided imagery questioning is an important part of the enhanced cognitive interview. Imagery is also arguably an integral part of several mnemonics employed in the technique. The present study investigated the role of individual differences in imagery ability, as well as the effect of explicit instructions to image, on recall performance. Participants completed the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ), witnessed a film of a simulated crime, and were interviewed using the cognitive interview or a structured interview. While recall in the cognitive interview was superior, VVIQ scores had little relationship with recall of information. Further, recall elicited by guided imagery differed only minimally from that obtained using standard questioning in the structured interview. These results suggested that the relaxation and rapport building common to questioning in both interview conditions may evoke spontaneous imagery that is comparable to explicit instructions to image, regardless of individuals' inherent imagery ability. Future directions are discussed, including research focused on individual differences and a practical emphasis on context reinstatement and social facilitative techniques. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Twelve issues for cognitive science

I am struck by how little is known about so much of cognition. One goal of this paper is to argue for the need to consider a rich set of interlocking issues in the study of cognition. Mainstream work in cognition—including my own—ignores many critical aspects of animate cognitive systems. Perhaps one reason that existing theories say so little relevant to real world activities is the neglect of social and cultural factors, of emotion, and of the major points that distinguish an animate cognitive system from an artificial one: the need to survive, to regulate its own operation, to maintain itself, to exist in the environment, to change from a small, uneducated, immature system to an adult, developed, knowledgeable one. Human cognition is not the same as artificial cognition, if only because the human organism must also be concerned with the problems of life, of development, of survival. There must be a regulatory system that interacts with the cognitive component. And it may well be that it is the cognitive component that is subservient, evolved primarily for the benefit of the regulatory system, working through the emotions, through affect. I argue that several concepts must become fundamental parts of the study of cognition, including the roles of culture, of social interaction, of emotions, and of motivation. I argue that there are at least 12 issues that should comprise the study of cognition, and thereby, the field of Cognitive Science. We need to study a wide variety of behavior before we can hope to understand a single class. Cognitive scientists as a whole ought to make more use of evidence from the neurosciences, from brain damage and mental illness, from cognitive sociology and anthropology, and from clinical studies of the human. These must be accompanied, of course, with the study of language, of the psychological aspects of human processing structures, and of artificially intelligent mechanisms. The study of Cognitive Science requires a complex interaction among different issues of concern, an interaction that will not be properly understood until all parts are understood, with no part independent of the others, the whole requiring the parts, and the parts the whole.     

Selecting accurate statements from the cognitive interview using confidence ratings

Participants viewed a videotape of a simulated murder, and their recall (and confidence) was tested 1 week later with the cognitive interview. Results indicated that (a) the subset of statements assigned high confidence was more accurate than the full set of statements; (b) the accuracy benefit was limited to information that forensic experts considered relevant to an investigation, whereas peripheral information showed the opposite pattern; (c) the confidence-accuracy relationship was higher for relevant than for peripheral information; (d) the focused-retrieval phase was associated with a greater proportion of peripheral and a lesser proportion of relevant information than the other phases; and (e) only about 50% of the relevant information was elicited, and most of this was elicited in Phase 1.     

The effect of a prior cognitive interview on children's acceptance of misinformation

This research examined whether a Cognitive interview facilitates correct recall in children aged 4 to 5 and 9 to 10 years, and whether a Cognitive interview given before post‐event misinformation reduces children's reporting of suggestions on subsequent memory tests. Children were presented with an event followed the next day by a Cognitive or a Memorandum interview. Children were then read a post‐event summary containing misleading suggestions. The next day all children were given both standard test and modified forced‐choice cued‐recall tests. The free recall phase of the Cognitive interview elicited the greatest number of correct details. Age differences were found such that 9‐ to 10‐year‐old children's reports were more accurate and more complete than those of the 4‐ to 5‐year‐olds. More correct person, action and object details were reported in a Cognitive interview. Misinformation effects were found in both age groups on the standard test whereas on the modified test such an effect was only found in the 4‐ to 5‐year‐olds. Children's reporting of suggestions was unaffected by prior interview. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The cognitive interview: the efficacy of a modified mental reinstatement of context procedure for frontline police investigators

The current investigative interview framework for police officers in England and Wales (and many other countries) recommends the use of the cognitive interview (CI). One of the primary components of the CI is the mental reinstatement of context (MRC) instruction. However, research has consistently indicated that police officers do not regularly use this component and when they do it is often poorly applied. Thus the question arises as to whether some adjustment of the MRC component might enhance its forensic practicability. An initial investigation was conducted as to the efficacy of a more succinct and less complex MRC technique, namely a sketch plan mental reinstatement of context (Sketch MRC). Twenty‐four hours after having viewed a crime film, adult mock witnesses were interviewed employing the traditional MRC instruction, a Sketch MRC instruction or no mental reinstatement of context (No MRC). Analysis of overall memorial performance revealed the Sketch MRC to be as effective as the MRC and more effective than No MRC. Thus, for less serious crime the Sketch MRC technique may be a viable, less complex and less time consuming alternative. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Train‐the‐trainer: Methodology to learn the cognitive interview

Research has indicated that police may not receive enough training in interviewing cooperative witnesses, specifically in use of the cognitive interview (CI). Practically, for the CI to be effective in real‐world investigations, police investigators must be trained by law enforcement trainers. We conducted a three‐phase experiment to examine the feasibility of training experienced law enforcement trainers who would then train others to conduct the CI. We instructed Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement trainers about the CI (Phase I); law enforcement trainers from both agencies (n = 4, 100% male, mean age = 50 years) instructed university students (n = 25, 59% female, mean age = 21 years) to conduct either the CI or a standard law enforcement interview (Phase II); the student interviewers then interviewed other student witnesses (n = 50, 73% female, mean age = 22 years), who had watched a simulated crime (phase III). Compared with standard training, interviews conducted by those trained by CI‐trained instructors contained more information and at a higher accuracy rate and with fewer suggestive questions.     

Towards understanding the effects of interviewer training in evaluating the cognitive interview

The effectiveness of the cognitive interview (CI) technique has been demonstrated in experimental studies of eyewitness memory conducted in the USA, Germany, and the UK. Much of the research, however, has used college students as interviewers rather than professionals who regularly interview witnesses (e.g. police officers). The aim of this research was to examine the effects of such CI training using experienced police officers with established interviewing styles. An armed robbery was staged and information was elicited in witness interviews. The CI did not significantly increase correct recall but tended to produce more suppositions and errors. A qualitative analysis of interviewer behaviour showed that many officers had difficulty in applying the new cognitive techniques and in avoiding the use of closed and leading questions. The paper addresses two issues: first, that of training experienced police officers who have received relatively little prior training in investigative interviewing, and second, the extent to which we can generalize from the laboratory data elicited in previous studies of CI.     

A modified cognitive interview procedure for frontline police investigators

The current investigative interviewing model for police officers in England and Wales recommends the use of the cognitive interview (CI). However, there is much to suggest that police officers do not regularly fully apply the procedure and that when they do, it is often poorly applied. Research has indicated that this is particularly the case with non‐specialist police investigators who believe the CI is too cumbersome, complex and time consuming for the types of witness interviews they conduct. With this in mind the present study investigated a CI procedure that had been substantially modified in an attempt to enhance its forensic practicability while retaining the demonstrated superiority of the CI. Employing the mock witness paradigm, the modified procedure was compared to both the current CI model and a structured interview (SI). Results revealed that the modified CI was more effective than the SI, while being as effective as the current CI, despite being significantly shorter in duration and, we argue, less demanding for the interviewer. Hence, the proposed modified CI may well be an effective practical alternative for frontline investigators. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Language crimes and the cognitive interview: testing its efficacy in retrieving a conversational event

Frequently, the only available evidence in ‘language crimes’ (e.g. verbal sexual harassment) is witness statements about criminal conversations. However, previous research has showed that recall for sentences in conversation is very poor. The main aim of this research was to find out how to solve this problem. The cognitive interview (CI) is an interview technique which has shown to be more effective in recalling criminal episodes than a comparison interview. In addition, our experience in research on the CI had been highly satisfactory; therefore, we decided to use the CI as a tool in the research on memory for conversation, so far ignored. Thus, this study tested, for the first time, whether the CI would be also successful in obtaining complete and accurate accounts for a criminal conversation. Different forms of correct recall (verbatim/gist) of the verbal information as well as different types of errors (distortions/fabrications) were also examined. It was predicted that the CI would elicit more correct information without an increase in errors than a comparison interview (i.e. a free‐recall protocol). Results confirmed these hypotheses. Interpretations of the overall findings are offered within the context of theoretical principles concerning the retrieval of information from memory. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.