rui miguel de medeiros paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · o uso de técnicas de entrevista...

158
Universidade do Minho Escola de Psicologia outubro de 2016 Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo The Cognitive Interview: New Procedures to Enhance Witnesses' Statements and Evaluate Report Accuracy Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo The Cognitive Interview: New Procedures to Enhance Witnesses' Statements and Evaluate Report Accuracy UMinho|2016 Governo da República Portuguesa

Upload: hoangnhi

Post on 26-Nov-2018

214 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

Universidade do MinhoEscola de Psicologia

outubro de 2016

Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo

The Cognitive Interview: New Procedures to Enhance Witnesses' Statements and Evaluate Report Accuracy

Rui

Mig

uel d

e M

edei

ros

Paul

o T

he

Co

gn

itiv

e I

nte

rvie

w:

New

Pro

ced

ure

s to

En

ha

nce

W

itn

ess

es'

Sta

tem

en

ts a

nd

Eva

lua

te R

ep

ort

Acc

ura

cy

UM

inho

|201

6

Governo da República Portuguesa

Page 2: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

Universidade do MinhoEscola de Psicologia

outubro de 2016

Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo

The Cognitive Interview: New Procedures to Enhance Witnesses' Statements and Evaluate Report Accuracy

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia Básica

Trabalho efetuado sob a orientação doProfessor Doutor Emanuel Pedro Viana Barbas de Albuquerque e do Professor Raymond Henry Charles Bull

Page 3: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta
Page 4: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta
Page 5: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

v

Agradecimentos / Acknowledgments

Embora espere ter tido a oportunidade de o deixar claro ao longo dos últimos anos, e

não me considere particularmente competente na escrita deste tipo de textos, não posso deixar

de agradecer formalmente a todos aqueles que tornaram possível a realização deste projeto.

Em primeiro lugar agradeço ao Professor Pedro Albuquerque pelo excelente apoio

prestado ao longo deste, e de outros, projetos, nomeadamente pela irrepreensível disponibilidade

para discutir ideias, esclarecer dúvidas e aceitar novas propostas de investigação, mesmo que

um pouco distintas da sua linha de investigação principal. Estou convicto que seria impossível ter

tido uma melhor orientação ao longo deste projeto e considero a nossa colaboração presente,

passada, e estou certo que futura, extremamente gratificante.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Ray Bull for countless reasons.

I’m very honored that he agreed to advise this project despite his busy schedule with many other

projects and collaborations. His guidance was crucial for this research project, but I would also

like to thank him for taking additional time to welcome me in England and meet me for lunch or a

pint. As I said above in Portuguese, I could not have wished for better advisers!

I would like to thank Professor Becky for her help and support with this research

project. Furthermore, I would like to thank her for welcoming me in Portsmouth and being always

so kind to me. I would also like to thank Eva, Tomás, Niko and Hartmut for being good colleagues

and friends, welcoming me in Portsmouth, and borrowing me their houses, bicycles, and guitars!

Agradeço também ao Grupo de Investigação em Memória Humana da Universidade do

Minho pela troca de ideias, debate científico e conselhos.

Agradeço à minha família, nomeadamente à Fabiana, aos meus pais (Eulália e João),

irmão (João) e avós (Amarilde, Gracinda e João), por todas as razões que embora pudessem

estar também no início deste texto, são melhor expressas num jantar que se avizinhe.

Gostaria ainda de agradecer aos meus amigos mais próximos e pedir desculpa por

algum esquecimento (embora já estejam certamente habituados).

Por fim, gostaria de agradecer à “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” de Portugal

que financiou este projeto (Referência: SFRH/ BD / 84817/2012).

Page 6: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

vi

Page 7: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

vii

Title

The Cognitive Interview: New Procedures to Enhance Witnesses’ Statements and

Evaluate Report Accuracy

Abstract

Crime witnesses’ reports can determine the success of a police investigation or forensic

assessment (Fisher, 2010). However, witnesses’ reports rarely fully correspond with what

happened or even with what witnesses memorized (Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2013). Among

other social and communicative factors, many processes inherent to human memory can explain

why errors and omissions are common in witnesses’ testimonies (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010).

Nonetheless, using inappropriate interview techniques, sometimes common in police and

forensic interviews, augments this problem often leading to poor testimonies (Milne & Bull,

1999).

To obtain the best possible report from witnesses, Fisher and Geiselman (1992)

developed an interview protocol drawn from theoretical principles and research concerning

human memory for interviewing cooperative witnesses: the Enhanced Cognitive Interview. This

interview protocol is now commonly referred to as the Cognitive Interview or CI and has been

extensively studied, adapted and used by police forces in various countries (e.g. England and

Wales), typically eliciting informative and accurate reports (Paulo et al., 2013). Nevertheless,

research on witness interviewing or on the Cognitive Interview in Portugal is very limited.

Cooperation among professionals (e.g., police and research teams) is also very rare in Portugal

and disclosure or evaluation of police interview protocols is seldom conducted (Paulo,

Albuquerque, & Bull, 2014).

This first article included in this thesis critically addresses these aspects while also

thoroughly describing the Cognitive Interview, theoretical assumptions that justify its use, and

summarizing some of the prior research on this subject. Thus, the first article presented in this

thesis is a brief literature review to acquaint the reader with some of the research on this subject,

address the Portuguese reality with regard to crime witness interviewing, and present the first

published Portuguese protocol for applying the Cognitive Interview.

The second article included in this thesis evaluates the effectiveness of a Cognitive

Interview protocol we translated and adapted for the Portuguese language. As previously found

for other CI protocols (Stein & Memon, 2006), the Portuguese CI elicited more information

without compromising report accuracy. This was the first published Cognitive Interview protocol

Page 8: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

viii

ever translated for Portuguese language, adapted and tested with a Portuguese population. In

this study, other variables of interest were addressed such as participants’ ability to evaluate their

error rate, and the impact of witnesses’ memory capacity and perception of interview

appropriateness on witnesses’ reports.

In the third article of this thesis, witnesses’ ability to spontaneously and naturally monitor

their account when interviewed with the Cognitive Interview was addressed. We found

participants were able to spontaneously monitor information they provided with the use of

uncertainty verbal expressions such as 'maybe' or 'I think' for reporting less accurate information

This research has important implications for practitioners, suggesting professionals can use

witnesses’ ability to monitor their own account during the interview as an accuracy marker.

Furthermore, this study addressed how other variables such as participants’ motivation to testify

could influence their reports.

Lastly, since new strategies for obtaining more information from crime witnesses are

crucial in this field, we developed a new interview strategy, Category Clustering Recall. This recall

strategy allowed the interviewer to obtain more detailed reports and may be useful during

investigative interviews. The effectiveness of this recall strategy was evaluated in comparison with

the change order mnemonic (forth article) and witness-compatible questioning (fifth article).

Also included in this thesis is a general conclusion section where are discussed these

studies’ contribution for developing new strategies to obtain better testimony and evaluating

report accuracy, and for further understanding the psychological variables inherent to witness

interviewing.

Page 9: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

ix

Título

A Entrevista Cognitiva: Novos Procedimentos para Obter Melhores Testemunhos e Avaliar

a sua Precisão.

Resumo

O relato das testemunhas de um crime pode determinar o sucesso de uma investigação

policial ou avaliação forense (Fisher, 2010). No entanto, estes relatos raramente correspondem

exatamente ao que aconteceu ou até ao que as testemunhas memorizaram (Paulo, Albuquerque,

& Bull, 2013). Entre outros fatores sociais e comunicativos, diversos processos decorrentes do

funcionamento da memória humana podem explicar a razão pela qual erros e omissões são

frequentes nos testemunhos (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). O uso de técnicas de entrevista

inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta problema

levando frequentemente à obtenção de fracos testemunhos (Milne & Bull, 1999).

Com base na investigação então existente acerca do funcionamento da memória humana

e com o objetivo de obter o melhor testemunho possível, Fisher e Geiselman (1992)

desenvolveram um protocolo de entrevista para testemunhas cooperantes: a Entrevista Cognitiva

Melhorada. Este modelo de entrevista, atualmente designado por Entrevista Cognitiva ou CI, tem

sido extensivamente estudado, adaptado e utilizado por forças policiais de diversos países (e.g.

Inglaterra e Gales) e permite obter relatos informativos com elevada precisão (Paulo et al.,

2013). Não obstante, é ainda muito escassa a investigação sobre a entrevista de testemunhas

em contexto policial e forense em Portugal, nomeadamente sobre a Entrevista Cognitiva. É

também infrequente a colaboração entre grupos de profissionais (e.g., forças policiais e equipas

de investigação) e o estatuto de reserva de divulgação dos protocolos utilizados pelos

profissionais impossibilitam o acesso e avaliação dos mesmos (Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull,

2014).

O primeiro artigo desta dissertação procura abordar criticamente estes aspetos bem como

descrever pormenorizadamente a Entrevista Cognitiva, quais os pressupostos teóricos que

justificam a sua utilização, e resumir alguma da investigação existente. Trata-se assim de uma

breve revisão da literatura que pretende familiarizar o leitor com a bibliografia existente acerca

deste tema, bem como descrever a realidade portuguesa no que diz respeito à entrevista de

testemunhas de crimes. Apresentamos ainda neste artigo o primeiro protocolo publicado em

língua portuguesa para a aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva.

Page 10: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

x

O segundo artigo incluído nesta dissertação avalia a eficácia de um protocolo para a

aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva por nós traduzido e adaptado para a língua portuguesa. Neste

estudo foi possível concluir que, tal como outros modelos de aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva

utilizados noutros países (Stein & Memon, 2006), este protocolo permitiu recolher relatos mais

informativos sem comprometer a precisão dos mesmos. Foi assim testado o primeiro protocolo

da Entrevista Cognitiva em língua portuguesa. Neste estudo avaliámos ainda a capacidade dos

participantes em predizer a sua taxa de erro, e o impacto da capacidade de memória das

testemunhas e da sua perceção acerca da adequabilidade da entrevista no seu desempenho.

No terceiro artigo desta dissertação, foi avaliada a capacidade das testemunhas em

monitorizar espontaneamente o seu relato quando utilizada a Entrevista Cognitiva. Verificámos

que os participantes foram capazes de monitorizar espontaneamente a informação prestada,

pois, quando os participantes utilizam espontaneamente expressões como ‘talvez’ ou ‘acho’ para

expressar incerteza, a informação adjacente a tais expressões é menos precisa. Esta

investigação poderá ter elevado impacto no contexto prático, sugerindo que o profissional poderá

utilizar a capacidade que a testemunha tem para monitorizar o seu relato durante a entrevista

como um indicador de precisão. Neste artigo é ainda avaliado o impacto de outras variáveis no

testemunho, como a motivação do participante para testemunhar.

Por último, e uma vez que o desenvolvimento de novas técnicas para obter mais

informação por parte da testemunha é fundamental, desenvolvemos uma nova estratégia de

entrevista, a Evocação por Categorias. Esta técnica permitiu a obtenção de mais informação e

poderá ser um procedimento vantajoso a considerar durante uma entrevista policial ou forense.

A eficácia desta estratégia de evocação foi testada comparativamente à mnemónica de mudança

de ordem (quarto artigo) e comparativamente a uma estratégia de questionamento compatível

com a testemunha (quinto artigo).

Foi ainda incluída nesta dissertação uma conclusão geral onde é discutida a importância

destes vários estudos, nomeadamente no que diz respeito à contribuição destes para o

desenvolvimento de novas estratégias que permitam obter melhores depoimentos e avaliar a

precisão dos relatos, bem como para uma melhor compreensão das variáveis de carácter

psicológico envolvidas no testemunho.

Page 11: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

xi

List of Contents

AGRADECIMENTOS .................................................................................................. V

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. VII

RESUMO ................................................................................................................. IX

LIST OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ XI

LIST OF ABREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ XIII

LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... XV

LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................ XVII

CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 19

CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................ 27

Article1 - A Entrevista cognitiva melhorada: Pressupostos teóricos, investigação e aplicação. ...................................................................................................................................... 29

CHAPTER III - EMPIRICAL STUDIES ........................................................................ 51

Article 2 -The enhanced cognitive interview: Testing appropriateness perception, memory capacity and error estimate relation with report quality..................................................... 53

Article 3 - The enhanced cognitive interview: Expressions of uncertainty, motivation and its relation with report accuracy ........................................................................................... 75 Article 4 - Improving the enhanced cognitive interview with a new interview strategy: Category clustering recall ............................................................................................... 99

Article 5 - Enhancing the cognitive interview with an alternative procedure to witness-compatible questioning: Category clustering recal .......................................................... 127

CHAPTER IV - CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................. 147

APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................ 155

Page 12: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

xii

Page 13: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

xiii

List of Abbreviations

CCR: Category Clustering Recall

CI /ECI: (Enhanced) Cognitive Interview

PEACE: Planning and preparation; Engage and explain; Account; Closure; Evaluation

RCI: Revised Cognitive Interview

RECI: Revised Enhanced Cognitive Interview

SI: Structured Interview

Page 14: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

xiv

Page 15: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

xv

List of Tables

Table 1.1. Aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada de acordo com o modelo

“PEACE”...............……………………………………………………………………………………………..….38

Table 2.1. Proportion values (mean and standard deviation) for correct recall, errors and

confabulations, according to the interview condition......………………………………………...……..64

Table 2.2. Mean (M ) and standard deviation (SD ) values for the number of recalled units of

information in each interview phase, according to interview condition……………………….…..….64

Table 3.1. Differences between the two interview protocols: procedures only applied in the ECI

condition according to interview phase...............………………………………………………..…….….84

Table 3.2. Proportion values (mean and SD ) for correct recall, errors, and confabulations,

according to interview condition…………………………………………………………………………...…..88

Table 3.3. Proportion values (mean and SD ) for correct recall, errors, and confabulations for

‘certainties’, ‘uncertainties’, and both types of information together (overall)...……………...…..89

Table 4.1. Differences between interview conditions according to interview phase.………….108

Table 4.2. M and SD values for the number of correct units of information newly recalled in

each interview phase, according to interview condition………………………….………..………..…115

Table 5.1. Comparison between the two interview protocols (CI vs. RCI) according to interview

phase………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….134

Table 5.2. Number of newly recalled units of information, accuracy and interview time (in

minutes) according to interview condition and interview phase……………….………..………..….136

Page 16: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

xvi

Page 17: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

xvii

List of Figures

Figure 4.1. Number of correct units of information, errors and confabulations reported in each

interview condition...............………………………………………………………………………………..….114

Page 18: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

xviii

Page 19: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

19

Chapter I

Introduction

Page 20: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

20

Page 21: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

21

Witness interviewing is often a key procedure during police investigations and forensic

assessments and may determine the course of an investigation or its judicial outcome (Milne &

Bull, 1999; Fisher, 2010). Nonetheless, before the 1990’s research on investigative interviewing,

particularly witness interviewing, was very scarce and police officers, as well as other investigative

professionals, often had no specific training for this purpose. Therefore, interviewers used

different techniques to interview witnesses according to, for instance, their own personal and

professional experience (Fisher, Milne, & Bull, 2011). With this use of disparate interviewing

techniques of unproven efficacy, several problems emerged. For instance, professionals often

considered witness interviewing to be difficult and ineffective, only allowing the interviewer to

obtain a very limited amount of reliable information which was seldom helpful during the course

of the investigation (Shepherd & Milne, 1999). Furthermore, police officers often allocated most

of their resources (e.g., time resources) for conducting agenda-driven interviews aimed at

obtaining a confession of the crime from a suspect, thus leading to false confessions and

sometimes the imprisonment of innocent suspects (Gabbert & Hope 2013).

This panorama motivated several police officers, researchers and other investigative and

legal professionals to question if the interviewing techniques which were being used at that time

were appropriate and/or effective. Several studies found, among other problematic interviewing

techniques, frequent interruptions, rapid-fire directive questions, close-ended and leading

questions were common during investigative interviews (Fisher, Geiselman, & Raymond, 1987;

McLean, 1995). Moreover, some of these interviewing techniques, such as intimidating the

witness or frequently assessing her/ his behaviour, were not only questionable in terms of ethics,

but also very disruptive in terms of recall and overall memory performance (Shepherd & Milne,

1999). For instance, investigative professionals often asked questions which were incompatible

with the witness’ retrieval strategy or even with the sensorial modality which was being used by

her/ him to describe the crime event (Fisher et al., 1987).

Therefore, Fisher and Geiselman (1992) were asked by investigative professionals to

address this problem and develop an effective method for interviewing witnesses. With this

purpose in mind, these authors developed an interview protocol for interviewing cooperative

witnesses, the Enhanced Cognitive Interview (ECI), which was largely based on the theoretical

assumptions and research findings regarding human memory which were available at that time.

Thus, this interview protocol initially comprised four retrieval mnemonic instructions aimed at

enhancing witnesses’ recall, which were previously published by Geiselman et al. (1984): report

everything, mental reinstatement of context, change order, and change perspective. The ECI also

included several social and communicative components, crucial for conducting appropriate

Page 22: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

22

investigative interviews, such as rapport building, witness-compatible questioning, transferring

control of the interview to the witness, and mental imagery (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992).

Currently, the Enhanced Cognitive Interview has been systematically studied and the

efficacy of this interview protocol has been corroborated in several different countries (e.g.,

England and USA), with varying type of witness (children, adults, and elderly adults), times

between the crime and interview (from a few minutes to several weeks), and kind of event (crime,

accident, phone call, etc.), both in the laboratory and in the field (Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull,

2013). Thus, the ECI is becoming ever more widely used as an interviewing technique which

enhances witnesses’ recollection. Concurrently, research and practice concerning witness

interviewing has considerably improved during the last decades, with several effective

interviewing protocols for witnesses (and suspects), as well as training and evaluation programs,

emerging in several countries such as the 1992 PEACE (Planning and preparation; Engage and

explain; Account; Closure; Evaluation) model in England and Wales, which coincidently includes

many components described by Fisher and Geiselman (1992) such as establishing rapport with

the witness, the report everything mnemonic, or the mental reinstatement of context (Griffiths &

Milne, 2010).

To this day, most ECI components are still considered to be essential for obtaining

reliable testimony and used for interviewing cooperative witnesses (Paulo et al., 2013).

Nonetheless, other ECI components such as the change order or the change perspective

mnemonics have been criticized not only in terms of efficacy (Bensi, Nori, Gambetti, & Giusberti,

2011) but also in terms of usage (Dando, Wilcock, & Milne, 2008). Thus, several authors focused

on reviewing and improving the ECI either by removing less effective components (e.g., change

perspective) or developing new interview techniques for obtaining more information from the

witness, such as the open depth instruction (Brunel, Py, & Launay, 2013). In fact, a considerable

amount of research on human memory has emerged since 1992, and using this knowledge to

develop even more effective interviewing techniques which can be added to the ECI, or added to

other interview protocols, is very important for obtaining more informative and accurate testimony

(Fisher, 2010). Furthermore, even though most ECI studies found this interview procedure to be

able to increase the quantity of information witnesses are able to report without compromising

report accuracy, finding techniques to increase or evaluate report accuracy are also very

important aspects of investigative interviewing (Brunel et al., 2013; Paulo et al., 2013). Lastly,

even though Fisher and Geiselman (1992) believe several psychological, social and

communicative variables may have an impact on witnesses’ testimony, understanding what

psychological variables and memory processes influence witnesses’ recall, as well as how these

Page 23: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

23

variables may affect different recall measures (e.g., report size and report accuracy), is still

necessary and might help to develop more effective interviewing techniques (Fisher & Geiselman,

2010). In sum, even though there was a considerable improvement during the last decades

regarding research and practice concerning witness interviewing, more research and better

practices, particularly on the aforementioned topics, are still very valuable.

Lastly, it is important to note that witness interviewing should not only be addressed on a

global and worldwide perspective, but also on a local perspective. Even though some aspects of

witness interviewing may be studied apart from culture or other regional variables (Fisher, 2010),

other aspects may not since, for instance, a country’s legal and judicial frame might influence

what procedures can or should be used during investigative interviews (Milne & Bull, 1999).

Furthermore, the aforementioned improvement in research and practice on witness interviewing

was not identical across the world (Fisher et al., 2011). For instance, interviewer training and

evaluation is crucial for achieving better testimony, particularly when using a complex interview

model such as the ECI. Unfortunately, training and evaluation models, as well as research on

witness interviewing, are still very limited in some countries like Portugal, where an attempt to

translate, adapt and test a Portuguese version of the ECI with a Portuguese population has never

previously been made. Concurrently, cooperation between professionals (e.g., police officers and

researchers) is also atypical in Portugal and disclosure or evaluation of interview protocols is

seldom conducted or made known to the public (Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2014).

Thus, the purpose of this research project and thesis is not only address witness

interviewing as a global and worldwide topic (e.g., develop new interview techniques which can

be used worldwide to enhance witnesses’ recall) but also address witness interviewing at a more

local level (e.g., create a Portuguese version of the ECI and promote professional cooperation).

The studies presented in this thesis had three main objectives: (1) developing and testing new

theory/ research driven interview procedures which can be used not only to enhance witnesses

recall, but also to evaluate report accuracy; (2) understanding which psychological variables and

memory processes directly influence witnesses’ recall and how these affect report size and

accuracy; and (3) developing and testing the first Portuguese protocol for applying the ECI, as

well as to present it and discuss it with Portuguese professionals and researchers to promote

further research, debate and cooperation amongst professionals in Portugal.

In this thesis, we first include a brief literature review which describes the ECI, the

theoretical assumptions that justify its use, and summarizes some of the research on this topic.

This first article aims to acquaint the reader with some of the prior research on witness

interviewing, present the first published Portuguese protocol for applying the ECI and address the

Page 24: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

24

Portuguese reality with regard to research and practice on crime witness interviewing.

Afterwards, we present several empirical studies, in research article format, which address: (1)

the effectiveness of a Portuguese ECI, participants’ ability to evaluate their own error rate, and

the impact of witnesses’ memory capacity and perception of interview appropriateness on

witnesses’ reports (second article); (2) witnesses’ ability to monitor their own account when

interviewed with the ECI as well as participants’ motivation to testify influence on their reports

(third article); and (3) the efficacy of a newly developed interview strategy, Category Clustering

Recall, in comparison with the change order mnemonic (forth article) and witness-compatible

questioning (fifth article). Lastly, we provide the reader with a general conclusion section where

we discuss our studies’ contribution for the development of new interview strategies to enhance

witnesses’ recall and evaluate report accuracy; for further understanding the impact of several

psychological variables and memory processes on witnesses’ reports; and for Portuguese

professionals and researchers whom have now available a Portuguese ECI protocol which has

been tested and found to be effective.

References

Bensi, L., Nori, R., Gambetti, E., & Giusberti, F. (2011). The enhanced cognitive interview: A study

on the efficacy of shortened variants and single techniques. European Journal of

Cognitive Psychology, 23, 311–321. doi:10.1080/20445911.2011.497485.

Brunel, M., Py, J., & Launay, C. (2013). Cost and benefit of a new instruction for the cognitive

interview: the open depth instruction. Psychology, Crime & Law, 19, 845–863.

doi:10.1080/1068316X.2012.684058.

Dando, C. J., Wilcock, R., & Milne, R. (2008). The cognitive interview: Inexperienced police

officers’ perceptions of their witness interviewing behaviour. Legal and Criminological

Psychology, 13, 59–70. doi:10.1348/ 135532506X162498.

Fisher, R. P. (2010). Interviewing cooperative witnesses. Legal and Criminological Psychology,

15, 25-38. doi:10.1348/135532509X441891

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-enhancing techniques for investigative

interviewing: The cognitive interview. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (2010). The Cognitive Interview method of conducting police

interviews: Eliciting extensive information and promoting therapeutic jurisprudence.

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 33, 321–328.

doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2010.09.004.

Page 25: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

25

Fisher, R. P., Geiselman, R. E., & Raymond, D. S. (1987). Critical analysis of police interview

techniques. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 15, 177-185.

Fisher, R. P., Milne, R., & Bull, R. (2011). Interviewing cooperative witnesses. Current Directions

in Psychological Science, 20, 16-19. doi:10.1177/0963721410396826

Gabbert, F. & Hope, L. (2013). Suggestibility and memory conformity. In A. M. Ridley, F. Gabbert,

& D. J. La Rooy (Eds.), Suggestibility in legal contexts: Psychological research and

forensic applications (pp. 63-83). Chichester, UK: Willey-Blackwell.

doi:10.1002/9781118432907.ch4

Geiselman, R. E., Fisher, R. P., Firstenberg, I., Hutton, L., Sullivan, S. J., Avetissian, I. V., &

Prosk, A. L. (1984). Enhancement of eyewitness memory: An empirical evaluation of the

cognitive interview. Journal of Police and Science Administration, 12, 74-80.

Griffiths, A., & Milne, R. (2010). The application of cognitive interview techniques as part of an

investigation. In C. A. Ireland & J. M. Fisher (Eds.), Consultancy and advising in forensic

practice: Empirical and practical guidelines (pp. 71–90). Chichester, UK: BPS Blackwell.

McLean, M. (1995). Quality investigation? Police interviewing of witnesses. Medicine, Science,

and the Law, 35, 116-122.

Milne, R., & Bull, R. (1999). Investigative Interviewing: Psychology and Practice. Chichester, WS :

Wiley.

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2013). The enhanced cognitive interview: Towards a

better use and understanding of this procedure. International Journal of Police Science &

Management, 15, 190-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1350/ijps.2013.15.3.311

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P.B., & Bull, R. (2014). A entrevista cognitiva melhorada:

Pressupostos teóricos, investigação e aplicação. Psicologia, 28, 21-30.

http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v28i2.639

Shepherd, E., & Milne, R. (1999). Full and faithful: ensuring quality practice and integrity of

outcome in witness interviews. In A. Heaton-Armstrong, E. Shepherd, & D. Wolchover

(Eds.), Analysing witness testimony: A guide for legal practitioners and other

professionals (pp. 124-145). London, UK: Blackstone Press Limited.

Page 26: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

26

Page 27: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

27

Chapter II

Literature Review

Page 28: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

28

Page 29: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

29

Article 1

A entrevista cognitiva melhorada: Pressupostos teóricos,

investigação e aplicação.

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P.B., & Bull, R. (2014). A entrevista cognitiva melhorada: Pressupostos teóricos,

investigação e aplicação. Psicologia, 28, 21-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v28i2.639

Page 30: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

30

Page 31: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

31

A entrevista cognitiva melhorada: Pressupostos teóricos, investigação e aplicação.

RESUMO

A entrevista de testemunhas é um procedimento fundamental no decurso das investigações

policiais e avaliações forenses. No entanto, o conhecimento, formação e treino destes profissionais

para entrevistar testemunhas é frequentemente insuficiente, levando ao uso de técnicas de

entrevista inadequadas e à obtenção de informação limitada e pouco fidedigna. Neste artigo

abordamos a Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada, atualmente aceite como um dos métodos mais

eficazes para obter bons testemunhos. Descrevemos pormenorizadamente esta entrevista, quais

os pressupostos teóricos que justificam a sua utilização, incidindo ainda sobre a investigação

relevante. Por fim, elaboramos um guia de utilização para esta entrevista baseado nos resultados

da investigação e no modelo utilizado pelas forças policiais de Inglaterra e Gales (i.e. “PEACE”).

Não existindo nenhum outro protocolo publicado em língua portuguesa para a aplicação da

Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada, consideramos a leitura deste artigo um primeiro passo para todos

os profissionais que pretendam utilizar este modelo de entrevista.

Palavras-chave: entrevista cognitiva melhorada; entrevista de testemunhas; investigação policial;

avaliação forense; memória de testemunhas

The Enhanced Cognitive Interview: Theory, research and implementation.

ABSTRACT

Interviewing witnesses is a fundamental procedure during police investigations and forensic

evaluations. However, professionals’ knowledge, training and experience to interview witnesses is

often scant, leading to the use of improper interview techniques and the obtaining of limited and

unreliable information. In this paper we address the Enhanced Cognitive Interview, currently accepted

as one of the most effective methods to obtain good accounts. We fully describe this interview, the

theoretical principles which justify its use, and the relevant research. Lastly, we have developed a

Portuguese guide for using this interview, based on research and on the interviewing approach used

by police forces in England and Wales (i.e. “PEACE”). Since no other protocol for the implementation

of the Enhanced Cognitive Interview has been published in Portuguese, we consider reading this

article a first step for all professionals that wish to use this style of interviewing.

Keywords: Enhanced Cognitive Interview; Witness Interviewing; Police Investigation; Forensic

Evaluation; Witnesses Memory

Page 32: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

32

A entrevista de testemunhas determina frequentemente o sucesso de uma investigação

policial ou avaliação forense (Milne & Bull, 1999). No entanto, o relato das testemunhas

raramente corresponde exatamente ao que aconteceu, ou até ao que as testemunhas

memorizaram, pois diversos erros e omissões são cometidos durante o relato. O uso de

técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, frequentemente utilizadas em contexto policial e forense

(e.g., uso excessivo de questões), leva frequentemente à obtenção de fracos testemunhos

(Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2013).

Com o objetivo de criar um protocolo adequado para a entrevista de testemunhas que

permitisse obter o máximo de informação correta possível, Geiselman e col. (1984)

desenvolveram a Entrevista Cognitiva. Esta entrevista é atualmente aceite como um dos

melhores métodos para obter bons testemunhos (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992; Prescott, Milne, &

Clark, 2011). No entanto, entrevistar adequadamente uma testemunha é um procedimento

extremamente difícil e exigente, particularmente quando são utilizados modelos de entrevista

complexos como este (Griffiths, Milne, & Cherryman, 2011). Para tal, é fundamental que o

entrevistador compreenda como, e quando, utilizar cada um dos procedimentos do protocolo

de entrevista. Conhecer os pressupostos teóricos que fundamentam cada um dos

procedimentos da Entrevista Cognitiva, os diversos protocolos de aplicação da mesma, e os

resultados da investigação existente acerca deste tema, é essencial para este fim. Assim, ao

longo do presente artigo, iremos descrever em pormenor a Entrevista Cognitiva e abordar os

pressupostos teóricos inerentes a cada um dos seus procedimentos. Iremos também mostrar

os resultados de investigações que aplicaram esta entrevista em diferentes contextos ou

manipulando diferentes variáveis. Por fim, iremos analisar e descrever um modelo de aplicação

desta entrevista, providenciando algumas diretrizes para a condução de uma boa entrevista

forense/policial. Pretendemos assim criar um protocolo em língua portuguesa para a aplicação

da Entrevista Cognitiva que permita entrevistar testemunhas de forma adequada.

Entrevista Cognitiva (melhorada)

Vários estudos mostraram que a Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada permite obter mais

informação por parte das testemunhas sem comprometer a exatidão dos seus relatos

(Aschermann, Mantwill, & Köhnken, 1991; Fisher & Geiselman, 1992; Milne, Sharman, Powell,

& Mead, 2013). Este modelo de entrevista tem sido utilizado pelas forças policiais de diversos

países (e.g., Inglaterra, Gales, Nova Zelândia). Mostrou também ser eficaz com diferentes

testemunhas – e.g., crianças, adultos ou idosos (Verkampt & Ginet, 2009; Wright & Holliday,

Page 33: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

33

2006), diferentes tipos de episódios a recordar - e.g., crimes, acidentes, gravações telefónicas

(Campos & Alonso-Quecuty, 2008) e diferentes intervalos de tempo entre o episódio a recordar

e a entrevista - desde poucos minutos a várias semanas (Larsson, Granhag, & Spjut, 2002),

tanto em laboratório como em estudos realizados com testemunhas de crimes reais,

entrevistadas pelas próprias forças policiais (Paulo et al., 2013).

Originalmente a Entrevista Cognitiva continha quatro mnemónicas: Relatar Tudo,

Restabelecimento do Contexto, Mudança de Ordem e Mudança de Perspetiva.

A mnemónica Relatar Tudo consiste em pedir à testemunha que relate tudo o que

recorda com o maior grau de detalhe possível, mesmo que tal informação possa parecer trivial

ou irrelevante à testemunha (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992). Esta mnemónica é fundamental pois

evita que as testemunhas omitam detalhes que consideram irrelevantes para a investigação.

Embora, no dia a dia, os seres humanos estejam habituados a relatar episódios descrevendo

apenas os acontecimentos centrais, até o mais pequeno detalhe pode ser decisivo para uma

investigação policial. Adicionalmente, nem sempre a testemunha sabe avaliar qual a

informação que poderá ser útil para a investigação. Por fim, os diversos traços de memória

relativos a um acontecimento estão frequentemente associados (Tulving, 1991). Assim, a

ativação de uma memória aparentemente irrelevante para a investigação poderá ser pista para

outras memórias extremamente relevantes. Por estas razões, pedir à testemunha que adote

este estilo comunicativo, relatando todos os detalhes de que se recorda, é uma instrução

fundamental.

A mnemónica Restabelecimento do Contexto consiste em pedir à testemunha que recrie

mentalmente o contexto físico do crime, bem como o seu estado fisiológico, cognitivo e

emocional durante o mesmo. Esta mnemónica é crucial pois uma dada memória é mais

facilmente recuperada quando é recriado o contexto em que esta foi codificada, ou seja, o

contexto em que foi “memorizada” (Tulving & Thomson, 1973). A utilização desta mnemónica

é particularmente importante quando são entrevistadas crianças, pois a sua memória está

fortemente associada ao contexto (Milne, 1997). Adicionalmente, embora alguns adultos

utilizem esta mnemónica espontaneamente, as crianças são incapazes de o fazer (Gathercole &

Hitch, 1993).

A mnemónica Mudança de Ordem é executada pedindo à testemunha para relatar o

crime através de uma ordem temporal diferente, habitualmente a ordem inversa. Pretende-se

assim que a testemunha utilize uma estratégia de recuperação diferente, pois diferentes

estratégias de recuperação poderão ativar diferentes memórias (Tulving, 1991). Esta

mnemónica é particularmente útil quando a testemunha mantém um forte esquema mental

Page 34: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

34

(padrão organizado de pensamentos e comportamentos) sobre o tipo de evento que procura

relatar (Griffiths & Milne, 2010). Para compreendermos este conceito, imaginemos um

segurança de um bar que todos os dias assiste a disputas entre os clientes. Este poderá ter um

esquema mental marcado acerca do que é uma habitual “luta de bar”: dois homens

confrontam-se verbalmente, posteriormente recorrem à violência física através de murros e

empurrões, sendo por fim expulsos do bar. Por esta razão, se questionado acerca de um

destes episódios em particular, esta testemunha poderá exibir dificuldade em recordá-lo,

evocando inadvertidamente memórias das restantes disputas. Poderá ainda omitir memórias

que não sejam consistentes com o esquema mental que construiu. Por exemplo, poderá não

relatar que um dos envolvidos utilizou técnicas de artes marciais, pois tal ato não é consistente

com o esquema mental referido – uso de empurrões e murros. Uma vez que estes esquemas

mentais são habitualmente construídos e armazenados na nossa memória por ordem

cronológica, recordar o crime numa ordem temporal diferente poderá evitar a interferência dos

mesmos na recordação do acontecimento particular (Dando & Milne, 2009).

Por fim, a mnemónica Mudança de Perspetiva consiste em pedir à testemunha para

recordar o evento a partir de uma perspetiva diferente. Pode ser pedido à testemunha para

adotar uma nova perspetiva externa (e.g., ”Conte-me agora tudo o que viu e que o funcionário

do banco poderá também ter visto.”) ou interna (e.g., “Sei que neste momento está um pouco

nervosa. No entanto, tente adotar uma perspetiva mais relaxada tal como se sentia no dia do

assalto antes de se aperceber que um crime estava prestes a ocorrer.”). Tal como o

procedimento anterior (Mudança de Ordem), esta mnemónica pretende que as testemunhas

utilizem uma estratégia de recuperação diferente, facilitando a evocação de novos detalhes.

Alguns anos mais tarde, Fisher e Geiselman (1992) concluem que a utilização das quatro

mnemónicas anteriormente propostas não conduz necessariamente à obtenção de um bom

relato. Estes autores apercebem-se que os agentes policiais negligenciavam frequentemente

procedimentos fundamentais para garantir o bem-estar psicológico e cooperação das

testemunhas (e.g., estabelecer uma boa relação com a testemunha), diminuindo assim a

qualidade do relato obtido. Por esta razão, adicionam ao protocolo da Entrevista Cognitiva um

conjunto de componentes sociais e comunicativos cruciais para a realização de uma boa

entrevista. Surge assim a Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada.

O primeiro procedimento adicionado baseia-se na construção de um relacionamento

adequado com a testemunha (rapport building). Refere-se ao estabelecimento de uma relação

adequada e positiva com a mesma. Este procedimento começa por ser realizado desde o

primeiro momento em que o entrevistador contacta com a testemunha (e.g., por telefone) até

Page 35: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

35

ao último contacto que mantém com esta. Trata-se de um procedimento fundamental pois

contribui para o bem-estar da testemunha durante a entrevista. A investigação acerca deste

tema mostra que uma testemunha calma e segura é geralmente capaz de recordar mais

detalhes do que uma testemunha nervosa ou desconfortável (Paulo et al., 2013).

O segundo procedimento chama-se transferência do controlo da entrevista para a

testemunha. Consiste em comunicar à testemunha que, durante a entrevista, é esta a única

que está na posse da informação acerca do acontecimento e que, por isso, a pode relatar. Esta

instrução é fundamental pois as testemunhas consideram frequentemente que o entrevistador

irá apenas colocar questões acerca dos aspetos que pretende ver abordados, sustentando-se

na informação que possui acerca do crime. No entanto, deve ser clarificado à testemunha que

é ela quem possui a informação valiosa acerca do crime, e não o próprio entrevistador. Neste

sentido, é função da testemunha fazer esforço para relatar o máximo de informação possível e

não apenas responder às questões do entrevistador. Deve igualmente ser comunicado à

testemunha que esta detém completo controlo sobre o seu relato, por exemplo, podendo iniciar

o relato livre pelo momento do crime que considerar mais pertinente. Esta instrução pretende

responsabilizar a testemunha pelo seu próprio relato, maximizando o seu desempenho (Paulo

et al., 2013).

O terceiro procedimento denomina-se questionamento compatível com a testemunha e

consiste em colocar as questões certas no momento adequado. Ou seja, todas as questões

devem ser compatíveis com o relato da testemunha e as estratégias de recuperação por esta

utilizadas. Por exemplo, se a testemunha começa por descrever um assalto a um banco

relatando a forma como o ladrão saiu do banco, o entrevistador não deve colocar questões

sobre o momento em que o ladrão entrou no banco. Ou seja, o entrevistador não pode interferir

negativamente com a estratégia de recuperação da testemunha, por exemplo, interrompendo-a.

A utilização deste procedimento torna impossível estabelecer protocolos de entrevista padrão,

pois cada entrevista terá de ser adaptada ao discurso da testemunha.

O último procedimento, denominado de visualização mental, é semelhante à mnemónica

de Restabelecimento do Contexto. No entanto, em vez de ser pedido à testemunha que recrie

mentalmente o cenário global do crime, é pedido à testemunha para recriar mentalmente

detalhes mais específicos – “feche os olhos e pense na melhor imagem que tem da roupa que

o ladrão vestia”. Esta mnemónica deriva também da premissa de que uma memória é mais

facilmente recuperada quando recriado o contexto em que esta foi codificada (Tulving &

Thomson, 1973).

Page 36: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

36

Tal como referido, ao longo dos anos vários investigadores têm estudado este modelo

de entrevista. Geiselman, Fisher, MacKinnon, e Holland (1985) relatam que a Entrevista

Cognitiva é particularmente eficaz quando o evento a ser recordado contém muita informação,

tal como acontece na maioria dos crimes. Milne (1997) conclui que a Entrevista Cognitiva

Melhorada é eficaz quando utilizada com grupos vulneráveis, por exemplo, crianças com

problemas de aprendizagem. Alguns investigadores procuraram também avaliar a eficácia das

diversas técnicas e mnemónicas que compõem esta entrevista. Por exemplo, Vredeveldt e

Penrod (2013) avaliaram a importância de fechar os olhos durante a mnemónica de

Restabelecimento do Contexto, concluindo que este procedimento contribui para a recuperação

de mais informação. Holliday e Albon (2004) sugerem ainda que esta entrevista pode proteger

a memória da testemunha contra a interferência de informação pós-evento enganosa (e.g.,

notícias televisivas acerca do crime). Memon, Zaragoza, Clifford e Kidd (2010) concluem que a

aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada previamente a uma tentativa deliberada do

entrevistador em implantar falsas memórias (Loftus & Palmer, 1974) reduz o número de falsas

memórias evocadas nas entrevistas posteriores.

Nas últimas décadas a Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada tem sido o modelo

predominantemente utilizado para a entrevista de testemunhas (Griffiths & Milne, 2010). No

entanto, a utilidade de alguns dos seus componentes e mnemónicas tem sido questionada

(McMahon & Greenwood, 2005). A mnemónica Mudança de Perspetiva e, num menor grau,

Mudança de Ordem são frequentemente procedimentos morosos e difíceis de aplicar. A título

de exemplo, algumas testemunhas parecem ser incapazes de colocar-se na perspetiva de uma

outra testemunha para relatar o que recordam acerca de determinado crime. Adicionalmente,

estas mnemónicas são por vezes pouco eficazes, ou seja, incapazes de provocar um aumento

considerável no número de informação evocada pela testemunha (Bensi, Nori, Gambetti, &

Fiorella, 2011). Assim, alguns investigadores propõem a utilização de versões reduzidas desde

modelo de entrevista, bem como mnemónicas e procedimentos alternativos com o objetivo de

aumentar a eficácia da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada. McMahon e Greenwood (2005)

sugerem retirar estas duas mnemónicas e/ou substitui-las por duas tentativas adicionais de

recuperação (relatar novamente o episódio). Dando, Wilcock, Behnkle e Milne (2011)

desenvolveram um procedimento alternativo para a aplicação da mnemónica de

Restabelecimento do Contexto, através do uso de um esquema/desenho. Brunel, Py e Launay

(2013) sugerem incluir uma segunda tentativa de recuperação antes da fase de

questionamento. Em suma, ao longo das últimas décadas, vários investigadores têm-se focado

Page 37: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

37

neste modelo de entrevista, não só no sentido de explorar e avaliar os seus componentes, mas

também de aumentar a sua eficácia e utilidade.

Com o objetivo de melhorar a compreensão do leitor em relação e este modelo de

entrevista, abordámos os vários componentes da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada, a sua origem,

e as teorias e investigações que sustentam a sua utilização. De seguida procuramos construir

um guia em língua portuguesa para a aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada com base na

análise da investigação laboratorial e de campo nesta área, e considerando as diretrizes

apontadas por estes autores para a aplicação adequada deste modelo de entrevista. Baseámo-

nos ainda no modelo PEACE (Planning and preparation; Engage and explain; Account; Closure;

Evaluation) que se trata do protocolo utilizado em Inglaterra e Gales para entrevistar

testemunhas cooperantes (Griffiths & Milne, 2010). Não obstante, tal como iremos debater no

final do artigo, este modelo poderá necessitar de adaptações específicas ao funcionamento

interno das diversas forças policiais ou de cada instituição que pretende aplicar este modelo de

entrevista (e.g., unidades de avaliação forense).

Aplicação da entrevista cognitiva melhorada

Como já referimos, a Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada é utilizada por inúmeras forças

policiais e outros profissionais, um pouco por todo o Mundo. No entanto, apenas em alguns

países (e.g., Inglaterra, Gales, Nova Zelândia) existem diretrizes claras para a utilização desta

entrevista. De facto, Inglaterra é talvez o melhor exemplo de um país onde esta entrevista foi

adaptada e incluída nos protocolos das forças policiais como método principal para a entrevista

de testemunhas (Griffiths & Milne, 2010). Neste país existem ainda inúmeras investigações que

avaliam a eficácia deste modelo de entrevista em casos reais, bem como as perceções dos

agentes policiais em relação à aplicação deste modelo (Wheatcroft, Wagstaff, & Russell, 2013).

Investigações acerca da avaliação do desempenho dos agentes policiais no que diz respeito à

aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada, ou acerca da eficácia dos extensos programas de

treino a que os agentes policiais são sujeitos, são também abundantes neste país (Griffiths,

Milne, & Cherryman, 2011). Por estas razões, iremo-nos focar no modelo PEACE que, tal como

referido, se trata do protocolo utilizado em Inglaterra e Gales para entrevistar testemunhas

cooperantes (Griffiths & Milne, 2010). Este modelo de entrevista, baseado na Entrevista

Cognitiva Melhorada, foi extensivamente investigado e avaliado por investigadores e agentes

policiais (Milne, Shaw, & Bull, 2007). Ao longo dos próximos parágrafos iremos também

fornecer algumas indicações para a aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada, provenientes

Page 38: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

38

da investigação existente acerca deste tema. No Quadro 1.1 podemos observar um esquema

da estrutura de aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada que iremos analisar de seguida.

Fase 1 Estabelecer uma boa relação com a testemunha

a) Cumprimentar

b) Personalizar a entrevista

Fase 2 Explicar os objetivos da entrevista

a) Solicitar concentração da testemunha

b) Contar Tudo

c) Transferir controlo

Fase 3 Relato livre

a) Restabelecimento do Contexto

b) Questões de resposta aberta

c) Pausas

d) Não interromper a testemunha

Fase 4 Questionamento

a) Contar Tudo

b) Questões compatíveis com o discurso da testemunha

c) É normal “não recordar”

d) Visualização mental

e) Questões de resposta aberta

Fase 5 Novas estratégias de recuperação

a) Mudança de Ordem

b) Mudança de Perspetiva

c) Foco em vários sentidos

Fase 6 Questões importantes para a investigação

Fase 7 Resumo

Fase 8 Encerramento

Fase 9 Avaliação

Quadro 1.1. Aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada de acordo com o modelo “PEACE”.

O modelo esquematizado é apenas um modelo ilustrativo no sentido em que algumas

das fases (e.g., fase 6 – Questões importantes para a investigação) e procedimentos descritos

(e.g., foco em vários sentidos) poderão em determinadas ocasiões ser aplicados por ordens

diversas ou mesmo não ser utilizados. Embora no contexto empírico, por questões de controlo

experimental, sejam usualmente aplicados todos os componentes da Entrevista Cognitiva

Melhorada utilizando uma ordem de aplicação padronizada, a capacidade do entrevistador em

flexibilizar estes procedimentos no contexto profissional é imprescindível para o uso adequado

de qualquer entrevista investigativa (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992). Da mesma forma, embora

Page 39: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

39

algumas mnemónicas da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada devam ser utilizadas em todas as

entrevistas (e.g., Contar Tudo), outros procedimentos poderão ser inadequados para

determinada investigação (e.g., Mudança de Perspetiva ou Mudança de Ordem). Assim, as

diversas fases, procedimentos e mnemónicas devem ser conceptualizadas como uma “caixa de

ferramentas”. Quer isto dizer que cabe ao entrevistador escolher as técnicas que melhor se

adequam a cada investigação, flexibilizando e adequando a entrevista.

Fase 1 - Estabelecer uma boa relação com a testemunha

Estabelecer e manter uma boa relação com a testemunha é um procedimento

fundamental não só no início, mas também ao longo de toda a entrevista. Desde o primeiro

contacto com a testemunha o entrevistador deve considerar este objetivo. Para tal, é

fundamental que este cumprimente a testemunha e clarifique quem é e qual a instituição que

representa, evitando manter uma postura autoritária e mostrando-se disponível para prestar o

apoio necessário à testemunha. Este deve optar por não utilizar termos referentes à sua

posição hierárquica na instituição (e.g., Superintendente). O entrevistador deve ainda clarificar

qual o papel da testemunha na investigação, bem como a razão pela qual esta foi chamada

para a entrevista. Deve ainda personalizar a entrevista, incluindo diversas vezes o nome da

testemunha no seu discurso, e atendendo às necessidades e características particulares da

mesma (Paulo et al., 2013). A título de exemplo, entrevistar uma testemunha com dificuldades

comunicativas exige a adoção de um estilo comunicativo específico.

Nesta fase inicial da entrevista, o entrevistador deve abordar tópicos neutros com a

testemunha. Através desta conversação inicial o entrevistador procura não só que a

testemunha se sinta confortável com a sua presença e o com o contexto da entrevista, mas

também que a testemunha se habitue ao estilo de conversação utilizado. Para tal, assim como

ao longo da entrevista, o entrevistador deve colocar maioritariamente questões de resposta

aberta (e.g., “Como foi o seu dia?”). Deve igualmente procurar obter respostas detalhadas por

parte do entrevistado, por exemplo, introduzindo silêncios para que este sinta necessidade de

elaborar respostas mais longas.

Fase 2 - Explicar os objetivos da entrevista

Nesta fase o entrevistador deve comunicar de forma clara e precisa o que irá

acontecer ao longo de toda a entrevista. Transferir o controlo da entrevista para a testemunha

é também um objetivo fundamental para esta fase da entrevista. Para tal, o entrevistador

poderá basear-se na seguinte descrição:

Page 40: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

40

Embora neste momento esteja a ser eu quem mais intervém nesta entrevista, vou parar

de o fazer dentro de momentos pois foi você quem viu o crime e tem toda a informação

importante. Não irei interrompê-la(o) e peço-lhe que me conte tudo o que se lembra

acerca do crime, pela ordem que desejar. Pode fazer pausas sempre que quiser e

podemos até parar alguns minutos pois esta é uma tarefa que exige um grande esforço

da sua parte.

É também neste momento que o entrevistador aplica a mnemónica Relatar Tudo,

focando alguns pontos essenciais:

Gostava que me contasse tudo o que se lembra acerca do crime, com o máximo de

detalhe possível. Por favor conte-me tudo o que se lembra, mesmo os detalhes que lhe

possam parecer irrelevantes ou que apenas os recorde parcialmente. Algumas pessoas

omitem detalhes pois pensam que não são importantes. No entanto, eu estou interessado

em tudo o que lhe vier à cabeça. Até o mais pequeno detalhe pode ser muito importante.

Por fim, para a implementação desta mnemónica, o entrevistador poderá ainda utilizar

um exemplo para demonstrar o nível de detalhe que pretende obter. Por exemplo, poderá

descrever exaustivamente uma garrafa de água para que a testemunha perceba que este está

interessado em todo o tipo de detalhes, e não apenas numa descrição genérica da garrafa, e

posteriormente do crime.

Fase 3 - Relato livre

O objetivo do entrevistador para esta fase é o de obter o melhor relato livre possível. É

através do relato livre que a testemunha vai providenciar grande parte da informação acerca do

crime pois, tal como iremos abordar de seguida, é esta a fase em que o entrevistador menos

intervém no relato da testemunha. Assim, a informação obtida está menos sujeita a distorções

ou erros pois as questões que irão ser colocadas pelo entrevistador em fases posteriores

podem influenciar a memória do entrevistado. Como iremos também abordar mais à frente,

basta o entrevistador cometer um pequeno erro durante a fase de questionamento (e.g.,

colocar uma questão sugestiva - “O assaltante tinha luvas, não tinha?”) para colocar em risco a

exatidão do discurso da testemunha.

Page 41: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

41

Para obter o melhor relato possível, o entrevistador deve utilizar a mnemónica

Restabelecimento do Contexto:

Peço-lhe agora que feche os olhos e os mantenha fechados durante todo o exercício, pois

fechar os olhos ajuda a que obtenha uma imagem mais clara da cena do crime na sua

mente. Pense no dia em que observou o crime…; Pense no que estava a fazer nesse

dia…; Como se estava a sentir quando se dirigia para o local do crime…; Agora imagine o

cenário do crime e tente obter uma imagem clara…, muito clara…, desse cenário na sua

mente…. Pense agora em todos os objetos que estavam nesse cenário…; pense nos sons

e vozes que se lembra ouvir…; pense nas pessoas que estavam presentes na cena do

crime…; E agora foque-se no que aconteceu. Quando estiver pronto/a e tiver uma

imagem clara do cenário do crime na sua mente, mantendo os olhos fechados e usando

todo o tempo que precisar, diga-me tudo o que se lembra pela ordem que quiser e

estabelecendo as pausas que desejar.

Esta instrução deve ser comunicada de forma pausada, dando tempo à testemunha

para recriar o contexto do crime na sua mente. Deve também ser mantido um tom de voz com

volume reduzido pois um volume elevado pode interferir com a tentativa da testemunha em

recriar o contexto do crime. Tal como referido, durante o relato livre o entrevistador deve

interromper o menos possível a testemunha de forma a não interferir com o seu relato, bem

como com as estratégias de recuperação utilizadas pela testemunha. Caso seja necessário,

algumas questões de resposta aberta podem ser utilizadas para direcionar o discurso da

testemunha. Não obstante, o entrevistador deve ter particular cuidado com o tipo de questões

que coloca. Por exemplo, caso o entrevistador introduza nova informação nas suas perguntas

(e.g., referir a arma do crime antes da testemunha narrar a sua existência), a memória da

testemunha poderá sofrer distorções. Sempre que necessário devem ser estabelecidas pausas.

Caso a testemunha não se sinta confortável para fechar os olhos, deve ser instruída para olhar

para um local fixo da sala (e.g., um ponto fixo de uma parede) evitando assim distrações que

dificultem o restabelecimento do contexto.

Fase 4 - Questionamento

Após obter um relato livre extenso e completo, o entrevistador poderá colocar algumas

questões baseadas no discurso da testemunha. Nesta fase, o entrevistador deve recordar à

testemunha para relatar tudo o que se lembra, mesmo os detalhes que pareçam ser

Page 42: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

42

irrelevantes. Deve ainda comunicar à mesma que esta deverá responder que não se recorda

sempre que seja esse o caso pois esta é uma resposta tão valiosa como outra qualquer. Esta

instrução é particularmente importante com crianças pois estas tendem a dar respostas sobre

as quais não estão certas com o intuito de não dececionar o entrevistador. Como já referido, as

questões colocadas devem ser sempre compatíveis com o discurso da testemunha. Por

exemplo, se a testemunha está a descrever o assaltante, o entrevistador deve colocar todas as

questões que tem acerca deste aspeto antes de a questionar sobre o tópico seguinte. Na fase

de questionamento, o entrevistador poderá também utilizar a técnica de Visualização Mental:

Disse-me que quando o assaltante entrou no banco olhou fixamente para ele pois este

parecia um pouco agitado. Peço-lhe agora que feche os olhos e recrie a imagem que tem

do assaltante quando este entrou no banco. Foque-se em todos os pormenores que se

lembra acerca do mesmo: o seu vestuário…; a sua expressão facial …; o seu cabelo …;

os seus olhos …; [etc.]. Quando tiver uma boa imagem mental do assaltante, conte-me

tudo o que se lembra acerca dele.

Por fim, o entrevistador deve utilizar maioritariamente questões de resposta aberta ao

longo de toda a entrevista (“O que fez o assaltante quando saiu do banco?”). Como referimos

anteriormente, questões de resposta fechada (“O assaltante tinha luvas?”), escolha múltipla (“O

assaltante tinha uma máscara ou um chapéu?”) ou sugestivas (“O assaltante tinha luvas, não

tinha?”) conduzem a respostas pouco informativas e aumentam o número de erros cometidos

pela testemunha, pelo que devem ser evitadas.

Fase 5 - Novas estratégias de recuperação

Como referido, o protocolo de aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada deve ser

flexível e adequado às características da testemunha, do episódio em causa e do tipo de

informação que o entrevistador pretende obter. Nesta fase, a capacidade do entrevistador em

adaptar a entrevista é particularmente importante, pois as técnicas que iremos abordar poderão

ser aplicadas de diferentes formas ou até não ser aplicadas de todo. Caso seja claro para o

entrevistador que a testemunha já relatou exaustivamente tudo o que recorda acerca do crime,

utilizar novas estratégias de recuperação poderá ser ineficaz. No entanto, caso o entrevistador

considere que a testemunha poderá ainda ser capaz de relatar mais informação, através do uso

de novas estratégias de recuperação, algumas estratégias poderão ser utilizadas.

Page 43: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

43

Uma destas estratégias é a utilização da mnemónica Mudança de Ordem. Ao aplicar

esta mnemónica o entrevistador poderá instruir a testemunha da seguinte forma:

Agora gostaria que fizéssemos outra tarefa que, por vezes, ajuda as pessoas a

lembrarem-se de ainda mais informação. Gostava que me contasse novamente tudo o

que se lembra acerca do crime, mas, desta vez, pela ordem inversa. Ou seja, comece por

relatar o último acontecimento que se lembra e depois passe para o que aconteceu

imediatamente antes disso e por aí fora. Sei que parece difícil mas irei ajudá-la(o). Qual

foi o último acontecimento de que se lembra?

Caso o entrevistador opte por utilizar esta mnemónica, deve auxiliar a testemunha ao

longo de todo o processo. Após a testemunha descrever tudo o que se lembra acerca de

determinado momento do crime, o entrevistador deverá pedir à mesma que descreva o episódio

que ocorreu imediatamente antes.

A mnemónica de Mudança de Perspetiva pode também ser útil em algumas situações.

Por exemplo, caso a testemunha tenha mostrado dificuldade em descrever as ações do

assaltante, poderá agora ser-lhe pedido que relate novamente o crime tal como se o assaltante

fosse a personagem principal de uma peça de teatro:

Queria agora pedir-lhe que relate o episódio a partir de uma perspetiva diferente pois este

procedimento pode ajudar as pessoas a relatar mais informação que previamente não

tenham recordado. Imagine que o assaltante, durante toda a cena do crime, se encontra

sob um holofote tal como uma personagem principal numa peça de teatro. Pedia-lhe que

relatasse novamente tudo o que se lembra, tentando sempre focar-se no assaltante como

se este fosse a personagem principal deste episódio.

O entrevistador pode ainda pedir à testemunha que relate novamente tudo o que se

lembra acerca do crime focando-se num sentido percetivo diferente. Tal procedimento pode

também ser incluído numa das duas mnemónicas anteriormente descritas, por exemplo,

pedindo à testemunha que relate o episódio pela ordem inversa, focando-se apenas no que se

lembra de ouvir. Maioritariamente, as testemunhas focam-se na informação visual que têm do

crime. Assim, pedir à testemunha que se foque num outro sentido percetivo poderá auxiliá-la a

relatar nova informação. Adicionalmente, vítimas de alguns crimes (e.g., crimes sexuais)

descrevem frequentemente ter fechado os olhos durante o momento do crime. Por esta razão,

Page 44: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

44

pedir a estas testemunhas que relatem o que ouviram/cheiraram/sentiram poderá ser

extremamente vantajoso.

Fase 6 - Questões importantes para a investigação

Até esta fase da entrevista a testemunha não deve ser questionada acerca de aspetos

que não mencionou, por exemplo, questionada acerca da arma do crime sem esta ter narrado

a sua existência. Estas questões podem apresentar um caráter sugestivo, ou seja, poderão

levar a testemunha a afirmar algo que não se recorda mas assume através do discurso do

entrevistador. No entanto, em algumas investigações, poderá ser imprescindível colocar

questões acerca de tópicos que a testemunha não mencionou durante a entrevista. Uma vez

que nesta fase da entrevista todas as outras técnicas de questionamento foram já utilizadas e

grande parte do relato da testemunha foi já obtido, o entrevistador poderá introduzir este tipo

de questões caso sejam imprescindíveis para a sua investigação. No entanto, o entrevistador

deve estar ciente que a informação obtida através deste tipo de questões tem uma maior

probabilidade de conter distorções ou erros (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992). Mais uma vez,

questões sugestivas, de resposta fechada ou escolha múltipla devem ser evitadas.

Fase 7 – Resumo

Chegado este momento, o entrevistador poderá sintetizar alguns pontos centrais do

relato da testemunha, dando-lhe a oportunidade de acrescentar nova informação e/ou corrigi-

la. Esta fase é opcional pois caso existam gravações vídeo da entrevista o entrevistador terá a

oportunidade de rever a gravação e esclarecer alguma dúvida que tenha em relação ao

discurso da testemunha através dessa mesma gravação.

Fase 8 – Encerramento

Na fase de encerramento o entrevistador deverá novamente abordar tópicos neutros

com a testemunha tal como no início da entrevista. Ao longo da entrevista, a testemunha

poderá ter abordado tópicos sensíveis e perturbadores. Assim, o entrevistador deve certificar-se

de que a testemunha sai do local da entrevista sentindo-se calma e segura. É igualmente

importante agradecer à testemunha pelo seu trabalho árduo ao longo de toda a entrevista.

Desta forma, o entrevistador promove a colaboração da testemunha em futuras ocasiões caso

seja necessário. Para tal, este deve ainda fornecer um contacto à testemunha e informá-la de

que poderá comunicar caso tenha alguma dúvida ou se recorde de algum outro detalhe.

Page 45: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

45

Fase 9 - Avaliação

Após o término da entrevista é importante avaliar o valor da informação obtida e o

impacto que esta informação tem na investigação policial/ avaliação forense. É igualmente

importante que o próprio entrevistador, ou o seu supervisor, avaliem o seu desempenho. O

treino e avaliação são imprescindíveis para que qualquer entrevistador possa melhorar o seu

desempenho em entrevistas posteriores (Griffiths & Milne, 2010).

Conclusão

A Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada é uma das técnicas mais eficazes para obter bons

testemunhos, tendo sido alvo de imensas investigações e modificações ao longo das últimas

décadas (Paulo et al., 2013). No entanto, é necessário conhecer a sua origem, os seus

pressupostos teóricos, os protocolos de aplicação existentes e a investigação acerca deste tema

para utilizar eficazmente este modelo de entrevista. Com este artigo procurámos construir o

primeiro protocolo em língua portuguesa para a aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada.

No protocolo apresentado, dividimos a estrutura da entrevista em nove fases explicando em

que consistem, quais as técnicas a utilizar em cada uma destas fases, bem como a forma

adequada de aplicar tais técnicas. Consideramos que a leitura deste artigo será um primeiro

passo essencial para todos os profissionais que pretendam utilizar este modelo de entrevista.

Embora as mnemónicas e técnicas da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada possam já ser

utilizadas por algumas forças policiais e unidades de avaliação forense portuguesas, o estatuto

de reserva de divulgação de tais protocolos por esses profissionais impossibilitam o acesso e

avaliação dos mesmos. A utilização adequada da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada obriga ainda a

que as instituições disponham não só de programas de treino, mas também avaliação do

desempenho dos entrevistadores (Poyser & Milne, 2011). Por várias razões (e.g., formação

insuficiente das próprias equipas de treino; falta de financiamento; reduzida cooperação por

parte dos entrevistadores; etc.), não é esta a realidade portuguesa. Embora a Entrevista

Cognitiva Melhorada seja o modelo de entrevista para testemunhas mais utilizado, e

investigado, um pouco por todo o Mundo, em Portugal são muito escassas as publicações,

programas de treino e investigações acerca deste tema. De facto, para além da investigação

que está a ser desenvolvida por Paulo, Albuquerque & Bull (2015), não parece existir qualquer

outro tipo de investigação em Portugal acerca da utilização da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada.

Por fim destacamos que, embora o protocolo descrito ao longo deste artigo considere

adaptações específicas ao funcionamento e protocolos das forças policiais em geral (e.g.,

Page 46: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

46

condução da fase de resumo quando as instalações não permitem a gravação vídeo do

depoimento), futuras colaborações com as diversas forças policiais portuguesas são

imprescindíveis de forma a criar protocolos mais exclusivos da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada,

maximizando a sua utilidade face à realidade policial portuguesa. A falta de articulação entre as

várias instituições (e.g., forças policiais e equipas de investigação) dificulta que este tipo de

investigação seja realizado.

Financiamento

Este trabalho foi financiado pela “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” de Portugal

(Referência: SFRH/ BD / 84817/2012)

Referências

Aschermann, E., Mantwill, M., & Köhnken, G. (1991). An independent replication of the

effectiveness of the cognitive interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 5, 489-495.

doi:10.1002/acp.2350050604

Brunel, M., Py, J., & Launay, C. (2013). Cost and benefit of a new instruction for the cognitive

interview: The open depth instruction. Psychology, Crime & Law, 19, 845-863.

doi:10.1080/1068316X.2012.684058

Campos, L., & Alonso-Quecuty, M. (2008). Language crimes and the cognitive interview: Testing

its efficacy in retrieving a conversational event. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 1211–

1227. doi:10.1002/acp.1430

Dando, C., & Milne, R. (2009). The cognitive interview. In R. Kocsis (Ed.), Applied criminal

psychology: A guide to forensic behavioural sciences (pp. 147–169). Sydney, NSW:

Charles C. Thomas.

Dando, C., Wilcock, R., Behnkle, C., & Milne, R. (2011). Modifying the cognitive

interview: Countenancing forensic application by enhancing practicability. Psychology,

Crime & Law, 17, 491–511. doi:10.1080/10683160903334212

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-enhancing techniques for investigative

interviewing: The cognitive interview. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Gathercole, S. E., & Hitch, G. J. (1993). Developmental changes in short-term memory: A revised

working memory perspective. In A. Collins, S. E. Gathercole, M. A. Conway, & P. E. Morris

(Eds.), Theories of memory (pp. 189-209). Hove, UK: Erlbaum.

Page 47: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

47

Geiselman, R. E., Fisher, R. P., Firstenberg, I., Hutton, L., Sullivan, S. J., Avetissian, I. V., &

Prosk, A. L. (1984). Enhancement of eyewitness memory: An empirical evaluation of the

cognitive interview. Journal of Police and Science Administration, 12, 74-80.

Geiselman, R. E., Fisher, R. P., MacKinnon, D. P., & Holland, H. L. (1985). Eyewitness memory

enhancement in the police interview: Cognitive retrieval mnemonics versus hypnosis.

Journal of Applied Psychology, 70, 401–412.

Griffiths, A., & Milne, R. (2010). The application of cognitive interview techniques as part of an

investigation. In C. A. Ireland & J. M. Fisher (Eds.), Consultancy and advising in forensic

practice: Empirical and practical guidelines (pp. 71–90). Chichester, UK: BPS Blackwell.

Griffiths, A., Milne, R., & Cherryman, J. (2011) A question of control? The formulation of suspect

and witness interview question strategies by advanced interviewers. International Journal

of Police Science & Management, 13, 255-267.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1350/ijps.2011.13.3.219

Holliday, R., & Albon, A. (2004). Minimising misinformation effects in young children

with cognitive interview mnemonics. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18, 263–281.

doi:10.1002/acp.973

Davis, M., McMahon, M., & Greenwood, K. (2005). The efficacy of mnemonic components of the

cognitive interview: towards a shortened variant for time-critical investigations.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 75–93.

Milne, R. J. (1997). Analysis and application of the cognitive interview. (Unpublished doctoral

dissertation). University of Portsmouth.

Milne, R., & Bull, R. (1999). Investigative Interviewing: Psychology and Practice. Chichester, WS :

Wiley.

Milne, R., Sharman, S. J., Powell, M. B., & Mead, S. (2013). Assessing the effectiveness of the

cognitive interview for children with severe intellectual disabilities. International Journal of

Disability, Development and Education, 60, 18-29.

doi:10.1080/1034912X.2013.757137

Milne, R., Shaw, G., & Bull, R. (2007). Investigative interviewing: The role of psychology. In D.

Carson, R. Milne, F. Pakes, & K. Shalev, (Eds.), Applying psychology to criminal justice

(pp. 65-80). Chichester, UK: BPS Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9780470713068.ch4

Larsson, A. S., Granhag, P. A., & Spjut, E. (2002). Children’s recall and the cognitive interview:

do the positive effects hold over time? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 203-214.

doi:10.1002/acp.863

Page 48: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

48

Loftus, E. F. & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the

interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal

Behavior, 13, 585-590. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(74)80011-3

Memon, A., Zaragoza, M., Clifford, B. R., & Kidd, L. (2010). Inoculation or antidote? The effects of

cognitive interview timing on false memory for forcibly fabricated events. Law and Human

Behavior, 34, 105- 117.

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2013). The enhanced cognitive interview: Towards a

better use and understanding of this procedure. International Journal of Police Science &

Management, 15, 190-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1350/ijps.2013.15.3.311

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., Saraiva, M., & Bull, R. (2015). The enhanced cognitive

interview: Testing appropriateness perception, memory capacity and error estimate

relation with report quality. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29, 536–543.

doi:10.1002/acp.3132

Poyser, S., & Milne, R. (2011). Miscarriages of justice: A call for continued research focusing on

reforming the investigative process. The British Journal of Forensic Practice, 2, 61-71.

doi:10.1108/14636641111134305

Prescott, K., Milne, R., Clark, J. (2011). How effective is the enhanced cognitive interview when

aiding recall retrieval of older adults including memory for conversation. Journal of

Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8, 257-270. doi:10.1002/jip.142

Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. (1973). Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic

memory. Psychological Review, 80, 352-373.

Tulving, E. (1991). Concepts of human memory. In L. R Squire, N. M. Weinberger, G. Lynch, and

J. L. McGaugh, (Eds.), Memory: Organization and locus of change (pp. 3-32). New York,

NY: Oxford University Press.

Verkampt, F., & Ginet, M. (2009). Variations of the cognitive interview: which one is the most

effective in enhancing children’s testimonies? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 1279–

1296. doi:10.1002/acp.1631

Vredeveldt, A., & Penrod, S. D. (2013). Eye-closure improves memory for a witnessed event

under naturalistic conditions. Psychology, Crime & Law, 19, 893-905.

doi:10.1080/1068316X.2012.700313

Wheatcroft, J. M., Wagstaff, G. F., & Russell, K. (2013). Specialist police interviewer perceptions

of the enhanced cognitive interview: Usefulness, confidence and witness reliability. Police

Practice and Research, 13, 1-14. doi:10.1080/15614263.2013.819616

Page 49: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

49

Wright, A., & Holliday, R. (2006). Enhancing the recall of young, young–old and old–old adults

with cognitive interviews. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 19–

43.doi:10.1002/acp.1260

Page 50: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

50

Page 51: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

51

Chapter III

Empirical Studies

Page 52: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

52

Page 53: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

53

Article 2

The enhanced cognitive interview: Testing appropriateness

perception, memory capacity and error estimate relation with

report quality

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., Saraiva, M., & Bull, R. (2015). The enhanced cognitive interview: Testing

appropriateness perception, memory capacity and error estimate relation with report quality. Applied

Cognitive Psychology, 29, 536-543. doi:10.1002/acp.3132

Page 54: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

54

Page 55: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

55

The enhanced cognitive interview: Testing appropriateness

perception, memory capacity and error estimate relation with report

quality

ABSTRACT

The Enhanced Cognitive Interview (ECI) has been widely studied. However, research has overlooked

witnesses’ attitudes toward the interview and how error estimate and memory capacity relate to

report quality. Participants watched a mock robbery video and were interviewed 48 hours later with

either a Portuguese version of the ECI or a Structured Interview (SI). Participants interviewed with the

ECI provided more information without compromising accuracy, particularly in free recall. Report

accuracy was stable across interview phases and information categories. A higher perception of

interview appropriateness (how witnesses evaluate the appropriateness of the interview procedure

used) was linked with more detailed reports and more interest in being an interviewee. Participants

over-estimated their error rate, and their memory capacity was not related to witnesses’ recall. It is

essential to take into account their perception of interview appropriateness and use alternative

methods to evaluate report quality. Major implications for real-life investigations are discussed.

Keywords: enhanced cognitive interview; appropriateness perception; memory tests; error estimate;

report quality

Interviewing witnesses is a key procedure that frequently determines the success of a

police investigation (Prescott, Milne, & Clark, 2011). However, what witnesses report rarely fully

corresponds with what they remember (Bower, 1967). The difference between what happened

and what is remembered can be even greater when inadequate interviewing techniques, such as

leading questions, are used. These techniques produce a reduced amount of accurate

information as well as incorrect information. To address this issue, Geiselman et al. (1984)

developed the Cognitive Interview.

The Cognitive Interview originally included four cognitive mnemonics: report everything,

mental reinstatement of context, change order and change perspective. The report everything

mnemonic consists of instructing witnesses to report everything they can remember whether it

seems trivial or not (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). This procedure is very important because

otherwise the witness might withhold valuable information she considers to be irrelevant.

Moreover, our memories for any given event may overlap and ‘irrelevant’ recall might activate

‘relevant’ recall (Tulving, 1991). The mental reinstatement of context consists of asking witnesses

Page 56: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

56

to mentally recreate the to-be-recalled event and their physiological, cognitive and emotional

states at the time of the crime. This mnemonic was derived from the premise that memory

retrieval is more effective when context of the original event is recreated during recall (Tulving &

Thomson, 1973). Lastly, because memory may be accessed by using several different memory

cues and paths (Tulving, 1991), the change order (asking the witness to recall the event in a

different chronological order) and change perspective mnemonics (to recall the event from a

different perspective) can be used to try to obtain new information.

This interview was further developed some years later by Fisher and Geiselman (1992)

as the Enhanced Cognitive Interview (ECI). Social and communicative components crucial for

conducting good investigative interviews, such as rapport building, were added to the original

procedure. For more information about these components, see Paulo, Albuquerque, and Bull

(2013). Several studies have repeatedly demonstrated this interview technique is able to increase

the amount of correct information recalled by witnesses, while maintaining report accuracy, that

is, the number of correct units of information proportionate to all recalled units of information

(Aschermann, Mantwill, & Köhnken, 1991; Rivard, Fisher, Robertson, & Mueller, 2014).

Therefore, the ECI has been widely acknowledged as one of the most successful procedures for

enhancing witness recollection (Paulo et al., 2013). The ECI has been found to be effective in

different countries — for example, USA, UK, Australia and Brazil (Stein & Memon, 2006); with

different types of witness — for example, children, adults and elderly (Verkampt & Ginet, 2009;

Wright & Holliday, 2006); with different intervals between the crime and interview — minutes to

weeks (Larsson, Granhag, & Spjut, 2002); with different event types — for example, crime, traffic

accident and phone call (Campos & Alonso-Quecuty, 2008) both in laboratory (Colomb & Ginet,

2012) and field studies (Colomb, Ginet, Wright, Demarchi, & Sadler, 2013) and is now being

widely used by police forces in a variety of locations (e.g., UK and Australia).

Most authors (Aschermann et al., 1991; Rivard et al., 2014) have focused on how to

increase the amount of produced information without decreasing report accuracy. However,

Fisher and Geiselman (2010) recently suggested using the ECI is more than using cognitive

techniques to enhance recall, recognizing the need for future research on witnesses’ attitudes

toward the interview process and the interviewer. Other authors recently acknowledged

witnesses’ perceptions toward the interview process might determine how rapport and working

alliance, which are two similar constructs, are established and maintained throughout the

interview (Vanderhallen & Vervaeke, 2014; Vanderhallen, Vervaeke, & Holmberg, 2011).

Establishing and maintaining rapport is also crucial during investigative interviews and was

associated with better recall (Read, Powell, Kebbell, & Milne, 2009; Walsh & Bull, 2012).

Page 57: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

57

Ballardin, Stein, and Milne (2013) postulated witnesses consider variables such as interviewers’

capacity to actively listen or welcome the witness at the interview setting and provide a

comfortable environment to be very important for the witness during the course of an interview.

Such findings are consistent with literature from other fields of Psychology. For instance,

Ackerman and Hilsenroth (2003) reviewed a set of studies which suggested therapist’s personal

attributes, such as being flexible, honest, respectful, trustworthy, confident, warm and interested,

are important for establishing a positive therapeutic alliance, this is, a positive relation between

therapist and client. Accordingly, several studies suggested a positive therapeutic alliance is one

of the most important factors for a positive outcome of the therapy (Martin, Garske, & Davis,

2000). However, in the forensic field researchers have not yet addressed how witnesses’

perceptions toward the interviewer and the interview process can directly influence witnesses’

report (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). Therefore, in this study, we focused on how witnesses’

perception of interview appropriateness might influence the amount of produced information, as

well as interest in being an interviewee. We measured interview appropriateness perception by

asking participants to evaluate, in a post-interview questionnaire, how appropriate they

considered the interview procedure to which they had previously been submitted, ECI or

Structured Interview (SI), to be. This research topic is important because even the most theory-

driven procedure could be harmful for the success of the investigation if perceived as

inappropriate by the witness.

In a very recent study, Paulo, Albuquerque, and Bull (2015) emphasized although

increasing ECI recall is important for police investigations, increasing and/or evaluating the

accuracy of different aspects of each witness report, for instance through metacognitive

techniques, is a topic ECI literature has largely disregarded. These authors found witnesses are

able to spontaneously and validly differentiate, in an interview setting, between information they

are sure about (‘certainties’) and information they are unsure about (‘uncertainties’). That is,

participants successfully used spontaneous expressions of uncertainty (e.g., I think, Maybe, I

believe, etc.) to identify less accurate information. Furthermore, they did this spontaneously while

recalling the event (i.e., they were not instructed to do so), successfully performing real-time

memory monitoring. Paulo et al. (2015) found correct recall proportion for recalled ‘uncertainties’

(number of correct ‘uncertainties’ over all produced ‘uncertainties’— correct, incorrect and

confabulated) is significantly lower (.65) than accuracy proportion for ‘certainties’ only (number of

correct ‘certainties’ over all produced ‘certainties’), which has an impressive value of .90. The

authors conclude differentiating ‘uncertainties’ from ‘certainties’ is a straightforward and time-

saving process to increase and evaluate ECI report accuracy. Such results are consistent with

Page 58: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

58

metacognitive/metamemory literature, which generally finds metacognitive techniques can be

used to improve witnesses’ accuracy (Higham, Luna, & Bloomfield, 2010; Roberts & Higham,

2002). Several studies (Allwood, Ask, & Granhag, 2005; Brewer, Weber, Wootton, & Lindsay,

2012; Lindsay et al., 2013; Luna & Martín-Luengo, 2012) show in different situations (e.g.,

selections from lineups, cued recall or free recall), when using adequate measures (e.g.,

calibration approach), a positive relation between confidence and accuracy can be found. Higher

accuracy for a given response can be expected when witnesses provide a higher confidence

judgment. Other authors (Evans & Fisher, 2010; Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996) suggest witnesses can

improve their accuracy by using metacognitive control techniques, such as exercising ‘report

option’ or adjusting ‘report precision’. Nonetheless, only two studies have focused on how this

procedure can be used to increase ECI report accuracy (Allwood et al., 2005; Roberts & Higham,

2002). These last authors interviewed witnesses with an ECI and asked them to provide

confidence judgments in a Likert scale for a small portion of their statements. Using this

procedure, participants were also able to distinguish between more and less reliable information.

However, to use such procedure a considerable amount of interviewer’s time is required, for

instance, for applying these scales and selecting information that will be evaluated by the

interviewee. Therefore, it would be difficult to use such procedure in a holistic manner at a real

police interview.

Since witnesses seem to be capable of estimating their accuracy using either

spontaneous expressions of uncertainty or post-interview numerical scales, we tested if they are

also able to estimate the proportion of errors they committed for each interview phase (e.g., free

recall or questioning phase) and for the whole interview. Similar research on frequency

judgments (participants’ estimates of how many units of information are correct for a given part

of their statement) usually found when confidence judgments result in overconfidence

(subjective confidence ratings are higher than ‘real’ accuracy), frequency judgments are

reasonably accurate because these are distinct procedures (Liberman, 2004). Therefore, when

confidence judgments are accurate, frequency judgments usually result in underconfidence. This

has been found in several studies (Gigerenzer, Hoffrage, & Kleinbölting, 1991; Sniezek &

Buckley, 1991). Sniezek and Buckley (1991) proposed a dual-process account stating

confidence judgments and frequency judgments have very different natures. Confidence

judgments are based on item-specific considerations, such as evaluation of information about

item content, whereas frequency judgments are influenced by other variables such as one’s

perception about him/ herself (e.g., perception of expertise). To our knowledge, no previous

study has evaluated witnesses’ ability to perform accurate frequency judgments on an interview,

Page 59: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

59

or ECI, condition. If witnesses are able to make such assessment, this can have important

consequences in court (e.g., if a witness is extremely confident she committed very few errors

on her report, should a judge/juror evaluate such report as highly reliable?). Furthermore,

providing a frequency judgment, or an error frequency judgment, for a given part of the

statement is less time demanding than providing confidence judgments for all information units

recalled in that portion of the statement.

Lastly, several studies support witnesses need to access different types of memory when

recalling a crime, (Bower, 1967). For instance, when using ECI mnemonics such as Change

Order or Change Perspective, witnesses need to manipulate memory information while recalling,

processes which are supported by working memory components (Baddeley, 2002; Vrij et al.,

2008). Therefore, one could expect witnesses with a higher general working memory capacity

might give a better report because of their ability to successfully use these mnemonics. However,

to our knowledge, such research has never been conducted. Furthermore, when describing, for

instance, the face of the criminal, witnesses need to access their memory for faces. Morgan et al.

(2007) found witnesses who achieved higher scores at the Faces Recognition Test (Wechsler,

1997) were also more accurate on an eyewitness task: selecting a target person they had

previously met under stressful conditions at a sequential photo presentation. These authors

believe trait ability to remember human faces, measured with the Faces Recognition Test, is

related to witnesses’ ability to recall faces under stressful conditions. However, to our knowledge,

no study has evaluated if trait ability to remember faces could be related to witnesses’ ability to

describe faces during the course of an investigative interview (e.g., ECI), nor if trait ability to

remember other types of stimuli (e.g., locations), measured through memory capacity tests, could

be related to subsequent performance on an investigative interview (e.g., when describing the

perpetrator’s location at the crime scene). Therefore, we believe the relation between witnesses’

performance on different memory tests (accessing different types of memory) and witnesses’

ability to provide a good report has not yet been fully addressed. We innovatively evaluated if

witnesses’ performance on several memory tests was related to their performance when recalling

a video recording of a (mock) bank robbery in an interview setting. This topic can also have major

impact on the applied field, for instance, when assessing the value of the statement in court.

Overall, the present study aimed to explore three main questions: (1) Do witnesses

with a higher perception of interview appropriateness, accessed on a post- interview

questionnaire, have better recall and/or report more motivation to be an interviewee? (2) Are

witnesses capable of performing accurate frequency judgments for their error rate? (3) Is witness

performance on memory tests related to the amount/accuracy of recalled information in an

Page 60: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

60

interview? We interviewed two groups of participants regarding their ability to recall a mock bank

robbery 48 hours after they viewed it: one group was interviewed with the ECI, and the other

group was interviewed with an SI.

Method

Participants

A total of 44 psychology students (age: M = 21, SD = 3), 36 female and 8 male from the

University of Minho (Portugal) participated in this study for course credits.

Design

A between subjects experimental design was used with interview condition as the

independent variable with two levels: (1) ECI, and (2) Structured Interview. The amount of

reported information and accuracy were measured in units of information and proportion,

respectively.

Materials

The participants watched a video recording of a non-violent (mock) bank robbery on a

Fujitsu L7ZA LCD computer screen. The video recording, which was edited from the second

episode of the 2004 Portuguese television drama ‘Inspector Max’ (Riccó, & Riccó, 2004), was

three minutes and 11 seconds long. Three memory tests were used to evaluate the following:

(1) Working Memory — Working Memory Span Test (Conway et al., 2005); (2) Face Recognition

— Faces (Wechsler, 1997); and (3) Spatial Span — Spatial Span (Wechsler, 1997). A post-

interview questionnaire was constructed, consisting of two direct questions: (1) In your opinion,

how appropriate would this interview be for a real police setting? And (2) how interesting was it for

you to be interviewed during this study? These questions were answered in a seven-point Likert

scale: 1 — highly inappropriate and 7 — highly appropriate; and 1 — totally uninteresting and 7

— totally interesting, respectively for questions 1 and 2. All interviews were audio and video

recorded.

Procedure

Ethics committee approval was obtained. Participants took part in two sessions. At the

first session participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (ECI or SI), having

Page 61: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

61

signed a consent form after reading general information about the study. Immediately after, they

were shown the video recording and then administered three memory tests. Memory test

administration order was varied. A second session took place approximately 48 hours later and

each participant was interviewed with either the ECI or SI and asked to give an error rate

estimate immediately after each interview phase. Error estimate for the ‘Summary’ interview

phase was not asked because many participants did not provide any new detail at this interview

phase. After the interview, all participants were asked to give an overall error rate estimate and

completed the post-interview questionnaire.

Interview conditions

Interview protocols were adapted from Milne and Bull (2003) for the Portuguese

language. Both interview protocols involved seven main phases: (1) preliminary phase; (2) free

report; (3) open-ended questioning; (4) second retrieval; (5) third retrieval (for new information

only); (6) summary; and (7) closure.

During phase 1 (preliminary phase), procedures like greeting, establishing rapport,

explaining the instructions and purpose of the interview to the witness and asking not to guess

were followed for both interview groups. ECI condition included transfer of control and report

everything instruction.

During phase 2 (free report), participants were asked to recall what they could remember

about the video in any order and pace they wished. In the ECI condition they were reminded to

report everything they could remember with as much detail as possible and mental reinstatement

of context was applied.

During phase 3 (open-ended questioning), three open-ended questions were asked to

each participant according to his/her free report (e.g., ‘Please describe the crime scene’ - if the

participant previously reported seeing the crime scene). For the ECI condition, mental imagery

instructions were used — e.g.:

you told me you looked at the robber when he entered the bank. Can you please

close your eyes…, think about everything you can remember concerning him…, his

face …, his clothes …, his actions …, and when you have a full picture of him in

your mind, describe everything you can remember about him.

During phase 4 (second retrieval), participants were asked to report what they could

remember about the video once again. In both conditions participants were encouraged to give

Page 62: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

62

this second report and the importance of such procedure was explained. In the ECI condition

participants were asked to recall the video in reverse order.

During phase 5 (third retrieval), participants were asked to focus one last time on the

video and report any new detail they could remember, if possible. In both interview conditions the

importance of such a procedure was explained and participants were encouraged to do their

best. In the ECI condition, participants were asked to adopt a different internal perspective to try

to remember new details: ‘(…) please focus on the event as if it was a common event at the bank

instead of a robbery, as you probably assumed before seeing the robber entering the bank (…)’.

On phase 6 (summary), the interviewer summarized what he understood of the witness

account and asked her/him to correct him if he misheard or misinterpreted any part of the

statement. He also told her/him to interrupt him if she/he could remember any new detail.

On the last phase (closure), appreciation for participants’ cooperation was acknowledged

and neutral topics were again discussed. These last two phases were exactly alike for both

interview groups.

Overall, the differences between the ECI and SI protocols were the four cognitive

mnemonics, transfer of control instruction and mental imagery. Both interview protocols included

procedures such as rapport building and appropriate questioning (e.g., witness-compatible

questioning) because these are considered an essential aspect of any investigative interview.

Thus, we focused on the effect the remaining components, only applied in the ECI condition,

would have on recall. Fisher and Geilseman’s (1992) guidelines for conducting the ECI were

followed and all cognitive, social and communicative components they described were included in

the ECI protocol.

Coding

Recordings of each interview were coded using the template scoring technique from

Memon, Holley, Wark, Bull, and Köhnken (1996). A comprehensive list of details in the video

recording was compiled, and units of information were categorized as referring to the following:

(1) person; (2) action; (3) object; (4) location; (5) conversation; and (6) sound, resulting in 378

units of information. Recalled information was classified as either correct, incorrect (e.g., saying

the shirt was brown when it was black) or confabulation (mentioning a detail or event which was

not present or did not happen). The phase within the interview in which a unit of information was

recalled was also coded. If a unit of information (correct or not) was repeated during the same or

a subsequent phase, that information was scored only the first time (Prescott et al., 2011).

Subjective statements or opinions were disregarded (e.g., ‘He was really good looking!’).

Page 63: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

63

Inter-rater reliability

To assess inter-rater reliability, 11 (25%) interviews were selected randomly and scored

independently by a researcher who was naive to the aims of the experiment and hypothesis, but

familiar with the template method of scoring interviews and had access to the crime video.

Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated for correct information, incorrect

information and confabulations and for the six information categories (person, action, etc.). High

inter-rater reliability was found for all measures in that the values of the ICC ranged between

.979 and 1.000, with an overall ICC of .992.

Results

Exploratory data analysis was used to decide whether to conduct parametric versus

nonparametric statistical tests when interval or ratio scale variables were included in such

statistical tests. Bonferroni corrections were applied when multiple statistical tests were

conducted on a single data set to avoid type 1 error (Field, 2009).

Accuracy and units of information

Participants in the ECI condition did recall more units of information (M = 76, SD =

24.71) in comparison with the control group (M = 58, SD = 13.91, t (42) = 2.96, p = .005, d =

.89, 95% CI [—30.11, —5.71]. Therefore, as expected the ECI protocol (M = 35.32, SD = 10.69)

took longer to conduct (measured in minutes) than the SI protocol (M = 22.76, SD = 6.58), t

(42) = 4.69, p < .001, d = 1.41, 95% CI [—17.96, —.7.15]. As seen in Table 2.1, no

differences were found between the two interviews regarding proportion of (i) correct recall (ratio

between the number of correct units of information recalled over all the recalled units of

information), t (42) = .96, p = .343, d = .29; (ii) errors (ratio between the number of errors

produced over all recalled units of information), t (42) = 1.12, p = .269, d = .34; and (iii)

confabulations (ratio between the number of confabulated information over all units of

information), t (42) = .80 p = .431, d = .24. Thus, participants interviewed with the ECI were able

to provide more information without increasing the proportion of errors and confabulations in

their reports.

Page 64: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

64

Table 2.1. Proportion values (mean and standard deviation) for correct recall, errors and confabulations, according

to the interview condition.

We first conducted a one-way within-subjects ANOVA to see if accuracy, measured in

correct recall proportion, was stable across all information categories (person vs. object vs. action

vs. location vs. conversation vs. sound). We found no differences in correct recall proportion

according to information category, F (2.61, 80.92) = .93, p = .421, 2 = .03. Regarding

interview phases, we found only during free recall participants interviewed with the ECI (M = 37,

SD = 16) recalled significantly more information than SI participants (M = 24, SD = 8), t (42) =

3.37, p = .002, d = .54, 95% CI [—20.64, —5.18]. As seen in Table 2.2, both groups produced

most information at free recall and questioning phase, recalling only a few new details at the

subsequent phases.

Enhanced Cognitive Interview Structured Interview

Interview Phase M SD M SD

Free Report 36.50 2.71 23.59 2.71

Questioning 29.32 2.04 25.82 2.04

Second recall 4.41 .66 4.46 .66

Third recall 3.23 .51 2.64 .51

Summary 2.60 .47 1.60 .47

Table 2.2. Mean (M ) and standard deviation (SD ) values for the number of recalled units of information in each

interview phase, according to interview condition.

Interview appropriateness

We found participants who evaluated the interview appropriateness as higher also

recalled more units of information, rs = .32, p = .037, 95% CI [.02, .61] and reported more interest

in being an interviewee, rs = .38, p = .011, 95% CI [.08, .66].

Correct recall Error Confabulation

ECI .86 (.07) .09 (.04) .05 (.04)

SI .87 (.05) .08 (.05) .05 (.03)

Page 65: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

65

Error estimate

Participants estimated their error rate was higher during the questioning phase (27%

error rate), followed by the second recall attempt (20%), the third recall attempt (19%), and lastly

free recall phase (17%). However, no differences in accuracy across different interview phases

was found, F (2.70, 64.88) = 2.23, p = .099, 2 = .09. No correlation between participants’

error estimate for the interview and their real error/confabulation rate (ratio between the number

of errors and confabulations produced over all produced units of information) was found, r = .23,

p = .123. Similar nonsignificant results were found for each individual interview phase. Lastly, we

found participants’ error estimate for the interview (M = 27%, SD = 12%) was significantly higher

than their real error/confabulation rate (M = 13%, SD = 6%), t (43) = 7.46, p < .001, d = 1.39,

95% CI [—.17, —.10].

Memory performance

No correlations were found between participants’ scores on the memory tests and their

subsequent performance on the interview in terms of correct recall proportion and amount of

recalled information. Performance on each memory test was also not associated with

performance on the remaining memory tests. Since working memory could influence the

performance of the ECI group at the Reverse Order and Change Perspective mnemonics, we

tested if there was a correlation between participants’ performance on the Working Memory Span

Test and their performance on these two mnemonics. No correlation was found. We also tested if

participants’ results on Faces Recognition Test were correlated to the number, and accuracy, of

recalled person details. No correlation was found. Lastly, we tested if participants’ results on

Spatial Span test were correlated to the number, and accuracy, of produced location details.

Again, we found no correlation between these variables. Therefore, participants’ results on the

memory tests do not seem to be related to their subsequent performance at the interview.

Discussion

This study found a Portuguese version of the ECI (versus a Portuguese version of the SI)

produced more units of information without compromising accuracy. Major differences regarding

the amount of elicited information according to interview condition were found for free recall.

Report accuracy was stable across different interview phases and information categories. We

found a higher perception of interview appropriateness was associated with more detailed

reports and more interest in being an interviewee. Performance on memory tests was not

Page 66: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

66

related to witnesses’ subsequent recall, and witnesses’ error estimate was not associated to

their real error rate.

Previously published studies suggest the ECI superiority effect could be consistent

across different countries (Stein & Memon, 2006). We found a Portuguese version of the ECI to

increase the amount of recalled information without compromising accuracy, that is, without

increasing the error and confabulation proportion. Professionals have now available a

Portuguese version of the ECI which has been tested and found to maximize the amount of

elicited information. Such findings are crucial for Portuguese police forces and other relevant

professionals because gathering more details from a crime witness, or suspect, might

determine the outcome of the investigation (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992).

We found free report was largely responsible for the ECI superiority effect because only

at free report the ECI elicited significantly more details than the SI. Thus, mental reinstatement

of context, report everything and transfer of control procedures, which are exclusive to the ECI,

are essential to obtain more information during free report. Our study supports previous findings

(Dando, Wilcock, & Milne, 2009; Dando, Wilcock, Milne, & Henry, 2009; Davis, McMahon, &

Greenwood, 2005; Luca, Raffaella, Elisa, & Fiorella, 2011) which suggest shortened ECI variants

can be applied when time constraint is a major investigative issue. However, the interviewer

should make sure to take the time to always include mental reinstatement of context, report

everything and transfer of control instructions during the free report phase.

Accuracy, that is, the number of correct units of information elicited by a participant

divided by all units of information reported by such participant, was similar across the whole

interview and across different information categories (person, action, etc.). Such findings have

two major implications. First, these support when appropriate open-ended questions are used,

accuracy can be maintained during the whole interview. Accuracy values for free report phase,

where no questions were asked, and the questioning phase, where open-ended questions were

used, were similar. Therefore, although using inadequate questions, such as leading questions,

can have a negative impact on accuracy (Goodman & Melinder, 2007), the use of adequate

open-ended questions does not necessarily decrease this value. Second, because accuracy

values were similar for all information categories, these results suggest professionals should not

consider witnesses to be more accurate when recalling details about a given information category

(e.g., person details), in comparison with another one (e.g., action details). Such results have

major implications in the ‘applied’ field (e.g., when evaluating the credibility of a given detail in

court).

Page 67: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

67

Our study also supports the hypothesis that witnesses’ perceptions regarding the interview

can have a major impact on their report (Ballardin et al., 2013; Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). To

our knowledge, this is the first study to access whether witnesses’ perceptions could be related to

the amount of recalled information, as suggested by Fisher & Geiselman (2010). We found a

higher perception of interview appropriateness was correlated with a higher number of reported

units of information and higher interest in being an interviewee. Such findings are supported by

previous research which suggests communicative and social factors, such as rapport and working

alliance, are very important (Ballardin et al., 2013; Vanderhallen & Vervaeke, 2014; Vanderhallen

et al., 2011) and associated with better recall (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992; Read et al., 2009;

Walsh & Bull, 2012). Our results are also consistent with findings from other fields of Psychology

(e.g., Clinical Psychology), which repeatedly demonstrated clients’ perception of the therapist

attributes and the therapy itself can influence therapeutic alliance as well as the outcome of the

therapy (Ackerman & Hilsenroth, 2003; Martin et al., 2000). This has major implications for real-

life investigations. For instance, the interviewer should always explain to the witness why every

procedure is being used during the interview (e.g., explaining why it is important to close her/his

eyes). If the interviewer fails to do this, even what could be the most effective procedure can be

perceived as inappropriate by the interviewee and have a negative impact on recall.

Previous research suggests witnesses are able to use metacognitive techniques such as

report option (Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996), confidence judgments (Allwood et al., 2005; Roberts &

Higham, 2002), adjusting report precision (Evans & Fisher, 2010) or frequency judgments

(Sniezek & Buckley, 1991), to monitor their own report. Furthermore, metacognitive techniques

can be effectively used in very different situations and contexts, such as selections from lineups

(Lindsay et al., 2013), cued recall tasks (Luna & Martín-Luengo, 2012) and investigative

interviews such as the ECI (Allwood et al., 2005; Paulo et al., 2015; Roberts & Higham, 2002).

However, to our knowledge, this was the first study to evaluate if witnesses are able to provide an

accurate error estimative for their report, and we found witnesses were unable to estimate their

error rate for their overall report and for each individual interview phase. Such results are

supported by previous literature which suggests when confidence judgments are accurate,

frequency judgments usually result in underconfidence (Sniezek & Buckley, 1991). Using a very

similar methodology to the one we have adopted for this study, several authors (Allwood et al.,

2005; Paulo et al., 2015; Roberts & Higham, 2002) found witnesses were able to use different

types of confidence judgments (e.g., numerical vs qualitative; instructed vs. spontaneous) to

evaluate report accuracy. According to Sniezek and Buckley (1991), this realism for confidence

judgments performed during, or after, the course of investigative interviews might explain why

Page 68: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

68

participants over-evaluated their error rate when frequency judgments were asked, believing they

committed more errors and confabulations than they actually did. Such results support Sniezek

and Buckley’s (1991) dual-process account theory stating confidence judgments and frequency

judgments have very different natures and different accuracy values can be expected when both

judgments are used in similar situations. Furthermore, both interviews (ECI and SI) remarkably

achieved very high accuracy, which might further explain why participants were underconfident

and over-evaluated their error rate. Therefore, our study does not support using frequency

judgments to evaluate report accuracy in an interview setting. Other methods to evaluate and

enhance report accuracy, such as accounting for witnesses’ spontaneous verbal confidence

judgments (Paulo et al., 2015), have shown to be much more effective for this purpose.

Lastly, our results suggest there is no relation between witnesses’ performance on

memory tests and their subsequent performance during the interview. Although Morgan et al.

(2007) found trait ability to remember human faces was related to witnesses’ accuracy when

selecting a target person at a sequential photo presentation, we could not replicate such findings

on an interview setting. Many factors can explain why we found different results. First, we asked

participants to describe with as much detail as possible the target subject (recall task), instead

of identifying her/him at a photo presentation (recognition task). Many authors (e.g., Bower,

2000) suggest recall tasks differ considerably from recognition tasks not only in terms of

memory capacity but also in terms of how they affect different phenomena’s (e.g., false

memories production). Second, our study was not conducted under highly emotional

circumstances during the encoding phase, and highly emotional events are remembered

differently from neutral events (Reisberg & Heuer, 2004).

Furthermore, it is quite possible report quality cannot be estimated by memory test

performance because variables such as witnesses’ motivation (Paulo et al., 2015), perceptions

about the interview and interviewer (Ballardin et al., 2013), as well as interviewers’ performance

(among others), can have a major impact on witnesses’ report on the course of an investigative

interview and need to be accounted for evaluating witnesses’ performance (Fisher & Geiselman,

2010). This might explain why none of the memory capacity tests scores was related to

witnesses’ subsequent performance. These results have a major impact for our judicial system.

Judges, attorneys, police officers, or other relevant professionals should not consider a

witness’s report to be ‘poor’ because she or he had low results on a psychological memory

evaluation or self-reported to have probably committed many mistakes during recall. Instead,

these professionals should account other factors to evaluate report quality, such as the type of

questioning used during the interview (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992).

Page 69: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

69

Acknowledgements

We express our gratitude to the Portuguese governmental institution ‘Fundação para a

Ciência e a Tecnologia’ (grant number: SFRH/BD/84817/2012) for funding this study, as well

as Dr. Becky Milne (of the University of Portsmouth) for her help and support.

References

Ackerman, S. J., & Hilsenroth, M. J. (2003). A review of therapist characteristics and techniques

positively impacting the therapeutic alliance. Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 1–33.

doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(02)00146-0

Allwood, C., Ask, K., & Granhag, P. (2005). The Cognitive Interview: Effects on the realism in

witnesses’ confidence in their free recall. Psychology, Crime & Law, 11, 183–198.

doi:10.1080/10683160512331329943

Aschermann, E., Mantwill, M., & Köhnken, G. (1991). An independent replication of the

effectiveness of the Cognitive Interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 5, 489–495.

doi:10.1002/acp.2350050604

Baddeley, A. D. (2002). Is working memory still working? European Psychologist, 7, 85–97.

doi:10.1027//1016-9040.7.2.85

Ballardin, M., Stein, L., & Milne, R. (2013). Além das técnicas de entrevista: características

individuais em entrevista investigativa com testemunhas. [Beyond the interview

techniques: Individual characteristics in investigative interviews with witnesses]. Revista

Brasileira de Segurança Pública, 7, 6–16.

Bower, G. (1967). A multicomponent theory of the memory trace. In K.W. Spence, & J. T. Spence

(Eds.). The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 1, pp. 229–325). New York, NY:

Academic Press.

Bower, G. (2000). A brief history of human memory. In E. Tulving, & F.I.M. Craik (Eds.),The

Oxford handbook of memory (pp. 3–32). New York: Oxford University Press.

Brewer, N., Weber, N., Wootton, D., & Lindsay, S. (2012). Identifying the bad guy in a lineup

using confidence judgments under deadline pressure. Psychological Science, 23, 1208–

1214. doi:10.1177/0956797612441217

Campos, L., & Alonso-Quecuty, M. (2008). Language crimes and the Cognitive Interview: Testing

its efficacy in retrieving a conversational event. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 1211–

1227. doi:10.1002/acp.1430

Page 70: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

70

Colomb, C., & Ginet, M. (2012). The Cognitive Interview for use with adults: An empirical test of

an alternative mnemonic and of a partial protocol. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26, 35–

47. doi:10.1002/acp.1792

Colomb, C., Ginet, M., Wright, D., Demarchi, S., & Sadler, C. (2013). Back to the real: Efficacy

and perception of a modified cognitive interview in the field. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 27, 574–583. doi:10.1002/ acp.2942

Conway, A. R., Kane, M. J., Bunting, M. F., Hambrick, D. Z., Wilhelm, O., & Engle, R. W. (2005).

Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user’s guide. Psychonomic

Bulletin & Review, 12, 769–786. doi:10.3758/BF03196772

Dando, C. J., Wilcock, R., & Milne, R. (2009). The Cognitive Interview: The efficacy of a modified

mental reinstatement of context procedure for frontline police investigators. Applied

Cognitive Psychology, 23, 138–147. doi:10.1002/acp.1451

Dando, C. J., Wilcock, R., Milne, R., & Henry, L. (2009). A modified cognitive interview procedure

for frontline police investigators. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 698–716.

doi:10.1002/acp.1501

Davis, M., McMahon, M., & Greenwood, K. (2005). The efficacy of mnemonic components of

the Cognitive Interview: Towards a shortened variant for time-critical investigations.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 75–93. doi:10.1002/acp.1048

Evans, J. R., & Fisher, R. P. (2010). Eyewitness memory: Balancing the accuracy, precision and

quantity of information through metacognitive monitoring and control. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 25, 501–508. doi:10.1002/acp.1722

Field, A. P. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London, Middx: Sage.

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-enhancing techniques for investigative

interviewing: The Cognitive Interview. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (2010). The Cognitive Interview method of conducting police

interviews: Eliciting extensive information and promoting therapeutic jurisprudence.

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 33, 321–328.

doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2010.09.004

Geiselman, R. E., Fisher, R. P., Firstenberg, I., Hutton, L., Sullivan, S. J., Avetissian, I. V., &

Prosk, A. L. (1984). Enhancement of eyewitness memory: An empirical evaluation of

the Cognitive Interview. Journal of Police and Science Administration, 12, 74–80.

Gigerenzer, G. Hoffrage, U., & Kleinbölting, H. (1991). Probabilistic mental models: A

Brunswikian theory of confidence. Psychological Review, 98, 506–528.

doi:10.1037/0033-295X.98.4.506

Page 71: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

71

Higham, P. A., Luna, K., & Bloomfield, J. (2010). Trace-strength and source-monitoring

accounts of accuracy and metacognitive resolution in the misinformation paradigm.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 324–335. doi:10.1002/acp.1694

Koriat, A., & Goldsmith, M. (1996). Monitoring and control processes in the strategic regulation of

memory accuracy. Psychological Review, 103, 490–517.

Goodman, G. S., & Melinder A. (2007). Child witness research and forensic interviews of young

children: A review. Criminal and Criminological Psychology, 12, 1–19.

doi:10.1348/135532506X156620

Larsson, A. S., Granhag, P. A., & Spjut, E. (2002). Children’s recall and the Cognitive Interview:

Do the positive effects hold over time? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 203–214.

doi:10.1002/acp.863

Liberman, V. (2004). Local and global judgments of confidence. Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30, 729–732. doi:10.1037/0278-

7393.30.3.729

Lindsay, R., Kalmet, N., Leung, J., Bertrand, M., Sauer, J., & Sauerland, M. (2013). Confidence

and accuracy of lineups selections and rejections: Postdicting rejection accuracy with

confidence. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 2, 179–184.

doi:10.1016/j. jarmac.2013.06.002

Luca, B., Raffaella, N., Elisa, G., & Fiorella, G. (2011). The Enhanced Cognitive Interview: A study

on the efficacy of shortened variants and single techniques. Journal of Cognitive

Psychology, 23, 311–321. doi:10.1080/ 20445911.2011.497485

Luna, K., & Martín-Luengo, B. (2012). Confidence-accuracy calibration with general knowledge

and eyewitness memory cued recall questions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26, 289–

295. doi:10.1002/acp.1822

Martin, D. J., Garske, J. P., & Davis, M. K. (2000). Relation of the therapeutic alliance with

outcome and other variables: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical

Psychology, 68, 438–450. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.68.3.43

Memon, A., Holley, A., Wark, L., Bull, R., & Köhnken, G. (1996). Reducing suggestibility in child

witness interviews. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10, 503–518.

doi:10.1002/(SIECI)1099-0720(199612)10:63.0.CO;2-R

Milne, R., & Bull, R. (2003) Does the Cognitive Interview help children to resist the effects of

suggestive questioning? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 8, 21–38.

doi:10.1348/135532503762871219

Page 72: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

72

Morgan, C. A., Hazlett, G., Baranoski, M., Doran, A., Southwick, S., & Loftus, E. (2007).

Accuracy of eyewitness identification is significantly associated with performance on a

standardized test of face recognition. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 30,

213–223. doi:10.1016/j. ijlp.2007.03.005.

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2013). The Enhanced Cognitive Interview: Towards

a better use and understanding of this procedure. International Journal of Police Science

& Management, 15, 190–199. doi:10.1350/ijps.2013.15.3.311

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B, & Bull, R. (2015). The Enhanced Cognitive Interview:

Expressions of uncertainty, motivation and its relation with report accuracy. Psychology,

Crime and Law, 22, 1-31. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2015.1109089

Prescott, K., Milne, R., Clark, J. (2011). How effective is the Enhanced Cognitive Interview when

aiding recall retrieval of older adults including memory for conversation? Journal of

Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8, 257–270. doi:10.1002/jip.142

Reisberg, D., & Heuer, F. (2004). Memory for emotional events. In D. Reisberg, & P. Hertel

(Eds.), Emotion and memory (pp. 3–41). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Riccó, A. (Director), & Riccó, R. (Director) (2004). O Assalto [The robbery] [Television series

episode]. In V. Castelo (Producer), Inspector Max. Lisbon: Produções Fictícias.

Rivard, J. R., Fisher, R. P., Robertson, B., & Mueller, D. H. (2014). Testing the Cognitive Interview

with professional interviewers: Enhancing recall of specific details of recurring events.

Applied Cognitive Psychology. Retrieved from

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp. 3026/full

Read, J. M., Powell, M. B., Kebbell, M. R., & Milne, R. (2009). Investigative interviewing of

suspected sex offenders: A review of what constitutes best practice. International Journal

of Police Science & Management, 11, 442–459. doi:10.1350/ijps.2009.00.0.143

Roberts, W.T., & Higham, P.A. (2002). Selecting accurate statements from the cognitive interview

using confidence ratings. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8, 33–43.

doi:10.1037/1076-898X.8.1.33

Sniezek, J. A., & Buckley, T. (1991). Confidence depends on level of aggregation. Journal of

Behavioral Decision Making, 4, 263–272. doi:10.1002/bdm.3960040404

Stein, L. M., & Memon, A. (2006). Testing the efficacy of the Cognitive Interview in a developing

country. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 597–605. doi:10.1002/acp.1211

Tulving, E. (1991). Concepts of human memory. In L. R. Squire, N. M. Weinberger, G. Lynch, &

J. L. McGaugh (Eds.), Memory: Organization and locus of change (pp. 3–32). New York:

Oxford University Press.

Page 73: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

73

Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. (1973). Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic

memory. Psychological Review, 80, 352–373.

Vanderhallen, M., Vervaeke, G., & Holmberg, U. (2011). Witness and suspect perceptions of

working alliance and interviewing style. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender

Profiling, 8, 110–130. doi:10.1002/jip.138

Vanderhallen, M., & Vervaeke, G. (2014). Between interviewer and suspect: The role of the

working alliance in investigative interviewing. In R. Bull (Ed.), Investigative interviewing

(pp. 63–90). New York: Springer.

Verkampt, F., & Ginet, M. (2009). Variations of the Cognitive Interview: Which one is the most

effective in enhancing children’s testimonies? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 1279–

1296. doi:10.1002/acp.1631

Vrij, A., Mann, S. A., Fisher, R. P., Leal, S., Milne, R., & Bull, R. (2008). Increasing cognitive

load to facilitate lie detection: The benefit of recalling an event in reverse order. Law and

Human Behavior, 32, 253–265. doi:10.1007/s10979-007-9103-y

Walsh, D., & Bull, R. (2012). Examining rapport in investigative interviews with suspects: Does its

building and maintenance work? Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 27, 73–84.

doi:10.1007/s11896-011-9087-x

Wechsler, D. (1997). WMS-III: Wechsler Memory Scale Administration and Scoring Manual (3rd

ed.). San Antonio, TX: PsychCorp.

Wright, A., & Holliday, R. (2006). Enhancing the recall of young, young–old and old–old adults

with cognitive interviews. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 19–43.

doi:10.1002/acp.1260

Page 74: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

74

Page 75: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

75

Article 3

The enhanced cognitive interview: Expressions of uncertainty,

motivation and its relation with report accuracy

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2015). The Enhanced Cognitive Interview: Expressions of uncertainty,

motivation and its relation with report accuracy. Psychology, Crime & Law, 22, 366-381.

doi:10.1080/1068316X.2015.1109089

Page 76: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

76

Page 77: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

77

The enhanced cognitive interview: Expressions of uncertainty,

motivation and its relation with report accuracy

ABSTRACT

The Enhanced Cognitive Interview (ECI) is one of the most widely studied and used methods to

interview witnesses. However, ECI research has mainly focused on increasing report size and

somewhat overlooked how to improve and evaluate report accuracy. No study evaluated if witnesses’

spontaneous expressions of uncertainty are accurate metacognitive judgments, nor if witnesses’

motivation during the interview affects report accuracy. This study examined how witnesses’

judgments of recall ‘uncertainty’ and their motivation perception could relate to report accuracy.

Forty-four psychology students watched a mock robbery video recording and were interviewed 48

hours later with either the Portuguese version of the ECI or a Structured Interview (SI). Afterward,

participants’ motivation was assessed and units of information were classified as ‘certainties’ or

‘uncertainties’. Results suggest our ECI protocol was effective since participants interviewed with the

ECI produced more information without compromising accuracy. ‘Uncertainties’ were less accurate

than ‘certainties’, and their exclusion raised overall, ECI, and SI, accuracy. More motivated

participants had better recall accuracy. Accounting for witnesses’ motivation and spontaneous verbal

expressions of uncertainty may be effective and time-saving procedures to increase accuracy. These

are key points professionals and researchers should consider.

Keywords: enhanced cognitive interview; motivation; certainty; metacognition; metamemory

As several researchers (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992; Prescott, Milne, & Clark, 2011) have

acknowledged over the years, interviewing witnesses is a key procedure which frequently

determines the outcome of a police investigation. However, memory is not so accurate and what

witnesses actually report rarely corresponds fully with what they remember (Bower, 1967),

particularly when inadequate interviewing techniques are used (Flin, Boon, Knox, & Bull, 1992).

To address this issue, Geiselman et al. (1984) developed the Cognitive Interview (CI).

The CI originally included four cognitive mnemonics: report everything, mental reinstatement of

context, change order, and change perspective. The report everything mnemonic consists of

instructing witnesses to report everything they can remember, whether it seems trivial or not

(Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). The mental reinstatement of context consists of asking witnesses to

mentally recreate the to-be-recalled event, as well as their physiological, cognitive, and emotional

states at the time of the crime. Lastly, the change order (asking the witness to recall the event in

a different chronological order – e.g. reverse order) and change perspective mnemonics (to recall

Page 78: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

78

the event from a different perspective – e.g. report what the witness saw from another witness’

point of view) can be used to try to obtain information which has not yet been recalled. A few

years later, this was further developed by Fisher and Geiselman (1992) as the Enhanced

Cognitive Interview (ECI). Several social and communicative components such as rapport

building, witness-compatible questioning, transferring control of the interview to the witness and

mental imagery, crucial for conducting good investigative interviews, were added (see Fisher &

Geiselman, 1992 or Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2013, for more information about ECI

mnemonics and components, as well as theory underlying such procedures [Tulving, 1991;

Tulving & Thomson, 1973]).

As Paulo et al. (2013) also reviewed, the ECI has been found to be effective in different

countries (e.g. USA, UK, Australia, Brazil), with different types of witness (e.g. children, adults,

elderly), with various delays between the crime and the interview (e.g. minutes to weeks), with a

variety of events (e.g. crime, traffic accident, phone call), both in laboratory and field studies.

These studies consistently showed this interview technique increases the amount of correct

information recalled by witnesses, while maintaining accuracy, i.e. the number of correct units of

information proportionate to all recalled units of information. Such a finding is commonly

referred to as ECI superiority effect (Akehurst, Milne, & Köhnken, 2003; Aschermann,

Mantwill, & Köhnken, 1991; Campos & Alonso-Quecuty, 1999; Dando & Milne, 2010; Higham &

Memon, 1999; Köhnken, Milne, Memon, & Bull, 1999; Memon, Holley, Wark, Bull, & Köhnken,

1997; Rivard, Fisher, Robertson, & Mueller, 2014; Stein & Memon, 2006). As mentioned above,

most of the ECI research is focused on how to increase the amount of produced information

without decreasing report accuracy. Nonetheless, actually increasing or evaluating report

accuracy, i.e. the proportion of correct details in a given statement, is also crucial for police

investigations (Milne & Bull, 1999). It could be very valuable if it could be determined which of

the recalled information is more likely to be correct and which may be incorrect. One of the most

promising methods to achieve this goal could be using metacognitive techniques for monitoring

recall (Evans & Fisher, 2010).

Metacognition refers to what we know about our own cognition and how we can use such

knowledge to regulate cognition, as well as what we know about our own memory and

mnemonic strategies (metamemory), and how we can use such knowledge to improve our

memory, particularly in terms of quality (Metcalfe & Shimamura, 1996). In fact, research on

metacognition contributed to researchers changing their focus from improving report quantity to

improving report quality (Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996). Subsequently, several studies addressed

how metacognitive techniques can be used to improve or evaluate witnesses’ accuracy (Higham,

Page 79: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

79

Luna, & Bloomfield, 2010; Roberts & Higham, 2002). For the purpose of the present study, we

will focus on three of those techniques: confidence judgments; frequency judgments; and report

option.

Several studies suggest in some situations, such as selections from lineups (Brewer,

Weber, Wootton, & Lindsay, 2012; Lindsay et al., 2013), cued recall (Luna & Martín-Luengo,

2012), or free recall (Allwood, Ask, & Granhag, 2005), and when using the adequate

measures – calibration approach (Luna & Martín-Luengo, 2012), a positive relationship between

confidence and accuracy can be found. Therefore, higher accuracy for a given response can be

expected when witnesses are more confident such response is accurate. However, only two

studies have focused on how this procedure can be used to evaluate ECI report accuracy

(Allwood et al., 2005; Roberts & Higham, 2002). These authors interviewed witnesses with either

the ECI or a Structured Interview (SI), which is very similar to the ECI but does not include

some of its cognitive and social components (see ‘Method’ section). Afterwards, they asked

participants to provide confidence judgments for a small portion of their statements using a

numerical rating scale. Using this procedure, witnesses were able to distinguish between more

and less accurate information regardless of interview condition. Therefore, the statement portions

assigned with high confidence were more accurate than the full set of statements. However,

these studies focus on metacognitive procedures applied after the interview is conducted. After

finishing the interview, a small portion of the witness’ report which is selected by the interviewer

is rated in terms of confidence judgments. From this, two main concerns can be identified. First,

numerical confidence judgments performed after the interview has been conducted do not reflect

witnesses’ capacity to spontaneously differentiate statements which are less likely to be correct in

a natural fashion (O’Hagan et al., 2006). Second, such procedures require a considerable

amount of interviewer’s time, for instance, for applying these scales and selecting the limited

information which will be evaluated by the interviewee. Therefore, it is difficult to use such

procedure in a holistic manner at a real police interview setting.

Asking witnesses to predict how many units of information are correct, or wrong, for a

given part of their statement (frequency judgments) could be a less time demanding approach to

evaluate report accuracy (Gigerenzer, Hoffrage, & Kleinbölting, 1991; Liberman, 2004; Sniezek &

Buckley, 1991). However, several authors questioned the accuracy of frequency judgments in

interview settings. For instance, Granhag, Jonsson, and Allwood (2004) interviewed

participants with either the ECI or an SI and subsequently asked them to answer to 45 forced-

choice questions and give a confidence judgment for each question. Participants were then

asked to provide a frequency judgment (how many questions they had answered correctly) and

Page 80: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

80

the authors found participants severely underestimated their actual performance. Paulo,

Albuquerque, Saraiva, and Bull (2015) evaluated if witnesses were able to perform accurate

frequency judgments for each interview phase, as well as for overall recall, during an investigative

interview. These authors presented the same (mock) crime recording to two groups of

participants and interviewed them with either an ECI or an SI. After each interview phase (e.g.

free recall, questioning phase, second retrieval, etc.), they asked participants to estimate their

error rate for that particular phase (frequency judgment). The same question was asked at the

end of the interview for overall recall. Regardless of the interview phase, both groups were unable

to successfully evaluate their error rate, there being no association between participants’

frequency judgments and participants ‘real’ error rate.

Other studies (Evans & Fisher, 2010; Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996) suggest witnesses can

improve their accuracy by using other metacognitive control techniques, namely exercising

‘report option’ or adjusting ‘report precision’. Exercising ‘report option’ refers to giving witnesses

an opportunity to withhold information. For instance, if the witness is not sure about her ability to

accurately answer a question, or to recall part of the event, she can withhold such information –

e.g. say ‘I do not remember’. Using this procedure, witnesses seem to be capable of withholding

more unreliable information and maintaining the reliable recall, consequently improving report

accuracy. Accordingly, most interview protocols, including the ECI and SI, instruct witnesses not

to guess when they do not know the answer to a question or do not recall part of the event.

However, there are more levels of confidence between a ‘full guess’ (e.g. I assume he had a

black shirt because robbers always wear black shirts) and a ‘full certainty’ (e.g. I’m sure the

robber had a black shirt). For instance, witnesses commonly use spontaneous verbal expressions

of uncertainty (e.g. I think, maybe, I believe, etc.) to report somewhat uncertain information. ECI

research (Dando & Milne, 2010; Prescott et al., 2011) usually disregards such expressions

during coding and analysis. Thus, ‘I think the robber had a gun’ would (for example) simply be

coded as ‘the robber had a gun’. Instead of disregarding such prepositions, the interviewer could

ask witnesses to withhold all ‘uncertainties’ (e.g. I think the robber had a black shirt) in order to

increase report accuracy. However, such an instruction may have several problems: (1) being

somewhat incompatible with the ‘Report Everything’ mnemonic. In the same way that ‘irrelevant’

recall might activate ‘relevant’ recall (Tulving, 1991), an ‘uncertainty’ might activate a ‘certainty’.

Therefore, asking witnesses to withhold such information might undermine report length; (2)

even though a witness is not sure about that particular information (‘uncertainty’) the interviewer

might have other methods to verify the accuracy of such information (e.g. other witnesses’

reports, crime scene analysis, etc.). This could lead to omission of very valuable information;

Page 81: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

81

and (3) research has not yet evaluated if units of information spontaneously preceded, or

followed (e.g. the robber had a black shirt, I think), by wording that expresses uncertainty

(‘uncertainties’) differ, in terms of accuracy, from units of information not preceded/followed by

such wording (‘certainties’).

To evaluate if spontaneous verbal expressions of uncertainty can be used to evaluate and

improve report accuracy, we decided to treat these two separately, and test: (a) if ‘certainties’

would involve greater accuracy than ‘uncertainties’ and (b) if the ECI superiority effect over an SI

(in terms of quantity of information) does not affect other parameters, such as ‘uncertainties’

proportion or the accuracy of such information. To date, no study has evaluated if witnesses are

able to perform spontaneous real-time memory monitoring for their account. This is crucial

because if witnesses are able to spontaneously discriminate less reliable information while

reporting the crime, differentiating ‘uncertainties’ from ‘certainties’ can be an easy, intuitive, and

time-saving way (O’Hagan et al., 2006) to differentiate less reliable information (‘uncertainties’)

from more reliable information (‘certainties’).

Another method to improve and estimate report accuracy might involve witnesses’

perception of their own motivation during the interview. Two studies (Read, Powell, Kebbell,

& Milne, 2009; Walsh & Bull, 2011) recently acknowledged witnesses’ perceptions toward the

interview process might determine how rapport is established and maintained throughout the

interview, which might be crucial during investigative interviews and associated with better

recall (Vallano & Compo, 2015). Fisher and Geiselman (2010) also suggested interviewing

witnesses involves more than mere use of cognitive techniques. They recognize the need for

more studies addressing witnesses’ attitudes toward the interview process and interviewer,

which is a topic that has yet received very little attention from researchers. Recent findings

(Ballardin, Stein, & Milne, 2013) suggest witnesses’ perceptions, such as perception of

interviewer effort and perception of their own motivation during the interview can have a major

influence on the outcome of an investigative interview. However, understanding how these

perceptions can influence witnesses’ report, for instance, in terms of report accuracy, is important

(Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). To our knowledge, such research questions have not yet been

addressed. Therefore, the present study examined how witnesses’ perceptions can influence their

report. We focused on whether witnesses’ perception of their own motivation was related to their

recall in terms of report accuracy because, as previously mentioned, improving report accuracy is

the main focus of this study. If more motivated witnesses achieve better report accuracy,

promoting witnesses’ motivation can be another possible method to further increase report

quality.

Page 82: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

82

Overall, our main goal was to see if report accuracy can be increased and/or estimated

through two different procedures: (1) witnesses spontaneous metacognitive judgments and (2)

witnesses’ perception of their own motivation. We established three main hypotheses: (1)

‘uncertainties’ will be less accurate than ‘certainties’ because participants will be able to

homogeneously monitor the information they are providing throughout the interview (Allwood et

al., 2005; Evans & Fisher, 2010; Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996; Roberts & Higham, 2002). As a

result, removing ‘uncertainties’ from the report will increase accuracy; (2) ECI superiority effect

over an SI (in terms of information quantity) does not affect other parameters such as the

proportion of ‘uncertainties’ or, as several studies suggest (Aschermann et al., 1991; Dando &

Milne, 2010; Rivard et al., 2014), report accuracy. Therefore, longer reports are expected for the

ECI condition as a result of using effective cognitive mnemonics to improve recall; and (3)

witnesses who rate themselves as more motivated during the interview will have greater accuracy

because they are more motivated to provide a good report and possibly will apply more effort to

monitor their report through spontaneous metacognitive/metamemory techniques.

Method

Participants

A total of 44 Portuguese psychology students, 36 females and 8 males, with an age

range from 17 to 46 years old (M = 21, SD = 3) participated in this study for course credits.

We have used G*Power 3.1 (Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang, 2009) to conduct power

analysis based on effect sizes reported in a recent ECI meta-analysis review (Memon, Meissner,

& Fraser, 2010) to ensure our sample size was adequate. Both interview groups had 22

participants, 18 females and 4 males each. The ECI group age ranged from 17 to 46 years old

(M = 21, SD = 6) and the SI group age ranged from 18 to 34 years old (M = 21, SD = 4).

Design

A between subjects experimental design was used with interview condition as

independent variable with two levels: (1) ECI and (2) SI. The amount of reported information and

accuracy were measured in information units and proportion, respectively.

Page 83: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

83

Materials

Participants watched the recording on a Fujitsu L7ZA LCD computer screen. The video

recording, which was edited from the second episode of the 2004 Portuguese television

drama ‘Inspector Max’ (Riccó & Riccó, 2004) was 3 minutes and 11 seconds long. This

nonviolent video recording shows a male armed subject walking inside a bank and taking several

hostages to carry a robbery. He verbally and physically interacts with them, with a cashier and a

police officer who later approaches the robber. After the interview was conducted, participants

were asked to evaluate their motivation during the interview (‘How do you evaluate your

motivation to testify during the interview?’) on a seven-point Likert scale (1 – very low; 2 – low; 3

– slightly low; 4 – moderate; 5 – slightly high; 6 – high; and 7 – very high). All interviews were

video and audio recorded.

Procedure

Ethics committee approval was obtained. Participants took part in two sessions. At the

first session, they were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (ECI vs. SI). Having signed a

consent form after reading general information about the study, participants were shown the

video recording. They were asked to pay as much attention as possible to the video recording

because they would be later interviewed about it. A second session took place approximately 48

hours later and each participant was interviewed with either the ECI or SI. After the interview, all

participants immediately answered the question regarding motivation perception.

Interview conditions

The interview protocols employed were translated and adapted from Milne and Bull

(2003) for the Portuguese language. Overall, the only differences between the ECI and SI

protocols were the four cognitive mnemonics, transfer of control instruction and mental imagery

(see Table 3.1). Both interview protocols included procedures such as rapport building and

appropriate questioning (e.g. witness-compatible questioning) because these are now considered

essential aspects of investigative interviews. Thus, we wanted to focus on the effect the remaining

components only applied in ECI condition would have on recall. All SI procedures were also

included in the ECI. Fisher and Geiselman’s (1992) guidelines for conducting the ECI were

followed. All cognitive, social and communicative components described in Fisher and Geiselman

(1992) were included in the ECI protocol.

Page 84: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

84

Phase 1

Preliminary

Phase 2

Free Report

Phase 3

Open-ended

Questioning

Phase 4

Second

Retrieval

Phase 5

Third

Retrieval

Phase 6

Summary

E

ECI Transfer of control

Report everything

Context reinstatement

Report everything

Mental imagery

Change order Change perspective

X

X – No procedure specific to the ECI

Table 3.1. Differences between the two interview protocols: procedures only applied in the ECI condition according to

interview phase.

Both interview protocols enclosed seven main phases: (1) preliminary phase; (2) free

report; (3) open-ended questioning; (4) second retrieval; (5) third retrieval (for new information

only); (6) summary; and (7) closure.

During Phase 1 (preliminary phase), procedures such as greeting, establishing rapport,

explaining the instructions and interview purpose to the witness and asking not to guess were

followed for both interview protocols. However, the ECI condition included the transfer of control

instruction: ‘[ … ] you are the only one who saw the video and have the ability to report all

important information [ … ] you can tell me what happened in the order you desire and pause

whenever you want’; as well as the report everything instruction: ‘[ … ] please tell me everything

you remember with as much detail as you can [ … ] even details which might seem irrelevant to

you are very important to me [ … ] tell me everything that pops into your mind’.

During Phase 2 (free report), participants were asked to recall what they could remember

about the video in any order and pace they desired. In the ECI condition, they were reminded to

report everything they could remember with as much detail as possible and mental reinstatement

of context was applied:

[ … ] Try to remember the day you have watched the video [ … ] now picture the

crime scene in your mind [ … ] as clear as possible [ … ] picture all the sounds [

… ] all the objects [ … ] all the people [ … ] and now focus on what happened and

tell me everything you can remember.

Page 85: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

85

During Phase 3 (open-ended questioning), three open-ended questions were asked to

each participant according to his/her free report (e.g. ‘Please describe the perpetrator’ – if the

participant previously reported seeing a criminal). However, for the ECI condition mental imagery

instructions were used – e.g.

You told me you looked at the perpetrator when he entered the bank because he

looked very anxious. Can you please close your eyes …, think about everything you

remember concerning him…, his clothes … , his face … , his behavior … and when

you have a full picture of him in your mind, describe everything you can

remember about him.

During Phase 4 (second retrieval), participants were asked to report what they could

remember about the video once again:

[ … ] I know it may seem redundant, but it is actually highly important you report

one more time what happened on the video [ … ] report not only new information

you might recall, but also all the information you’ve already reported [ … ].

In both conditions participants were encouraged to give this second report and the

importance of such procedure was explained. In the ECI condition participants were asked to

recall the video in reverse order:

[ … ] Please tell me what happened in reverse order [ … ] Focus on the last

episode you remember … then focus on the previous one … and so on [ … ].

What is the last episode you remember?

During Phase 5 (third retrieval), participants were asked to focus one more time on the

video and try to report any new detail they could remember, if possible. In both interview

conditions the importance of such a procedure was explained and participants were encouraged

to do the best they could. In the ECI condition, participants were asked to adopt a different

internal perspective to try to remember new details: ‘[ … ] please focus on the event as if it was a

common event at the bank instead of a robbery, as you probably assumed before seeing the

robber entering the bank [ … ]’.

Page 86: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

86

On Phase 6 (summary), the interviewer summarized what he understood of the witness

account and asked her to correct him if he misheard, or misinterpreted, any part of the

statement. He also told her to interrupt him if she/he could remember any new detail while

hearing the summary. On the last phase (closure) appreciation for participants’ hard work and

cooperation was acknowledged and neutral topics were again discussed. These last two phases

were exactly alike for both interview conditions.

Interviewer training

An expert in the ECI who had followed several qualified courses on investigative interview

techniques, consisting of more than 50 hours of lectures, practice, role-playing exercises and

feedback/evaluation conducted all interviews. To assure interviewer performance was adequate

and consistent across interview conditions, interview protocols were read verbatim whenever

possible (e.g. open-ended questioning and summary phase need to be adapted according to

participants’ previous recall) and an independent researcher, which is also an expert on human

memory and forensic psychology, randomly checked 25% of the interviews using a structured

evaluation grid to evaluate verbal and nonverbal behavior.

Coding

Recordings of each interview were coded using the template scoring technique from

Memon et al. (1997). A comprehensive list of details in the video recording was compiled and

units of information were categorized as referring to: (1) person; (2) action; (3) object; (4)

location; (5) conversation; and (6) sound, resulting in 378 units of information. Recalled

information was classified as either correct, incorrect (e.g. saying the pistol was brown when it

was black), or confabulation (mentioning a detail or event which was not present or did not

happen). Also noted was the interview phase in which a unit of information was recalled. If a unit

of information (correct or not) was repeated during the same or a subsequent phase, that

information was scored only the first time it was mentioned (Prescott et al., 2011). We classified

units of information as either ‘certainties’ or ‘uncertainties’. As described above, when

participants spontaneously used verbal expressions of uncertainty (e.g. I think, maybe, I believe,

etc.) to report a unit of information they were uncertain about, such unit was classified as an

‘uncertainty’. Otherwise, units of information were labeled as ‘certainties’. Coders were provided

with a list of Portuguese words which are commonly used for expressing uncertainty. They have

used their best judgment to verify the participant’s intent when using this kind of uncertainty

Page 87: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

87

expressions because, in very rare situations, these expressions could be used with other

purposes rather than express uncertainty. Therefore, in these exceptional cases the adjacent

information would not be rated as an ‘uncertainty’. Inter-rater reliability was assessed to measure

agreement on this measure as discussed in the following section. Subjective statements or

opinions were disregarded (e.g. ‘ the robber was gorgeous’).

Inter-rater reliability

To assess inter-rater reliability, 11 (25%) interviews were selected randomly and scored

independently by a researcher who was naive to the aims of the experiment and hypothesis, but

familiar with the template method of scoring interviews and had access to the crime video. Intra-

class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated for correct information, incorrect information

and confabulations, as well as for ‘certainties’, ‘uncertainties’ and the six information categories

(person, action, etc.). High inter-rater reliability was found for all measures in that the values of

the ICC ranged between 0.979 and 1.000 with an overall ICC of 0.992.

Results

Bonferroni corrections were applied when multiple statistical tests were conducted on a

single data set to avoid type 1 error (Field, 2013).

General recall and accuracy

It was expected participants in the ECI condition would provide more correct units of

information in comparison with a control group (SI), without compromising accuracy.

Participants in the ECI condition recalled more correct units of information (M = 76, SD =

24.71) in comparison with the control group (M = 58, SD = 13.91), t (42) = 2.96, p = .005, d =

0.89, 95% CI [−30.11, −5.71].

As seen from Table 3.2, no differences were found between the two interviews regarding

proportion values of (i) correct recall (ratio between the number of correct units of information

recalled, over all units of information), t (42) = 0.96, p = .343, d = 0.29; (ii) errors (ratio between

the number of errors produced, over all units of information), t (42) = 1.12, p = .269, d = 0.34;

and (iii) confabulations (ratio between the number of confabulated information over all units of

information), t (42) = 0.80, p = .431, d = 0.24. Thus, participants interviewed with the ECI were

Page 88: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

88

able to provide more information without increasing the proportion of errors and confabulations

on their reports (see Table 3.2).

Correct recall Error Confabulation

ECI .86 (.07) .09 (.04) .05 (.04)

SI .87 (.05) .08 (.05) .05 (.03)

Table 3.2. Proportion values (mean and SD) for correct recall, errors, and confabulations, according to interview condition.

‘Uncertainties’ frequency

We first conducted a two-way mixed-design 2 × 5 ANOVA to see if ‘uncertainties’

proportion (i.e. information units which are preceded, or followed, by expressions of uncertainty,

over all information units) was stable across interview conditions (ECI vs. SI), and interview

phases (Phase 2 vs. Phase 3 vs. Phase 4 vs. Phase 5 vs. Phase 6). Phase 1 (preliminary phase)

was not included in this analysis because participants were not asked to recall information at this

part of the interview. We found no main effect of interview condition on uncertainties proportion,

F (1, 12) = .09, p = .770, 2 = 0. Therefore, our results do not suggest participants in the ECI

condition produced a higher ‘uncertainties’ proportion (M = .14, SD = .08), in comparison to

the SI group (M = .12, SD = .07). Although we found a main effect of interview phase on

‘uncertainties’ proportion, F (4, 48) = 3.43, p = .02, 2 = .21, pairwise comparisons revealed

no significant differences between any of the different interview phases regarding this (M

phase 2 = .04; M phase 3 = .14; M phase 4 = .08; M phase 5 = .03; M phase 6 = .02).

There is also no interaction effect of interview condition and interview phase on ‘uncertainties’

proportion, F (4, 48) = 1.04, p = .394, 2 = .06.

Further analysis revealed report size (total number of details) is not associated with

proportion of produced ‘uncertainties’ (proportion of ‘uncertainties’ in a given report), r = .29, p =

.06. Therefore, our study does not support participants who are providing more units of

information are more uncertain about such information. There is also no correlation between

proportion of produced ‘uncertainties’ in a report and proportion of correct recall for the

remaining recall (proportion of correct information for ‘certainties’ only), r = .25, p = .10. Thus,

our data do not support participants who are providing more uncertainties are simultaneously

committing more errors/confabulations when recalling ‘certainties’.

Page 89: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

89

‘Uncertainties’ accuracy

‘Uncertainties’ constituted a small proportion of overall recall (M = .13, SD = .08).

Furthermore, their exclusion from accuracy analysis raised this proportion value from .86 (overall

correct recall: number of correct units of information over the total number of produced units of

information) to .90 (correct recall for ‘certainties’ only: number of correct ‘certainties’ over all

produced ‘certainties’). Such difference was statistically significant, t (43) = 7.38, p < .001, d =

1.11, 95% CI [−.04, −.02]. Error proportion for ‘certainties’ only was significantly lower than

overall error proportion (number of errors over the total number of produced units of

information), t (43) = 6.65, p < .001, d = 1.02, 95% CI [−.22, −.11] and confabulation proportion

for ‘certainties’ only was also lower than overall confabulation proportion, t (43) = 3.22, p =

.002, d = 0.93, 95% CI [.03, .11]. Such results occur because, as shown in Table 3.3, correct

recall proportion for ‘uncertainties’ is low and significantly different from correct recall proportion

for ‘certainties’ only, t (43) = 7.99, p < .001, d = 1.21, 95% CI [.18, .30] in that .65 of

‘uncertainties’ were correct units of information, in comparison with ‘certainties’ that have a

.90 correct recall rate.

Similar results were found for the ECI and SI conditions alone. The exclusion of

‘uncertainties’ within the ECI accuracy analysis raised this from .86 (overall correct recall

proportion) to .89 (correct recall proportion for certainties only), t (21) = 7.01, p < .001, d =

1.49, 95% CI [−.04, −.02]. The exclusion of ‘uncertainties’ within the SI accuracy analyses also

raised this from .87 (overall correct recall proportion) to .90 (correct recall proportion value for

certainties only), t (21) = 4.30, p < .001, d = 0.92, 95% CI [−.05, −.02].

Correct recall Error Confabulation

‘Certanties’ .90 (.06) .06 (.04) .04 (.04)

‘Uncertanties’ .65 (.21) .23 (.19) .12 (.15)

Overall .86 (.06) .09 (.04) .05 (.04)

Table 3..3. Proportion values (mean and SD) for correct recall, errors, and confabulations for ‘certainties’, ‘uncertainties’, and both

types of information together (overall).

Witnesses’ motivation perception

Out of a seven-point Likert scale (1 – very low; 2 – low; 3 – slightly low; 4 – moderate; 5

– slightly high; 6 – high; and 7 – very high), only the highest four motivation levels were chosen

Page 90: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

90

by participants to rate their motivation, N moderate = 4 (N ECI = 2; N SI = 2); N slightly high =

13 (N ECI = 10; N SI = 3); N high = 21 (N ECI = 15; N SI = 6); N very high = 6 (N ECI =

4; N SI = 2). Procedures such as rapport building and greeting, which were part of both

interview conditions, might have precluded lower motivation levels.

No effect of interview condition (ECI or SI) on participant’s perception of their own

motivation during the interview was found, U = 196, p = .245, r = .18. However, participants’

perception of their own motivation during the interview was correlated to report accuracy,

measured in correct recall proportion, rs = .37, p = .026, 95% CI [.10, .68].

Since ‘moderate’ and ‘very high’ motivation levels were chosen by only a few participants

(N = 10), we merged the two lowest levels of motivation (‘moderate’ and ‘slightly high’

motivation) and the two highest levels of motivation (‘high’ and ‘very high’ motivation) to have

more participants in each group: ‘lower’ motivation (N = 17) and ‘higher motivation’ (N = 27).

Afterwards, we conducted a t-test for independent samples and found witnesses who perceived

themselves as more motivated during the interview had a higher correct recall proportion (M =

.88, SD = .05) than witnesses who reported having lower levels of motivation (M = .84, SD =

.07), t (42) = 2.35, p = .023, d = 0.73, 95% CI [−.08, −.01].

Discussion

This study examined how use of witnesses’ spontaneous metacognitive judgments of

‘uncertainty’, as well as their perception of their own motivation, could help to increase and/or

evaluate report accuracy. Our major findings were spontaneous ‘uncertainties’ were less accurate

than ‘certainties’ and thus their exclusion raised overall, ECI, and SI, accuracy values. Also,

witnesses who perceived themselves as more motivated during the interview had better recall

accuracy.

Since ECI research is mostly focused on how to increase the amount of produced

information (Milne & Bull, 1999), we focused on how to increase report accuracy. We found

participants were capable of spontaneously distinguish more reliable information (‘certainties’)

from less reliable information (‘uncertainties’). Our results are supported by previous findings

suggesting witnesses are able of using several metacognitive techniques to monitor their own

report (Allwood et al., 2005; Evans & Fisher, 2010; Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996; Roberts &

Higham, 2002; Sniezek & Buckley, 1991). However, to our knowledge, this was the first study to

reveal witnesses are able to spontaneously perform real-time memory monitoring while recalling

Page 91: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

91

information in an interview setting. Furthermore, such results were stable across both interview

conditions (ECI or SI) which is consistent with previous findings suggesting metacognitive

techniques are effective in several different situations and contexts (Allwood et al., 2005; Lindsay

et al., 2013; Luna & Martín-Luengo, 2012). Such findings can have major implications for real-life

investigations.

Our study is also consistent with previous research (Aschermann et al., 1991; Dando &

Milne, 2010; Rivard et al., 2014) suggesting the ECI superiority effect over an SI (in terms of

Information quantity) does not affect other parameters such as the accuracy of such information

and, as our study now suggests, the proportion of produced uncertainties. When confronted with

consecutive retrieval attempts or instructions such as the ‘report everything’ mnemonic,

participants could provide ‘uncertain’ information they might otherwise withhold, therefore

explaining an increase in recall on the ECI condition. Our study does not support this because

even though ECI participants are providing more details, they are not reporting a higher

proportion of ‘uncertainties’. Such results are highly important for ECI usage, suggesting more

detailed reports, typically achieved when using the ECI, may well be the result of indeed using

diversified and effective recall strategies (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992; Paulo et al., 2013).

Witnesses could also be withholding ‘uncertain’ information at the beginning of the interview and

later choose to reveal it assuming, if the interviewer is asking for successive retrieval attempts,

he/she expects more information from the witness, regardless of its accuracy. However, our

study does not suggest this because pairwise comparisons revealed no differences between

interview phases regarding the number of produced uncertainties, proportion wise. Lastly, it is

important to state we found no correlation between proportion of produced ‘uncertainties’ for a

given report and accuracy for the remaining recall. Therefore, our study does not support

‘uncertainties’ are the result of inferior memory traces since witnesses who provide more

‘uncertainties’ do not seem to be providing more errors and confabulations in their remaining

recall. We believe ‘uncertainties’ are a result of metacognitive monitoring which is

homogeneously performed throughout the interview regardless of interview condition, interview

phase, or report length. Such monitoring is effectively performed, since only 65% of the produced

‘uncertainties’ were correct units of information, in comparison with ‘certainties’ that have a 90%

correct recall rate.

Our study purposely constrained motivation perception variability with procedures such

as greeting and establishing rapport (Vallano & Compo, 2015; Walsh & Bull, 2011) which

aim, among many other purposes, to preclude low levels of motivation (Read et al., 2009). Even

Page 92: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

92

though we focused on the effect motivation perception could have on report accuracy when only

moderate to high levels of motivation were reported, more motivated witnesses were more

accurate. Such results are supported by previous research which suggests witness’ perceptions

toward the interviewer and the interview process might have an important role on witnesses’

report (Ballardin et al., 2013; Walsh & Bull, 2011). However, to our knowledge, this is the first

study to assess the relationship between witnesses’ perception of their own motivation and report

accuracy, suggesting promoting witnesses’ motivation, for instance, through rapport, might also

be another effective procedure to further increasing report accuracy .

One could argue accuracy is influencing witnesses’ motivation: participants who provide

a more accurate report consequently feel more motivated. However, as previously discussed,

Paulo et al. (2015) found witnesses were unable to successfully evaluate their accuracy for

different interview phases, as well as for the whole interview. Similarly to Granhag et al. (2004),

these authors found no association between participants’ frequency judgments and participants

‘real’ error rate. Therefore, if witnesses are unable to accurately evaluate accuracy for large

portions of their statement, and for their overall statement, it is very unlikely that our

participants who achieved higher accuracy rates were able to perceive so, and consequently

felt more motivated. It is our believe highly motivated witnesses may be applying more effort to

successfully provide an accurate report, for instance, by effectively monitoring such information,

which, as we previously established, has a major role on increasing report accuracy. However,

this requires further testing as discussed in the following section.

Limitations and future directions

Given the size of our sample, two motivation levels had only a few participants (see

‘Results’ section). This constrained our ability to further test if highly motivated participants are

applying more effort to monitor their report, consequently providing a more accurate report. In

the future, it would be interesting to develop a study with more participants to test if highly

motivated witnesses present more signs of memory monitoring (e.g. elicit more ‘uncertainties’)

than witnesses who report moderate/lower levels of motivation. Furthermore, only one measure

of motivation was used in this study. Given that witnesses’ motivation could have an effect on

report accuracy; it is important to further test this hypothesis with other motivation measures,

such as real-time motivation assessments during the interview, as well as by manipulating

participants’ motivation levels. Lastly, it would be very interesting to separate ‘certainties’ in two

new groups: (a) ‘regular recall’ – e.g. ‘he had a black shirt’ and (b) ‘full certainty’ – e.g. ‘I am

Page 93: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

93

definitely sure he had a black shirt’. However, participants seldom spontaneously report a ‘full

certainty’. Therefore, a different research design which encourages participants to tell when they

are absolutely sure about a piece of information they have previously reported is necessary.

Conclusion

Our findings support differentiating spontaneous ‘certainties’ from ‘uncertainties’ and

promoting witnesses’ motivation are key points researchers and professionals should consider.

Taking note of witnesses’ motivation and ability to use spontaneous verbal expressions of

uncertainty to naturally monitor their own report might be an effective and time-saving procedure

to increase or evaluate report accuracy.

Acknowledgements

We express our gratitude to Dr Becky Milne (of the University of Portsmouth) for her help

and support. We express our gratitude to the Portuguese governmental institution ‘Fundação para

a Ciência e a Tecnologia’ (grant number: SFRH/BD/84817/2012) for funding this study.

References

Akehurst, L., Milne, R., & Köhnken, G. (2003). The effects of children’s age and delay on recall in

a cognitive or structured interview. Psychology, Crime & Law, 9, 97–107. doi:10.1080/

1068316021000057686

Allwood, C., Ask, K., & Granhag, P. (2005). The cognitive interview: Effects on the realism in

witnesses’ confidence in their free recall. Psychology, Crime & Law, 11, 183–198. doi:

10.1080/ 10683160512331329943

Aschermann, E., Mantwill, M., & Köhnken, G. (1991). An independent replication of the

effectiveness of the cognitive interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 5, 489–495.

doi:10.1002/acp. 2350050604

Ballardin, M., Stein, L., & Milne, R. (2013). Além das técnicas de entrevista: características

individuais em entrevista investigativa com testemunhas. [Beyond the interview

techniques: individual characteristics in investigative interviews with witnesses]. Revista

Brasileira de Segurança Pública, 7, 6–16.

Page 94: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

94

Bower, G. (1967). A multicomponent theory of the memory trace. In K. W. Spence & J. T. Spence

(Eds.),The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 1, pp. 229–325). New York, NY:

Academic Press.

Brewer, N., Weber, N., Wootton, D., & Lindsay, S. (2012). Identifying the bad guy in a lineup

using confidence judgments under deadline pressure. Psychological Science, 23, 1208–

1214. doi:10. 1177/0956797612441217

Campos, L., & Alonso-Quecuty, M. L. (1999). The cognitive interview: Much more than simply

“try again”. Psychology, Crime & Law, 5, 47–59. doi:10.1080/10683169908414993

Dando, C., & Milne, R. (2010). The cognitive interview. In R. Kocsis (Ed.), Applied criminal

psychology: A guide to forensic behavioral sciences (pp. 147–169). Sydney, NSW:

Charles C. Thomas. doi:10.1002/ jip.124

Evans, J. R., & Fisher, R. P. (2010). Eyewitness memory: Balancing the accuracy, precision and

quantity of information through metacognitive monitoring and control. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 25, 501–508. doi:10.1002/acp.1722

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A. G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using

G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods,

41, 1149–1160.

Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics (4th ed.). London: Sage.

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-enhancing techniques for investigative

interviewing: The cognitive interview. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (2010). The cognitive interview method of conducting police

interviews: Eliciting extensive information and promoting therapeutic jurisprudence.

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 33, 321–328.

doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2010.09.004

Flin, R., Boon, J., Knox, A., & Bull, R. (1992). The effect of a five month-delay on children’s and

adult’s eyewitness memory. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 323–336.

Geiselman, R. E., Fisher, R. P., Firstenberg, I., Hutton, L., Sullivan, S. J., Avetissian, I. V., &

Prosk, A. L. (1984). Enhancement of eyewitness memory: An empirical evaluation of the

cognitive interview. Journal of Police and Science Administration, 12, 74–80.

Gigerenzer, G. Hoffrage, U., & Kleinbölting, H. (1991). Probabilistic mental models: A

Brunswikian theory of confidence. Psychological Review, 98, 506–528. Retrieved from

http://dx.doi.org/10. 1037/0033-295X.98.4.506

Page 95: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

95

Granhag, P. A., Jonsson, A., & Allwood, C. M. (2004). The cognitive interview and its effect on

witnesses’ confidence. Psychology, Crime & Law, 10, 37–52.

doi:10.1080/1068316021000030577

Higham, P. A., Luna, K., & Bloomfield, J. (2010). Trace-strength and source-monitoring

accounts of accuracy and metacognitive resolution in the misinformation paradigm.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 324–335. doi:10.1002/acp.1694

Higham, P. A., & Memon, A. (1999). A review of the cognitive interview. Psychology, Crime &

Law, 5, 177–196. doi:10.1080/10683169908415000

Köhnken, G., Milne, R., Memon, A., & Bull, R. (1999). The cognitive interview: A meta-

analysis. Psychology, Crime & Law, 5, 3–27. doi:10.1080/10683169908414991

Koriat, A., & Goldsmith, M. (1996). Monitoring and control processes in the strategic regulation

of memory accuracy. Psychological Review, 103, 490–517.

Liberman, V. (2004). Local and global judgements of confidence. Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 30, 729–732. Retrieved from

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278- 7393.30.3.729

Lindsay, R., Kalmet, N., Leung, J., Bertrand, M., Sauer, J., & Sauerland, M. (2013). Confidence

and accuracy of lineups selections and rejections: Postdicting rejection accuracy with

confidence. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 2, 179–184.

Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.jarmac.2013.06.002

Luna, K., & Martín-Luengo, B. (2012). Confidence-accuracy calibration with general knowledge

and eyewitness memory cued recall questions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26, 289–

295. doi:10. 1002/acp.1822

Memon, A., Holley, A., Wark, L., Bull, R., & Köhnken, G. (1997). Isolating the effects of the

cognitive interview techniques. British Journal of Psychology, 88, 179–197.

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1997. tb02629.x

Memon, A., Meissner, C. A., & Fraser, G. (2010). The cognitive interview: A meta-analytic review

and study space analysis of the past 25 years. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 16,

340–372. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0020518

Metcalfe, J., & Shimamura, A. P. (1996). Metacognition: Knowing about knowing. Cambridge,

MA: The MIT Press.

Milne, R. & Bull, R. (1999). Investigative interviewing: Psychology and practice. Chichester, WS:

Wiley. doi:10.1002/cbm.444

Page 96: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

96

Milne, R., & Bull, R. (2003). Does the cognitive interview help children to resist the effects of

suggestive questioning? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 8, 21–38.

doi:10.1348/135532503762871219

O’Hagan, A., Buck, C. E., Daneshkhah, A., Eiser, J. R., Garthwaite, P. H., Jenkinson, D. J.,

Oakley, J.E., & Rakow, T. (2006). Uncertain judgements: Eliciting experts’ probabilities.

Chichester, WS: Wiley. doi:10.1002/0470033312

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2013). The enhanced cognitive interview: Towards a

better use and understanding of this procedure. International Journal of Police Science &

Management, 15 (3), 190–199. Retrieved from

http://dx.doi.org/10.1350/ijps.2013.15.3.311

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., Saraiva, M., & Bull, R. (2015). The enhanced cognitive

interview: Testing appropriateness perception, memory capacity and error estimate

relation with report quality. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29, 536–543.

doi:10.1002/acp.3132

Prescott, K., Milne, R., & Clark, J. (2011). How effective is the enhanced cognitive interview when

aiding recall retrieval of older adults including memory for conversation? Journal of

Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8, 257–270. doi:10.1002/jip.142

Read, J. M., Powell, M. B., Kebbell, M. R., & Milne, R. (2009). Investigative interviewing of

suspected sex offenders: a review of what constitutes best practice. International Journal

of Police Science & Management, 11, 442–459. doi:10.1350/ijps.2009.00.0.143

Riccó, A. (Director), & Riccó, R. (Director). (2004). O Assalto [The robbery] [Television series

episode]. In V. Castelo (Producer), Inspector Max. Lisbon: Produções Fictícias.

Rivard, J. R., Fisher, R. P., Robertson, B., & Mueller, D. H. (2014). Testing the cognitive interview

with professional interviewers: Enhancing recall of specific details of recurring events.

Applied Cognitive Psychology. Retrieved from

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp.3026/full

Roberts, W. T., & Higham, P. A. (2002). Selecting accurate statements from the cognitive

interview using confidence ratings. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8, 33–

43. doi:10.1037/ 1076-898X.8.1.33

Sniezek, J. A. & Buckley, T. (1991). Confidence depends on level of aggregation. Journal of

Behavioral Decision Making, 4, 263–272. doi:10.1002/bdm.3960040404

Stein, L. M., & Memon, A. (2006). Testing the efficacy of the cognitive interview in a developing

country. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 597–605. doi:10.1002/acp.1211

Page 97: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

97

Tulving, E. (1991). Concepts of human memory. In L. R. Squire, N. M. Weinberger, G. Lynch, &

J. L. McGaugh (Eds.), Memory: Organization and locus of change (pp. 3–32). New York,

NY: Oxford University Press.

Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. (1973). Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic

memory. Psychological Review, 80, 352–373.

Vallano, J. P., Compo, N. S. (2015). Rapport-building with cooperative witnesses and criminal

suspects: A theoretical and empirical review. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 21, 85–

99. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/law0000035

Walsh, D., & Bull, R. (2011). Examining rapport in investigative interviews with suspects: Does its

building and maintenance work? Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 27, 73–84.

doi:10.1007/ s11896-011-9087-x

Page 98: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

98

Page 99: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

99

Article 4

Improving the enhanced cognitive interview with a new

interview strategy: Category clustering recall

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2016). Improving the enhanced cognitive interview with a new interview

strategy: Category clustering recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology. doi:10.1002/acp.32532016

Page 100: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

100

Page 101: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

101

Improving the enhanced cognitive interview with a new interview

strategy: Category clustering recall

ABSTRACT

Increasing recall is crucial for investigative interviews. The enhanced cognitive interview (ECI)

has been widely used for this purpose and found to be generally effective. We focused on further

increasing recall with a new interview strategy, category clustering recall (CCR). Participants

watched a mock robbery video and were interviewed 48 hours later with either the (i) ECI; (ii)

revised enhanced cognitive interview 1 (RECI1) — with CCR instead of the change order

mnemonic during the second recall; or (iii) revised enhanced cognitive interview 2 (RECI2) —

also with CCR but conjunctly used with ‘eye closure’ and additional open-ended follow up

questions. Participants interviewed with CCR (RECI1 and RECI2) produced more information

without compromising accuracy; thus, CCR was effective. Eye closure and additional open-

ended follow up questions did not further influence recall when using CCR. Major implications

for real-life investigations are discussed.

Keywords: enhanced cognitive interview; category clustering recall; change order; change perspective; eye

closure

Several authors (Dando & Milne, 2010; Fisher & Geiselman, 1992; Paulo, Albuquerque, &

Bull, 2013) have acknowledged interviewing witnesses is a key procedure which can determine

the outcome of many police investigations. However, memory is not so accurate and what

witnesses report rarely corresponds fully with the witnessed event (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010).

Inadequate interviewing techniques commonly used during police investigations can augment this

problem often leading to poor testimonies (Flin, Boon, Knox, & Bull, 1992).

To address this issue, Geiselman et al. (1984) developed the cognitive interview. The

cognitive interview initially included four cognitive mnemonics: report everything, mental

reinstatement of context, change order, and change perspective. The report everything

mnemonic consists of instructing witnesses to report everything they can remember whether it

seems trivial or not. The mental reinstatement of context consists of asking witnesses to mentally

recreate the to-be-recalled event as well as their physiological, cognitive, and emotional states at

the time of the crime. The change order mnemonic consists of asking the witness now to recall

Page 102: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

102

the event in a different chronological order, often reverse order. Lastly, the change perspective

mnemonic consists of asking the witness to recall the event from a different perspective. These

last two mnemonics (change order and change perspective) are frequently used to try to obtain

information that has not yet been recalled (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010).

A few years later, several social and communicative components crucial for conducting

good investigative interviews, such as rapport building, witness-compatible questioning,

transferring control of the interview to the witness, and mental imagery, were added to a new

version of the cognitive interview: the enhanced cognitive interview (ECI; Fisher & Geiselman,

1992). One can read Geiselman and Fisher (2014) or Paulo et al. (2013) for more information

about the ECI components as well as theory underlying such procedures (Tulving, 1991; Tulving

& Thomson, 1973). The ECI has been found to be very effective in many countries — for

example, USA, England, Australia, Brazil, and Portugal (Paulo, Albuquerque, Saraiva, & Bull,

2015b; Stein & Memon, 2006), with different witnesses — for example, children, adults, and

elderly (Verkampt & Ginet, 2009; Wright & Holliday, 2006), with a range of delays between the

witnessed event and the interview — for example, minutes to months (Larsson, Granhag, & Spjut,

2002), and a variety of events — for example, crime, traffic accident and phone call (Campos &

Alonso-Quecuty, 1999), both in laboratory and field studies (Colomb & Ginet, 2012; Colomb,

Ginet, Wright, Demarchi, & Sadler, 2013). These studies consistently showed this interview

technique can increase the number of correct units of information recalled by witnesses while

maintaining accuracy (Paulo et al., 2013). Such a finding is frequently referred to as the ECI

superiority effect (Aschermann, Mantwill, & Köhnken, 1991; Dando & Milne, 2010; Higham &

Memon, 1999; Köhnken, Milne, Memon, & Bull, 1999; Memon, Wark, Bull, & Köhnken, 1997;

Rivard, Fisher, Robertson, & Mueller, 2014).

The ECI has been widely used by police forces in several countries (e.g., in England,

Wales, and Australia) and found to be very effective. However, the ECI comprises multiple

mnemonics and instructions which can contribute differently to the ECI superiority effect

(Griffiths & Milne, 2010). Thus, several authors focused on assessing the efficacy of each

individual ECI component, concluding procedures such as establishing rapport (Vallano &

Compo, 2015; Kieckhaefer, Vallano, & Compo, 2014), asking for an initial free report (Lamb, La

Rooy, Malloy, & Katz, 2011), mental reinstatement of context (Milne & Bull, 1999), or ‘eye

closure’ (Vredeveldt, Tredoux, Kempen, & Nortje, 2015) are often important techniques for

obtaining more information. However, other ECI components may be less effective. Although the

change order and change perspective mnemonics might be useful for some specific purposes,

Page 103: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

103

such as increasing cognitive load (Vrij et al., 2008), these are somewhat controversial

procedures, particularly the change perspective mnemonic (Boon & Noon, 1994; Brown, Lloyd-

Jones, & Robinson, 2008; Clarke & Milne, 2001; Clifford & George, 1996; Dando, Wilcock, &

Milne, 2008; Kebbell, Milne, & Wagstaff, 1999; Mello & Fisher, 1996). These two techniques

have been criticized mainly because (i) time constraints are common in police investigations and

these procedures take a considerable amount of time; (ii) these usually elicit only a limited

number of additional units of information (Bensi, Nori, Gambetti, & Giusberti, 2011); and (iii)

police officers sometimes consider these two procedures to be ineffective, time-consuming and

difficult to use (Dando et al., 2008; Kebbell et al., 1999). Therefore, replacing these two

procedures has frequently been discussed to develop even more effective interview protocols. For

instance, Davis, McMahon, and Greenwood (2005) compared the change order and change

perspective mnemonics with free recall attempts and found no advantage of both ECI

mnemonics in comparison with free recall tasks. Brunel, Py, and Launay (2013) found using the

open depth instruction (asking participants to focus their attention on the small details while

recalling the event once again) instead of the change perspective mnemonic allowed the

interviewer to obtain more information. Dando, Ormerod, Wilcock, and Milne (2011) found

recalling in reverse order might be less effective in comparison with another free recall regarding

the number and accuracy of recalled units of information. These authors argue reverse order

should be used with caution and only when free recall retrieval has been exhausted. On the

other hand, Bensi et al. (2011) found a second recall provided in reverse order was more effective

than a motivated second free retrieval attempt.

Therefore, it is arguable whether these two original cognitive interview mnemonics are

superior, similar, or inferior, to a second free recall attempt. Nonetheless, even though these

interview strategies (change order, change perspective or a further free recall) often only produce

low levels of additional information (Davis et al., 2005), this additional information can be very

valuable. It is often crucial for an interviewer, after a free recall attempt has been conducted and

fully exhausted and open-ended questions have been asked of the witness, to obtain more

information through the use of other recall strategies. However, there could be other methods to

conduct this second or third retrieval attempt which might be more effective. For instance, the

spreading- activation theory of semantic processing (Collins & Loftus, 1975) suggests memory is

often organized according to semantic similarity and the activation of semantically related

memories may occur when successively recalling information related to one specific semantic

category (Collins & Loftus, 1975). This is, if asked to recall objects, recalling ‘chair’ might prime

Page 104: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

104

recall of similar objects (e.g., ‘desk’ and ‘counter’) which might in turn prime other related

objects, such as ‘paper’ and ‘pencil’. Furthermore, when asked to memorize random word lists,

participants often organize these words into semantic categories (e.g., animals, objects, or

plants) either during encoding and/or recall — semantic clustering (Manning & Kahana, 2012).

When participants use this recall strategy either spontaneously or when instructed to do so, it

typically allows participants to recall more words (Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969; Robinson,

1966). However, to our knowledge, this strategy has never been adapted to and tested in an

interview setting. It seems likely that similarly to what was found for free recall with word lists,

organizing recall of a crime event in categories (e.g., object details, action details, and person

details) may increase the amount of information witnesses can report. Furthermore, memory can

be accessed by using several different cues and paths and other recall strategies such as

organizing recall of a crime in semantic categories might trigger further memories (Tulving, 1991).

Therefore, guiding witnesses to recall in category clusters might be an effective recall

strategy with several advantages over temporal clustering (e.g., reverse order): for example, (i)

recalling a crime event in category clusters might be more natural and compatible with the

witness’ mental organization of the event in comparison with recalling in a different, often

reverse, chronological order. Even though participants seldom spontaneously encode, organize,

or recall information in reverse order, they often naturally/spontaneously do this in semantic

categories (Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969; Manning & Kahana, 2012; Robinson, 1966).

Therefore, using a recall strategy which is compatible with the witness’ mental organization of the

event might optimize recall by facilitating access to memorized information and preventing a

negative impact that an unnatural output of the information can have in disrupting recall (Fisher

& Geiselman, 2010); (ii) Recalling in reverse order is a very demanding task which might be

useful in some situations (e.g., increasing cognitive load) but may sometimes impair recall

because it demands high levels of cognitive resources (e.g., attention) which could otherwise be

devoted to recall new information (Vrij et al., 2008). Because category clustering is often

performed spontaneously, witnesses might be more familiarized with this task and use less

cognitive resources to perform it, focusing more on recall; (iii) As previously stated, memory

traces for a given event are often linked and recalling one memory might trigger other related

memories (Tulving, 1991). Therefore, according to the spreading-activation theory of semantic

processing (Collins & Loftus, 1975), it is possible successively recalling information (e.g., ‘paper’,

‘desk’, and ‘pencil’) related to one specific cluster (e.g., objects) gradually triggers other

memories (e.g., ‘counter’) which are closely related to that cluster and might otherwise not be

Page 105: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

105

activated and recalled. Based on these premises, we focused on developing a new interview

strategy which could serve the purpose of obtaining more accurate information from the witness: the

category clustering recall (CCR) instruction.

Current study

In this study, we tested if replacing the change order mnemonic with a new interview

technique, CCR (see Method Section), during the second recall attempt (when the change order

is typically used) would assist participants to recall more information without compromising

report accuracy. This is, we assessed if using semantic clustering to guide retrieval instead of

temporal clustering would allow participants to recall more correct information.

Because appropriate questioning can help the witness to recall more accurate

information (Gudjonsson, 1992), we also tested whether this could further increase the number

of recalled units of information when appropriate open-ended witness-compatible follow up

questions are asked during CCR to address information which is being reported by the witness

(e.g., What else do you remember about the objects at the crime scene? What did the robber do

next?). Furthermore, because eye closure, which refers to asking participants to close their eyes

during a memory task, may sometimes enhance recall for event-related details (Mastroberardino

& Vredeveldt, 2014; Vredeveldt, Hitch, & Baddeley, 2011; Vredeveldt et al., 2015), we also

examined if CCR effectiveness would be enhanced when combined with additional witness-

compatible open-ended questions and eye closure. Thus, in this study, one of the groups of

participants performed their second recall attempt using the CCR technique in conjunction with

both these procedures (see Method Section).

Lastly, we tested if replacing the change perspective mnemonic with the change order

mnemonic at the third recall attempt (when change perspective is usually used) would have an

impact on recall. As discussed earlier, the change perspective mnemonic has been particularly

criticized (Boon & Noon, 1994; Kebbell et al., 1999) for, among other things, having somewhat

unclear instructions which are difficult to explain for instance to children (Stein, 2010). Therefore,

if participants are able to recall more details, or at least a similar number of details, during this

third recall attempt with the aid of the change order mnemonic instead of the change perspective

mnemonic, this suggests the use of a potentially controversial mnemonic (change perspective)

can be avoided.

Overall, our main goal was to assess if the number of units of information reported can

be increased during the ECI second recall attempt through the use of CCR instead of the change

Page 106: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

106

order mnemonic. Furthermore, we tested if eye closure and appropriate open-ended follow-up

questions, when used in conjunction with the CCR strategy, would have a further positive impact

on recall. Lastly, we compared the change order and change perspective mnemonics

effectiveness at the ECI third recall task. Therefore, we established three main hypotheses: (i)

Participants interviewed with the CCR instead of the change order mnemonic will recall more

information (Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969; Manning & Kahana, 2012; Robinson, 1966); (ii)

This increase in recall will be higher when eye closure and open-ended follow-up questions are

used conjunctly with CCR because, when used properly (e.g., without suggestive questioning),

these two procedures have been found to have a positive impact on the number of recalled event

related details; (iii) At the third recall attempt, the change order mnemonic can be as, or more,

effective than the change perspective mnemonic.

Method

Participants

A total of 66 Portuguese psychology students, 59 female and seven male, with an age

range from 17 to 48 years (M = 20, SD = 5) participated in this study for course credits. We have

used G*Power 3.1 (Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang, 2009) to conduct power analysis based on

the effect sizes reported in a recent ECI meta-analysis review (Memon, Meissner, & Fraser, 2010)

to ensure our sample size was adequate. Participants were randomly assigned to three interview

groups with 22 participants each. The ECI group had 18 female participants and four male

participants with an age range from 17 to 46 years (M = 21, SD = 6), the revised enhanced

cognitive interview 1 (RECI1) group had 22 female participants with an age range from 17 to 29

years (M = 19, SD = 2), and the RECI2 group had 19 female participants and three male

participants with an age range from 18 to 48 years (M = 21, SD = 7).

Design

A between participants’ experimental design was used with interview condition as

independent variable with three levels: (i) ECI; (ii) RECI1 — with CCR instead of the change order

mnemonic; and (iii) RECI2 — also with CCR instead of the change order mnemonic but

conjunctly used with eye closure and additional open-ended follow-up questions (M = 22, SD =

8) in comparison with participants interviewed with the RECI1 (M = 4, SD = 2) and the ECI (M =

7, SD = 5). In both RECIs (RECI1 and RECI2), the change perspective mnemonic was replaced

Page 107: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

107

with the change order mnemonic at the third recall attempt. The amount of reported information

and accuracy were measured in information units and proportions, respectively.

Materials

Participants watched the recording on a Fujitsu L7ZA LCD computer screen. The video

recording was edited from the second episode of the 2004 Portuguese television drama

‘Inspector Max’ (Riccó & Riccó, 2004) and was 3 minutes and 11 seconds long. This non-violent

video recording shows a male-armed subject walking inside a bank and taking several hostages

to carry a robbery. He verbally and physically interacts with them, with the cashier and a police

officer who later approaches the robber. All interviews were video and audio recorded.

Procedure

Ethics committee approval was obtained. Having signed a consent form after reading

general information about the study, participants took part in two sessions. At the first session,

after being randomly assigned to one of the three interview conditions (ECI vs. RECI1 vs. RECI2),

they were shown the video recording. They were asked to pay as much attention as possible to

the video recording because they would be later interviewed about it. The second session took

place approximately 48 hours later and each participant was interviewed with the ECI, or the

RECI1, or the RECI2, according to interview group.

Interview conditions

The ECI interview protocol employed (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992) had previously been

translated and adapted for the Portuguese language. This interview protocol proved to be

effective with a Portuguese population (Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2015a; Paulo et al., 2015b).

This is, the authors were able to replicate the ECI superiority effect (in comparison with a

Structured Interview) as well as many other common findings in the ECI literature such as the

decline in recall of new information at later interview stages (Paulo et al., 2015a; Paulo et al.,

2015a, 2015b).

All interview protocols included at least three of the four ECI cognitive mnemonics:

Report Everything, Context Reinstatement and Change Order, as well as all social and

communicative components described in Fisher and Geiselman (1992) such as rapport building,

transfer of control, appropriate questioning (e.g., witness-compatible questioning), and mental

Page 108: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

108

imagery. Fisher and Geiselman (1992) guidelines for conducting the ECI were followed for all

interview conditions.

All interview protocols included the same number of retrieval attempts in seven main

phases: (i) preliminary phase; (ii) free report; (iii) open-ended questioning; (iv) second recall; (v)

third recall (for new information only); (vi) summary; and (vii) closure. All differences between

interview conditions were in Phase 4 and Phase 5 as described later. The remaining interview

phases were exactly alike in all interview conditions (Table 4.1).

Phase 1

Preliminary

Phase 2

Free Report

Phase 3

Open-ended

Questioning

Phase 4

Second Recall

Phase 5

Third Recall

Phase 6

Summary

ECI X X X Change

Order

Change

Perspective

X

RECI1 X X X CCR Change Order X

RECI2 X X X CCR

(with ‘Eye closure’

and follow up questions)

Change Order X

X – No differences between interview conditions

Table 4.1. Differences between interview conditions according to interview phase.

During Phase 1 (preliminary phase) procedures such as greeting, establishing rapport,

explaining the instructions and interview purpose to the witness, and asking not to guess were

followed for all interview protocols, including the transfer of control instruction: ‘(…) you are the

only one who saw the video and have the ability to report all the important information (…) you

can tell me what happened in the order you desire and pause whenever you want’; as well as the

report everything instruction:’(…) please tell me everything you remember with as much detail as

you can (…) even the details which might seem irrelevant to you are very important to me (…) tell

me everything that pops into your mind’.

During Phase 2 (free report), all participants were asked to recall what they could

remember about the video in any order and pace they desired. They were reminded to report

everything they could remember with as much detail as possible and mental reinstatement of

context was applied:

Page 109: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

109

(…) Try to remember the day you have watched the video (…) now picture the

crime scene in your mind (…) as clear as possible (…) picture all the sounds (…)

all the objects (…) all the people (..) and now focus on what happened and tell me

everything you can remember.

During Phase 3 (open-ended questioning), three open-ended questions were asked to

each participant according to his/her free report (e.g., ‘Please describe the weapon’ — if a

participant previously reported seeing a weapon). Mental imagery instructions were used — for

example:

You told me you looked at the weapon when the robber entered the bank. Can

you please close your eyes …, think about everything you remember concerning

the weapon …, its color…, its shape …, and when you have a full picture of the

weapon in your mind describe everything you can remember about it.

During Phase 4 (second recall), participants were asked to report what they could

remember about the video once again:

(…) I know it may seem redundant, but it is actually highly important you report

one more time what happened on the video (…) report not only new information

you might recall, but also all the information you’ve already reported (…).

In all conditions participants were encouraged to give this second report and the

importance of such procedure was explained: ‘It is very important you focus as hard as you can

and tell me one more time what happened on the video’. In the ECI condition, participants were

asked to recall the video in reverse order: (…)

Please tell me everything that happened in reverse order (…) Focus on the last

episode you remember … then focus on the previous one … and so on (…). What is

the last episode you remember? (…) Good job! Tell me everything that happened

right before that (…) Ok, and before that? (…) Great! What happened before this

episode? (…) Did something happen before that? What? (…).

Page 110: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

110

In both RECI groups (RECI1 and RECI2), participants were asked to recall the video with

the aid of CCR instead of the change order mnemonic (Table 4.1). This recall strategy consisted

on asking participants to recall one more time everything they could remember about the crime

episode but this time being asked to organize their recall/speech into information categories.

We asked participants to first recall everything they could remember about the objects at the

crime scene and immediately after the location of those objects. Then, we asked participants to

recall everything they could remember about the location of each person at the crime scene.

Following that, we asked them to focus and recall the actions that occurred during the crime.

Lastly, we asked participants to focus on what they might have heard during the video and first

recall everything they could remember about what people said during the crime, and then

everything they could remember about other sounds they might have heard:

Please tell me everything that happened but focus in one information category at a

time. For instance, I’m going to ask you to focus on the objects at the crime scene,

the actions which occurred during the crime, the sounds and voices you might

remember, among other aspects, one at a time (…). First, tell me everything you

remember about the objects at the crime scene and describe them one by one (…)

Good Job. Now focus on the position/s of those objects (…) Ok, now tell me about

the position, or positions, people occupied during the crime (…) Great, now focus

on the actions which occurred during the crime (…) Thank you, now focus on what

you remember hearing (…) first tell me about what people said (…) and lastly

focus on any other sounds you might have heard (…).

We have selected these information categories because (i) these are frequently

important topics for a police investigation, therefore commonly used in the coding process of

investigative interviews; (ii) these are very broad categories which are present in almost every

crime, therefore minimizing the interviewer’s impact on the participant’s report and replacing

the need to use specific questions which can have a negative impact on recall, for instance,

when information which has not been previously reported is inadvertently included in these

questions; (iii) ‘conversation’ and ‘sound’ categories focus on a different sensorial mode

(hearing instead of vision), which can be important for eliciting new information (Fisher &

Geiselman, 1992).

Page 111: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

111

The two procedural differences between the RECI1 and RECI2 conditions were at this

phase (Table 4.1): (i) Although both interview conditions contained the CCR instead of the change

order mnemonic, in the RECI2 condition we asked participants to close their eyes when

performing this task. All participants complied with this task and subsequently reported they felt

comfortable doing so. The eye closure instruction was not given to the ECI group or the RECI1

group, where participants were free to use whatever strategy they found to be more useful (e.g.,

focus on a blank space of the room, look at various locations, and eye closure). In the ECI

condition, seven participants spontaneously closed their eyes and one participant focused on a

blank space of the room during this interview phase. In the RECI1 condition, two participants

spontaneously used eye closure and one participant focused on a blank space of the room; (ii)

Participants in the RECI2 group were asked additional open-ended follow up questions (M = 22, SD

= 8) in comparison with participants interviewed with the RECI1 (M = 4, SD = 2) and the ECI (M =

7, SD = 5). These were witness-compatible open-ended questions to address information which

was being reported during CCR, and try to obtain more details (e.g., ‘What did the robber do

next?’). For the other two groups (RECI1 and ECI) the interviewer only asked a few open-ended

witness-compatible questions (see number earlier) he found to be absolutely necessary to

conduct the interview. For instance, if a participant was describing the several crime moments

together during reverse order, the interviewer would ask her/ him to fully describe what

happened during each moment separately.

During Phase 5 (third recall), participants were asked to focus one more time on the

video and try to report any new detail they could remember if possible. In all interview conditions

the importance of such a procedure was explained, and participants were encouraged to do the

best they could. In the ECI condition, participants were asked to adopt a different internal

perspective to try to remember new details: ‘(…) please focus on the event as if it was a normal

event at the bank instead of a robbery, as you probably assumed before seeing the robber

entering the bank (…)’. In both RECI protocols (RECI1 and RECI2) participants were asked to use

the change order mnemonic (as described earlier for the ECI Phase 4) to try to remember new

details. Therefore, at this phase, the change perspective mnemonic was replaced with the

change order mnemonic for both RECI groups. RECI1 and RECI2 were exactly alike at this phase

(Table 4 .1).

During Phase 6 (summary), the interviewer summarized what he understood of the

witness’ account and asked her to correct him if he misheard or misinterpreted any part of the

statement. He also told her to interrupt him if she/he could remember any new detail while

Page 112: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

112

hearing the summary. On the last phase (closure), appreciation for participants’ hard work and

cooperation was acknowledged, and neutral topics were again discussed.

Interviewer training

An expert in the ECI who had followed several qualified courses on investigative

interview techniques consisting of more than 50 hours of lectures, practice, role-playing

exercises, and feedback/ evaluation conducted all interviews. To assure interviewer

performance was adequate and consistent across interview conditions, interview protocols were

read verbatim whenever possible (e.g., open-ended questioning and summary phase need to be

adapted according to participants’ previous recall). Furthermore, an independent expert on

human memory and forensic psychology randomly checked 25.5% of the interviews to evaluate

the interviewer’s verbal and non-verbal behavior using a structured evaluation grid, which

included parameters such as the type of questioning used, level of established rapport,

instructions clarity, and interviewer’s posture/behavior, concluding these parameters were

adequate and consistent across interview conditions.

Coding

Recordings of each interview were coded using the template scoring technique from

Memon et al. (1997). A comprehensive list of details in the video recording was compiled and

units of information were categorized as referring to (i) person; (ii) action; (iii) object; (iv)

location; (v) conversation; and (vi) sound, resulting in 378 units of information. Recalled

information was classified as either correct, incorrect (e.g., saying the pistol was brown when it

was black) or confabulation (mentioning a detail or event which was not present or did not

happen). Also noted was the phase within the interview in which a unit of information was

recalled. If a unit of information (correct or not) was repeated during the same or a subsequent

phase, that information was scored only the first time it was mentioned (Prescott, Milne, &

Clark, 2011). Subjective statements or opinions were disregarded (e.g., ‘The robber was

gorgeous’).

Inter-rater reliability

To assess inter-rater reliability, 17 (25.5%) interviews were selected randomly and scored

independently by a researcher who was naive to the aims of the experiment and hypothesis but

familiar with the template method of scoring interviews and had access to the crime video.

Page 113: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

113

Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated for correct information, incorrect

information and confabulations, and for the six information categories (person, action, etc.). High

inter-rater reliability was found for all measures in that the values of the ICC ranged between

.980 and 1.000 with an overall ICC of .995.

Results

Eight participants in the ECI condition, seven participants in the RECI1 condition and nine

participants in the RECI2 condition (total = 27 participants) had previously viewed the television

episode from which the to-be-recalled event was compiled. We found no differences between

these participants and participants who had not viewed the television episode in terms of the

number of recalled correct units of information during the full interview, t (63) = .381, p = .705, d

= .09, 95% CI [-14.76, 10.03], and report accuracy, t (68) = 1.08, p = .282, d = .27, 95%

CI [-15.69, 10.96]. Therefore, this factor was not considered during subsequent analyses.

We then conducted a multivariate ANOVA to see if interview condition had an effect on memorial

performance throughout the interview (all interview phases combined), operationalized in three

measures: (i) number of correct units of information recalled; (ii) number of errors committed; and

(iii) number of confabulations committed. This found a significant difference in recall

performance according to interview condition, F (6,122) = 4.41, p < .001, Wilks’ Λ= .68, ηp

2 =

.18. The univariate F tests found an effect of interview condition on the number of correct units

of information recalled, F (2, 65) = 8.92, p < .001, ηp

2 = .22 (Figure 4.1). There was no effect of

interview condition on the number of errors, F (2, 65) = 2.38, p = .101, ηp

2 = .06, nor

confabulations, F (2, 65) = .08, p = .925, ηp

2 = .01, committed throughout the interview.

Page 114: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

114

Figure 4.1. Number of correct units of information, errors and confabulations reported in each interview condition

Planned contrasts for the number of correct units of information recalled during the full

interview revealed participants interviewed with the ECI recalled fewer correct details (M = 77.09,

SD = 24.96) than participants who were interviewed with the RECI1 (M = 104.55, SD = 19.30)

or the RECI2 (M = 93.82, SD = 20.51), t (63) = 3.89, p < .001. Planned contrasts also revealed

no difference between the RECI1 and RECI2 regarding the number of correct details elicited, t

(63) = 1.64, p = .107.

We then looked separately at Phase 4 (second recall attempt) and Phase 5 (third recall

attempt) because these were the only two phases which had procedural differences across

interview conditions. We conducted two independent one-way between subjects ANOVAs to see

if the number of correct units of information recalled in Phase 4 (second recall attempt) and in

Phase 5 (third recall attempt) varied across interviews.

Considering Phase 4 (second recall attempt), we found an effect of interview condition

on the number of correct units of information newly recalled during this interview phase, F (2,

65) = 69.45, p < .001, ηp

2 = .69. Planned contrasts revealed participants who recalled the event

in reverse order (ECI condition) recalled fewer new correct details during Phase 4 (M = 4.55, SD

= 3.79) than participants in the RECI1 condition (M = 20.73, SD = 5.49) or the RECI2 condition

(M = 23.09, SD = 7.24) who recalled the event using CCR, t (63) = 11.70, p < .001 (Table 4.2).

Planned contrasts found no difference between the RECI1 and RECI2 regarding the number of

correct details elicited at Phase 4 (Table 4.2), t (63) = 1.37, p = .163. Thus, using eye closure,

Page 115: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

115

and asking additional open-ended follow-up questions seems not to have an impact on recall

while using CCR.

ECI RECI1 RECI2

Interview Phase M SD M SD M SD

Free Report 37.95 17.21 38.82 17.53 32.77 9.99

Questioning 29.45 11.31 41.77 12.10 33.72 11.83

Second recall 4.55 3.79 20.73 5.49 23.09 7.24

Third recall 3.32 2.32 1.95 1.68 2.14 3.50

Summary 2.59 2.74 1.27 1.58 1.05 1.13

Note: M, mean; SD, standard deviation; ECI, enhanced cognitive interview; RECI, revised enhanced cognitive interview.

Table 4.2. M and SD values for the number of correct units of information newly recalled in each interview phase,

according to interview condition

Regarding Phase 5 (third recall attempt), we found no interview condition effect on the

number of correct units of information newly recalled, F (2, 65) = 1.77, p = .178, ηp

2 = .05,

which suggests at this later phase of the interview using the change order mnemonic (RECI1 and

RECI2) instead of the change perspective mnemonic (ECI condition) does not influence the

number of new correct units of information participants are able to recall. As seen in Table 4.2,

the number of new correct units of information recalled at this phase was very low for all groups.

Lastly, although the aforementioned results suggest participants interviewed with the

RECI1 and RECI2 recalled more correct information and this might be explained by the use of

CCR instead of the change order mnemonic, it is important to see if report accuracy was not

compromised with this new recall strategy. This is, it is important to test if participants in the

RECI1 and RECI2 groups were not committing a higher proportion of errors (ratio between the

number of errors produced over all produced units of information) or confabulations (ratio

between the number of confabulated units of information over all produced units of information),

therefore compromising their report accuracy (correct recall proportion: ratio between the

number of correct units of information recalled over all the recalled units of information). For this

purpose, we conducted three two-way mixed-design 3 × 5 ANOVAs to see if interview condition

(ECI vs. RECI1 vs. RECI2) as well as interview phase (Phase 2 vs. Phase 3 vs. Phase 4 vs. Phase

Page 116: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

116

5 vs. Phase 6) had an effect on: (i) correct recall proportion; (ii) error proportion; and (iii)

confabulation proportion. Phase 1 (preliminary phase) was not included in these analyses

because participants did not recall information at this phase. We found no main effect of

interview condition, F (2, 31) = 1.46, p = .248, ηp

2 = .09, and interview phase, F (2.402,

74.475) = 2.45, p = .083, ηp

2 = .07, on correct recall proportion (i.e. accuracy). There was also

no interaction effect of interview condition and interview phase on correct recall proportion, F

(4.805, 74.475) = .30, p = .904, ηp

2

= .02. We found no main effect of interview condition, F (2,

32) = 1.50, p = .239, ηp

2

= .09, interview phase, F (2.081, 66.608) = 1.86, p = .163, ηp

2 = .06,

as well as no interaction effect, F (4.163, 66.608) = .27, p = .900, ηp

2

= .02, for participants’

error proportion rate. Lastly, we found no main effect of interview condition, F (2, 33) = 1.67, p =

.203, ηp

2

= .09, interview phase, F (2.256, 74.461) = .72, p = .506, ηp

2

= .02, and no interaction

effect between these two variables on confabulation proportion, F (4.513, 74.461) = .88, p =

.489, ηp

2

= .05. Thus, participants interviewed with the CCR (RECI1 and RECI2) were able to

provide more information without compromising accuracy.

Discussion

This study examined whether the use of CCR could increase the quantity of information

reported during participants’ second recall attempt. Our major findings were participants who

used CCR (RECI1 and RECI2 groups) were able to recall a considerably higher number of

correct details without compromising accuracy in comparison with participants who used the

change order mnemonic. Furthermore, we tested if using eye closure as well as asking

participants additional open-ended follow-up questions would have an impact on recall. We

found both procedures, when used together, did not further influence the number and accuracy

of newly recalled units of information at the second recall attempt while using CCR. Lastly, we

found at the third recall attempt participants interviewed with the change perspective mnemonic

(ECI condition) recalled a similar (but low) number of correct units of information in comparison

with participants interviewed with the change order mnemonic (RECI1 and RECI2 conditions).

Because increasing the number of produced details is a major aim of investigative

interviews (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992; Milne & Bull, 1999), we focused on developing a new

recall strategy which could fit this purpose. We found participants who used CCR during their

second recall attempt (Phase 4) provided more new correct units of information than participants

Page 117: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

117

who used the change order mnemonic. As we have outlined in the introduction, there are

relevant theoretical explanations for why CCR enhanced recall in comparison with the change

order mnemonic. Recalling a crime event in category clusters might be a more natural strategy

because people often spontaneously encode, organize, and/or recall information in semantic

clusters. Therefore, CCR may be more compatible with the witnesses’ mental organization of the

event (Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969; Manning & Kahana, 2012; Robinson, 1966).

Furthermore, because participants may be used to encode and/ or recall information in

semantic clusters, they may be more acquainted with CCR, requiring less cognitive resources

(e.g., attention) to perform this task. Consequently, they can allocate more cognitive recourses

for trying to remember new details, that they might otherwise not have available, for instance,

while recalling the event in reverse order which is an unfamiliar and cognitively demanding task

(Vrij et al., 2008). Thus, CCR might also have prevented a negative impact that an unnatural

and demanding recall strategy can have in disrupting recall (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). Lastly,

as also mentioned in the introduction, memory traces for a given event overlap and activation of

a memory trace might trigger other memories (Tulving, 1991). It is possible, according to the

spreading-activation theory of semantic processing which states memory is often organized

according to semantic similarity (Collins & Loftus, 1975), successively focusing on, and

recalling, information related to one specific cluster (e.g., objects: ‘paper’, ‘desk’, and ‘pencil’)

gradually produced enough activation to trigger related memories/ information (e.g., ‘counter’)

which might otherwise not be activated and recalled.

Report accuracy was not compromised with CCR because participants interviewed with

CCR did not commit a higher proportion of errors and confabulations in comparison with

participants who were interviewed with the change order mnemonic, therefore maintaining a

high correct recall proportion. High accuracy was expected for all interview conditions because all

interview protocols contained adequate instructions (e.g., instruction not to guess; rapport

building; transfer of control, etc.) and adequate questioning (e.g., witness-compatible

questioning) to maximize report accuracy (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). Furthermore, category

clustering has previously been found to enhance recall regarding information quantity (e.g., with

word lists) while not compromising recall accuracy (Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969; Manning

& Kahana, 2012; Robinson, 1966). Because eye closure has been found to sometimes enhance

recall for event-related details (Mastroberardino & Vredeveldt, 2014; Vredeveldt et al., 2011;

Vredeveldt et al., 2015) and using adequate open-ended follow-up questions might also have a

positive impact on recall (Gudjonsson, 1992), we tested how the combined use of these two

Page 118: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

118

procedures could influence recall when using CCR. However, we found participants who closed

their eyes and were subjected to additional open-ended follow-up questions during CCR (RECI1)

did not recall more information in comparison with participants who also used CCR but were not

subjected to these two procedures (RECI1). Our study suggests CCR superiority effect in terms

of the number of recalled units of information does not seem to be affected by these two

variables. It is quite possible even though eye closure combined with ‘questioning’ can

sometimes improve recall (Gudjonsson, 1992; Mastroberardino & Vredeveldt, 2014; Vredeveldt

et al., 2011; Vredeveldt et al., 2015), such effects are not strong enough to be significant when

tested only for the second recall attempt, where the number of recalled units of information is

somewhat small in comparison with the number of recalled details throughout the whole

interview. Furthermore, for the purpose of conducting adequate investigative interviews, the

interviewer allowed two participants to spontaneously use eye closure in the RECI1 condition

and always tried to reduce to a minimum all possible auditory and visual distractions in the

interview environment for all interview conditions, which research suggests may be as effective

as eye-closure (Mastroberardino & Vredeveldt, 2014; Vredeveldt et al., 2011).

Lastly, because the change perspective mnemonic has been particularly criticized (Boon

& Noon, 1994; Kebbell et al., 1999), we examined if this ECI component could be replaced with

the change order mnemonic. We found participants who used the change order mnemonic

(RECI1 and RECI2 conditions) instead of the change perspective mnemonic (ECI condition)

during their third recall attempt (Phase 5) recalled a very similar number of new details in this

phase with similar accuracy values. Recall of new information at this later stage of the interview

is usually quite small (Davis et al., 2005) and, regardless of the procedure used, it is possible

participants have somewhat ‘exhausted’ their memory capacity.

In sum, CCR could be a very effective recall strategy which might trigger additional

memories (Tulving, 1991), allowing the witness to retrieve additional information with the use of

very broad semantic categories which are present in almost every crime (e.g., objects, actions,

and locations), thus enhancing witnesses’ recall. This procedure is effective without the use of

eye closure and additional questioning, as sometimes used during the questioning phase, which

can be a very demanding procedure particularly for less experienced interviewers who can easily

inadvertently include less appropriate questions (e.g., an excessive number of close-ended

questions or even the inclusion of suggestive questions) which can have a negative impact on

recall (Clarke & Milne, 2001; Westera, Kebbell, & Milne, 2011).

Page 119: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

119

Limitations and future research

As with the majority of laboratory mock witness research, the present study contained

methodological limitations such as the use of a mock crime video and mock witnesses.

Therefore, field research to evaluate CCR effectiveness during real police investigations as well

as how to use it in a dynamic and flexible manner is necessary. Future studies to evaluate CCR

effectiveness in comparison with other interview strategies (e.g., witness-compatible

questioning), as well as further studies which control the effect of eye closure and/or additional

questioning separately, are also important.

Conclusion and practical implications

The change order and change perspective mnemonics have been somewhat criticized

not only in terms of efficacy (Bensi et al., 2011) but also in terms of usage (Dando et al., 2008;

Kebbell et al., 1999) and might not be more effective than an additional free recall task (Dando

et al., 2011; Davis et al., 2005). Considering the impressive number of details participants

interviewed with the CCR strategy were able to report at the second recall attempt, we conclude

this might be a very important technique for obtaining better testimony. Even though CCR might

already be partially used in practice during witness-compatible questioning (Can you describe

the location of the perpetrator and witnesses?), this is likely to occur in many different ways

which might have different efficacy. To our knowledge, this is the first study to test a specific

and well controlled protocol to apply CCR during a second recall attempt, which found recalling

a crime event in broad category clusters is effective. Therefore, professionals and researchers

have now available a new specific tool to obtain more correct information from the witness,

which can be a decisive factor in the field (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992). Lastly, our results show

using the change order mnemonic during the third recall attempt instead of the change

perspective mnemonic might be a viable alternative because, even though both procedures

seem to produce similar and low amounts of recall, the change order mnemonic might be easier

to apply and explain to the witness (Boon & Noon, 1994; Kebbell et al., 1999). As previous

research suggests (Bensi et al., 2011), our study also supports a possible alternative for time

critical situations might be to exclude both the change order and the change perspective

mnemonics from the ECI protocol because these procedures seem to be unable to elicit a

considerable number of new details which might justify using these in time-demanding

situations.

Page 120: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

120

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology

under Grant number SFRH/BD/ 84817/2012. This study was conducted at the Psychology

Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and also supported by the

Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science,

Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through

COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653).

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

References

Aschermann, E., Mantwill, M., & Köhnken, G. (1991). An independent replication of the

effectiveness of the cognitive interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 5, 489–495.

doi:10.1002/acp.2350050604.

Bensi, L., Nori, R., Gambetti, E., & Giusberti, F. (2011). The enhanced cognitive interview: A study

on the efficacy of shortened variants and single techniques. European Journal of

Cognitive Psychology, 23, 311–321. doi:10.1080/20445911.2011.497485.

Boon, J., & Noon, E. (1994). Changing perspectives in cognitive interviewing. Psychology Crime

and Law, 1, 59–69. doi:10.1080/ 10683169408411936.

Brown, C., Lloyd-Jones, T., & Robinson, M. (2008). Eliciting person descriptions from

eyewitnesses: A survey of police perceptions of eyewitness performance and reported

use of interview techniques. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 20, 529–560.

doi:10.1080/ 09541440701728474.

Brunel, M., Py, J., & Launay, C. (2013). Cost and benefit of a new instruction for the cognitive

interview: the open depth instruction. Psychology, Crime & Law, 19, 845–863.

doi:10.1080/1068316X.2012.684058.

Campos, L., & Alonso-Quecuty, M. L. (1999). The cognitive interview: Much more than simply

“try again”. Psychology, Crime & Law, 5, 47–59. doi:10.1080/10683169908414993.

Page 121: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

121

Colomb, C., & Ginet, M. (2012). The cognitive interview for use with adults: An empirical test

of an alternative mnemonic and of a partial protocol. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26,

35–47. doi:10.1002/acp.1792.

Colomb, C., Ginet, M., Wright, D., Demarchi, S., & Sadler, C. (2013). Back to the real: Efficacy

and perception of a modified cognitive interview in the field. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 27, 574–583. doi:10.1002/acp.2942.

Clarke, C., & Milne, R. (2001). National Evaluation of the PEACE Investigative Interviewing Course

(Publication No. PRAS/149). London: Home Office.

Clifford, B. R., & George, R. (1996). A field evaluation of training in three methods of

witness/victim investigative interviewing. Psychology Crime and Law, 2, 231–248.

doi:10.1080/10683169608409780.

Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing.

Psychological Review, 82, 407–428. doi:10.1016/ B978-1-4832-1446-7.50015-7.

Dalrymple-Alford, E. C., & Aamiry, A. (1969). Language and category clustering in bilingual free

recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 8, 762–768. doi:10.1016/S0022-

5371(69)80041-1.

Dando, C., & Milne, R. (2010). The cognitive interview. In R. Kocsis (Ed.), Applied criminal

psychology: A guide to forensic behavioral sciences (147–169). Sydney, NSW: Charles

C. Thomas. doi:10.1002/jip.124.

Dando, C. J., Ormerod, T. C., Wilcock, R., & Milne, R. (2011). When help becomes hindrance:

Unexpected errors of omission and commission in eyewitness memory resulting from

change temporal order at retrieval? Cognition, 121, 416–421.

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2011.06.015.

Dando, C. J., Wilcock, R., & Milne, R. (2008). The cognitive interview: Inexperienced police

officers’ perceptions of their witness interviewing behaviour. Legal and Criminological

Psychology, 13, 59–70. doi:10.1348/ 135532506X162498.

Davis, M. R., McMahon, M., & Greenwood, K. M. (2005). The efficacy of mnemonic

components of the cognitive interview: Towards a shortened variant for time-critical

investigations. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 75–93. doi:10.1002/acp.1048.

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A. G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using

G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research

Methods, 41, 1149–1160.

Page 122: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

122

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-Enhancing Techniques for Investigative

Interviewing: The Cognitive Interview. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (2010). The Cognitive Interview method of conducting police

interviews: Eliciting extensive information and promoting therapeutic jurisprudence.

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 33, 321–328.

doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2010.09.004.

Flin, R., Boon, J., Knox, A., & Bull, R. (1992). The effect of a five month delay on children’s and

adult’s eyewitness memory. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 323–336.

Geiselman, R. E., & Fisher, R. P. (2014). Interviewing witnesses and victims. In M. St-Yves (Ed.),

Investigative Interviewing: Handbook of Best Practices. Toronto: Toronto, ON: Thomson

Reuters Publishers.

Geiselman, R. E., Fisher, R. P., Firstenberg, I., Hutton, L., Sullivan, S. J., Avetissian, I. V., &

Prosk, A. L. (1984). Enhancement of eyewitness memory: An empirical evaluation of

the cognitive interview. Journal of Police and Science Administration, 12, 74–80.

Griffihs, A., & Milne, R. (2010). The application of cognitive interview techniques as part of an

investigation. In C. A. Ireland, & J. M. Fisher (Eds.), Consultancy and advising in

forensic practice: Empirical and practical guidelines (edn, pp. 71 – 90). Chichester, UK:

BPS Blackwell.

Gudjonsson, G. (1992).The Psychology of Interrogations, Confessions and Testimony.

Chichester: Wiley.

Higham, P. A., & Memon, A. (1999). A review of the cognitive interview. Psychology, Crime & Law,

5, 177–196. doi:10.1080/10683169908415000.

Kebbell, M. R., Milne, R., & Wagstaff, G. F. (1999). The cognitive interview: A survey of its

forensic effectiveness. Psychology Crime and Law, 5, 101–115.

doi:10.1080/10683169908414996.

Kieckhaefer, J. M., Vallano, J. P., & Compo, N. S. (2014). Examining the positive effects of

rapport building: When and why does rapport building benefit adult eyewitness memory?

Memory, 22, 1010–1023. doi:10.1080/09658211.2013.864313.

Köhnken, G., Milne, R., Memon, A., & Bull, R. (1999). The cognitive interview: A meta-analysis.

Psychology, Crime & Law, 5, 3–27. doi:10.1080/10683169908414991.

Lamb, M. E., La Rooy, D. J., Malloy, L. C., & Katz, C. (2011). Children’s Testimony: A Handbook

of Psychological Research and Forensic Practice (2nd ed.). SXW, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

doi:10.1002/9781119998495.

Page 123: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

123

Larsson, A. S., Granhag, P. A., & Spjut, E. (2002). Children’s recall and the cognitive interview:

Do the positive effects hold over time? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 203–214.

doi:10.1002/acp.863.

Manning, J. R., & Kahana, M. J. (2012). Interpreting semantic clustering effects in free recall.

Memory, 20, 511–517. doi:10.1080/ 09658211.2012.683010.

Mastroberardino, S., & Vredeveldt, A. (2014). Eye-closure increases children’s memory

accuracy for visual material. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 241.

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00241.

Mello, E. W., & Fisher, R. P. (1996). Enhancing older adult eyewitness memory with the

cognitive interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10, 403–417.

doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199610)10:5<403::AID-ACP395>3.0.CO;2-X.

Memon, A., Meissner, C. A., & Fraser, G. (2010). The cognitive interview: A meta-analytic review

and study space analysis of the past 25 years. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 16,

340–372. doi:10.1037/a0020518.

Memon, A., Wark, L., Bull, R., & Köhnken, G. (1997). Isolating the effects of the cognitive

interview techniques. British Journal of Psychology, 88, 179–197. doi:10.1111/j.2044-

8295.1997.tb02629.x.

Milne, R. & Bull, R. (1999). Investigative Interviewing: Psychology and Practice. Chichester, WS:

Wiley. doi:10.1002/cbm.444.

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2013). The enhanced cognitive interview: Towards a

better use and understanding of this procedure. International Journal of Police Science &

Management, 15, 190–199. doi:10.1350/ijps.2013.15.3.311.

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2015a). The enhanced cognitive interview:

expressions of uncertainty, motivation and its relation with report accuracy. Psychology,

Crime & Law, 22, 366–381. doi:10.1080/ 1068316X.2015.1109089.

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., Saraiva, M., & Bull, R. (2015b). The enhanced cognitive

interview: Testing appropriateness perception, memory capacity and error estimate

relation with report quality. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29, 536–543.

doi:10.1002/acp.3132.

Prescott, K., Milne, R., & Clark, J. (2011). How effective is the enhanced cognitive interview when

aiding recall recall of older adults including memory for conversation? Journal of

Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8, 257–270. doi:10.1002/jip.142.

Page 124: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

124

Riccó, A. (Director), & Riccó, R. (Director). (2004). O Assalto [The robbery] [Television series

episode]. In V. Castelo (Producer), Inspector Max. Lisbon: Produções Fictícias.

Rivard, J. R., Fisher, R. P., Robertson, B., & Mueller, D. H. (2014). Testing the cognitive interview

with professional interviewers: Enhancing recall of specific details of recurring events.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 917–925. doi:10.1002/acp.3026.

Robinson, J. A. (1966). Category clustering in free recall. The Journal of Psychology:

Interdisciplinary and Applied, 62, 279–286. doi:10.1080/ 00223980.1966.10543793.

Stein, L. M. (2010). Falsas memórias: Fundamentos científicos e as suas aplicações clínicas e

jurídicas. Porto Alegre, RS: Artmed.

Stein, L. M., & Memon, A. (2006). Testing the efficacy of the cognitive interview in a developing

country. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 597–605. doi:10.1002/acp.1211.

Tulving, E. (1991). Concepts of human memory. In L. R. Squire, N. M. Weinberger, G. Lynch,

& J. L. McGaugh (Eds.), Memory: Organization and Locus of Change (edn, pp. 3 – 32).

New York: Oxford University Press.

Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. (1973). Encoding specificity and recall processes in episodic

memory. Psychological Review, 80, 352–373.

Vallano, J. P., & Compo, N. S. (2015). Rapport-building with cooperative witnesses and criminal

suspects: A theoretical and empirical review. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 21,

85–99. doi:10.1037/ law0000035.

Verkampt, F., & Ginet, M. (2009). Variations of the cognitive interview: Which one is the most

effective in enhancing children’s testimonies? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 1279–

1296. doi:10.1002/acp.1631.

Vredeveldt, A., Hitch, G. J., & Baddeley, A. D. (2011). Eyeclosure helps memory by reducing

cognitive load and enhancing visualisation. Memory & Cognition, 39, 1253–1263.

doi:10.3758/s13421-011-0098-8.

Vredeveldt, A., Tredoux, C. G., Kempen, K., & Nortje, A. (2015). Eye remember what happened:

Eye-closure improves recall of events but not face recognition. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 29, 169–180. doi:10.1002/acp.3092.

Vrij, A., Mann, S. A., Fisher, R. P., Leal, S., Milne, R., & Bull, R. (2008). Increasing cognitive

load to facilitate lie detection: The benefit of recalling an event in reverse order. Law and

Human Behavior, 32, 253–265. doi:10.1007/s10979-007-9103-y.

Page 125: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

125

Westera, N. J., Kebbell, M. B., & Milne, B. (2011). Interviewing witnesses: Do investigative and

evidential requirements concur. The British Journal of Forensic Practice, 13, 103–113.

doi:10.1108/ 14636641111134341.

Wright, A., & Holliday, R. (2006). Enhancing the recall of young, young–old and old–old adults

with cognitive interviews. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 19–43.

doi:10.1002/acp.1260.

Page 126: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

126

Page 127: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

127

Article 5

Enhancing the cognitive interview with an alternative

procedure to witness-compatible questioning: Category

clustering recall

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2016). Enhancing the cognitive interview with an alternative procedure

to witness-compatible questioning: Category clustering recall. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Page 128: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

128

Page 129: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

129

Enhancing the cognitive interview with an alternative procedure to

witness-compatible questioning: Category clustering recall

ABSTRACT

Purpose. The Cognitive Interview (CI) is one of the most widely studied and used methods to

interview witnesses. However, developing new component techniques to be added to the CI for

further increasing correct recall is still crucial. We focused on how a new and simpler interview

strategy, Category Clustering Recall (CCR), could increase recall in comparison with witness-

compatible questioning and tested if a Revised Cognitive Interview (RCI) with CCR instead of witness-

compatible questioning and without the change order and change perspective mnemonics would be

effective for this purpose.

Methods. Participants watched a mock robbery video and were interviewed 48 hours later with

either the Cognitive Interview or a Revised Cognitive Interview. Recalled information was classified as

either correct, incorrect or confabulation.

Results. Although exclusion of the change order and change perspective mnemonics in the RCI

group caused a slight decrease in the amount of recalled information during the last interview

phases, participants interviewed with the RCI generally produced more correct information than

participants interviewed with the CI, with a lower number of confabulations and a similar number of

errors. Further analyses revealed Category Clustering Recall was largely responsible for this increase

in correct recall.

Conclusions. Category Clustering Recall is a very promising interview technique which allowed the

interviewer to obtain more detailed information without using additional questions and may have, in

some situations, several practical advantages over a questioning phase (e.g., easier to employ).

Major implications for real-life investigations are discussed.

Keywords: cognitive interview; category clustering recall; witness-compatible questioning; change

order; change perspective

Interviewing witnesses is a crucial procedure which can determine police investigations’

outcome (Fisher, 2010; Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2013). However, what witnesses report

seldom corresponds fully with the witnessed event because memory is not so accurate and

witnesses frequently omit information and commit errors (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010).

Inadequate interviewing techniques, sometimes used during police investigations, can augment

this problem and lead to poor testimonies (Milne & Bull, 1999). To provide police officers with

adequate interviewing techniques, Fisher and Geiselman (1992) developed the enhanced

cognitive interview which is now commonly referred to as the cognitive interview (CI). The original

Page 130: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

130

CI initially included four cognitive mnemonics or interview techniques that aim to enhance recall:

report everything, mental reinstatement of context, change order, and change perspective. The CI

also comprises several social and communicative components which are crucial for conducting

appropriate investigative interviews, such as rapport building, witness-compatible questioning,

transferring control of the interview to the witness, and mental imagery (Fisher & Geiselman,

1992). One can read Geiselman and Fisher (2014) or Paulo et al. (2013) for more information

about the CI as well as the theories underlying this interview protocol and procedures (Tulving,

1991; Tulving & Thomson, 1973).

Several studies have demonstrated this interview technique can increase the number of

correct units of information recalled by witnesses while maintaining high accuracy rates (Paulo et

al., 2013). Such a finding is frequently referred to as the CI superiority effect. This has been

replicated in many countries, such as the USA, England, Australia, Brazil, and Portugal (Paulo,

Albuquerque, Saraiva, & Bull, 2015b; Stein & Memon, 2006), with different witnesses — for

example, children, adults, and elderly (Goodman & Melinder, 2007; Verkampt & Ginet, 2009;

Wright & Holliday, 2006), with different delays between the witnessed event and the interview —,

minutes to months (Larsson, Granhag, & Spjut, 2002), and different events — such as a crime, a

traffic accident, or a phone call (Campos & Alonso-Quecuty, 1999), both in laboratory and field

studies (Colomb & Ginet, 2012; Colomb, Ginet, Wright, Demarchi, & Sadler, 2013).

The CI has been widely trained and used by police forces in many countries such as

England, Wales and Australia. The CI comprises multiple mnemonics and instructions which can

contribute differently to CI superiority effect (Griffiths & Milne, 2010). Even though procedures

such as establishing rapport (Kieckhaefer, Vallano, & Compo, 2014; Nash, Nash, Morris, &

Smith, 2015; Vallano & Compo, 2015), asking for an initial free report (Lamb, La Rooy, Malloy, &

Katz, 2011) or mental reinstatement of context (Milne & Bull, 1999) have been found to be

important techniques for obtaining more information, other CI components may be less effective.

Change order and change perspective mnemonics which can be useful for some specific

purposes such as increasing cognitive load (Vrij, Fisher, & Blank, 2015) are somewhat

controversial procedures for enhancing recall, particularly the change perspective mnemonic

(Boon & Noon, 1994; Brown, Lloyd-Jones, & Robinson, 2008; Clarke & Milne, 2001; Clifford &

George, 1996; Dando, Wilcock, & Milne, 2008; Kebbell, Milne, & Wagstaff, 1999; Mello & Fisher,

1996). These two techniques have been criticized mainly for three reasons: (i) these procedures

take considerable interviewing time which is often scarce in police investigations; (ii) these

procedures usually elicit very limited additional information (Bensi, Nori, Gambetti, & Giusberti,

Page 131: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

131

2011); and (iii) police officers often consider these two procedures to be ineffective, time-

consuming and difficult to use (Dando et al., 2008; Kebbell et al., 1999). Therefore, replacing or

removing change order and change perspective mnemonics from the interview has been

discussed to develop shorter and more efficient interview protocols (Colomb & Ginet, 2012;

Dando, Wilcock, & Milne, 2009).

For instance, Davis, McMahon, and Greenwood (2005) found a CI short version without

additional recall attempts might considerably reduce interview time with only a small information

loss (13%). Dando, Wilcock, Behnkle, and Milne (2011) found participants interviewed without the

change order and change perspective mnemonics were able to recall as much information as

participants interviewed with a full CI protocol, with higher accuracy. The same authors found

recalling in reverse order might be less effective than another free recall (Dando et al., 2011).

Therefore, whether these two original cognitive interview mnemonics, or other additional recall

attempts, are worth using is arguable since these often only produce very limited additional

information (Davis et al., 2005).

Nonetheless, it can be crucial for an interviewer to obtain more information. Witness

compatible-questioning which involves asking mainly open-ended questions compatible with the

witness’ previous recall and retrieval pattern, might be useful for this purpose (Fisher, 2010).

However, matching questions to witnesses’ free recall may require a lot of cognitive effort and

training on the part of the interviewer. In the traditional type of witness compatible questioning

the interviewer has to actively listen to the witness while possibly taking notes to help him/ her

plan the subsequent questions and interview procedures (Paulo et al., 2013). Therefore, even

though witness-compatible questioning can be very valuable in some situations, according to

Fisher (2010) this is probably the most difficult skill of the CI to employ. Therefore, using instead

another technique to obtain more information could be very valuable. Since lack of training on

witness interviewing is frequently stated by some police officers as a major problem (Dando et

al., 2008; Wright & Holliday, 2005), a simpler technique can be particularly useful when less

experienced police officers consider they are not fully prepared to implement witness-compatible

questioning.

For this purpose, Paulo, Albuquerque and Bull (2016) suggested asking witnesses for a

second retrieval attempt with Category Clustering Recall (CCR). This recall strategy consists of

asking witnesses to recall one more time everything they can remember about the crime episode

but, this time, witnesses are asked to organize their recall/speech into broad information

categories which are present in almost every crime (i.e., person details, object details, location

Page 132: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

132

details, action details, conversation details and sound details), instead of temporal clusters as

used with the change order mnemonic. Paulo et al. (2016) found participants who used CCR

were able to recall substantially more information without compromising accuracy in comparison

with participants who used the change order mnemonic. Furthermore, they believe this interview

strategy may have several advantages: (i) Recalling a crime event in category clusters might be

more natural and compatible with the witness’ mental organization of the event because people

often naturally/spontaneously encode, organize or recall information in semantic categories

(Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969; Manning & Kahana, 2012; Robinson, 1966). (ii) Since

category clustering is often performed spontaneously, witnesses might be more familiarized with

this technique and use less cognitive resources to perform it, focusing more on recall; (iii)

According to the spreading-activation theory of semantic processing (Collins & Loftus, 1975),

successively recalling information (e.g., ‘paper’, ‘desk’, and ‘pencil’) related to one specific

cluster (e.g., objects) gradually triggers other memories (e.g., ‘counter’) which are closely related

to this cluster and might otherwise not be activated and recalled; (iv) This procedure was effective

without additional questioning. Use of the CCR only requires the interviewer to be able to explain

to the witness a simple instruction. Therefore CCR requires less effort, interference, flexibility and

training from the interviewer in comparison with witness-compatible questioning. Nonetheless,

even though Paulo et al. (2016) considered CCR was effective without additional questioning,

they did not directly compare CCR with witness-compatible questioning and suggested doing this

in future studies. Therefore, to see if CCR could be a viable alternative to witness-compatible

questioning, the present study directly compared these two procedures.

Current Study

In the present study, a Revised Cognitive Interview (RCI) with CCR instead of a

questioning phase and without the change order and change perspective mnemonics was used

to assess if: (i) using semantic clustering to guide retrieval instead of witness-compatible

questioning would allow participants to recall more correct information; (ii) replacing change

order and change perspective mnemonics with this simpler instruction for recalling new

information (‘Please focus for a couple of minutes on the video recording you have viewed two

days ago, and tell me if you can remember anything else’) would also have an impact on recall.

Two main hypotheses were established: (i) Participants interviewed with CCR instead of witness-

compatible questioning will recall more information (Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969; Manning

& Kahana, 2012; Robinson, 1966); (ii) Replacing change order and change perspective

Page 133: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

133

mnemonics with a simpler instruction for recalling new information will not reduce the amount of

recalled information.

Method

Participants

A total of 44 Portuguese psychology students, 37 female and seven male, with an age

range from 18 to 35 years (M = 20.14, SD = 3.98) participated in this study for course credits.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of two interview groups with 22 participants each.

One group was interviewed with the full Cognitive Interview (CI). This group had 18 female

participants and four male participants with an age range from 18 to 35 years (M = 20.55, SD =

4.14). The other group of participants was interviewed with the revised cognitive interview (RCI).

This group had 19 female participants and 3 male participants with an age range from 18 to 35

years (M = 19.73, SD = 3.87).

Design

A between-participants design was used with interview condition as the independent

variable with two levels: Cognitive Interview (CI) or Revised Cognitive Interview (RCI). Reported

information and accuracy were measured in units of information and proportions, respectively.

Materials

Participants watched the recording on a Fujitsu L7ZA LCD computer screen. A video

recording was edited from the second episode of the 2004 Portuguese television drama

‘Inspector Max’ (Riccó & Riccó, 2004) and was three minutes and 11 seconds long. This non-

violent video recording shows a male-armed subject walking inside a bank and taking several

hostages to carry the robbery. The robber verbally and physically interacts with the hostages, with

the cashier and a police officer who later approaches the robber. All interviews were video and

audio recorded.

Procedure

Ethics committee approval was obtained. Having signed a consent form after reading

general information about the study, participants took part in two sessions. At the first session,

after being randomly assigned to one of the two interview conditions (CI vs. RCI), participants

Page 134: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

134

were shown the video recording. Participants were asked to pay as much attention as possible to

the video recording because they would be later interviewed about this. A second session took

place approximately 48 hours later and each participant was interviewed with the CI or the RCI.

Interview protocol

The CI protocol employed (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992) had previously been translated

and adapted for the Portuguese language and found to be effective with a Portuguese population

(Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2015a; Paulo et al., 2015b).

Both interview protocols included two CI cognitive mnemonics: Report Everything and

Context Reinstatement, and the social and communicative components described in Fisher and

Geiselman (1992) such as rapport building or transfer of control. These CI mnemonics and social

components were identical in both interview conditions. The Fisher and Geiselman (1992)

guidelines for conducting the CI were followed for all interview conditions.

A brief comparison between the two interview protocols (CI vs. RCI) is provided in Table

5.1. See appendix A for a full description of the two interview protocols according to interview

phase, and how CCR was used during phase 3 for the RCI group. Preliminary phase (1), initial

free report (2) and closure (6) were exactly alike in both interview conditions. Phase 5 was

exclusive to the CI protocol.

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 6

CI Preliminary Free Recall Questioning Second Recall

(Reverse Order)

New information recall

(Change Perspective)

Closure

RCI Preliminary Free Recall Second Recall

(CCR)

New information

recall

X Closure

Note: CCR, Category Clustering Recall

Table 5.1. Comparison between the two interview protocols (CI vs. RCI) according to interview phase

Interviewer training

An expert in the CI who had followed several qualified courses on investigative interview

techniques consisting of more than 50 lecture hours, practice, role-playing exercises, and

feedback/ evaluation conducted all interviews. To assure interviewer’s performance was

adequate and consistent across interview conditions, interview protocols were read verbatim

Page 135: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

135

whenever possible (e.g., questioning needs to be adapted according to participants’ previous

recall). Furthermore, an independent expert on psychology randomly checked 25% of the

interviews to evaluate the interviewer’s verbal and non-verbal behavior with a structured

evaluation grid which included parameters such as the questioning used, established rapport,

instructions clarity and interviewer’s posture/behavior. The independent expert concluded these

parameters were adequate and consistent across interview conditions.

Coding

Interview recordings were coded with the template scoring technique from Memon,

Wark, Bull, and Köhnken (1997). A comprehensive list of details in the video recording was

compiled and units of information were categorized as referring to (i) person; (ii) action; (iii)

object; (iv) location; (v) conversation; and (vi) sound, resulting in 378 units of information.

Recalled information was classified as either correct, incorrect (e.g., saying the pistol was brown

when it was black) or confabulation (mentioning a detail or event which was not present or did

not happen). Also noted was the phase within the interview in which a unit of information was

recalled. If a unit of information (correct or not) was repeated during the same or a subsequent

phase, this information was scored only the first time it was mentioned (Prescott, Milne, & Clark,

2011). Subjective statements or opinions were disregarded (e.g., ‘The robber was gorgeous’).

Inter-rater reliability

To assess inter-rater reliability, 11 (25%) interviews were selected randomly and scored

independently by a researcher who was naive to the experiment aims and hypothesis but familiar

with the template scoring method and had access to the crime video. Intraclass correlation

coefficients (ICC) were calculated for correct information, incorrect information and

confabulations, and for the six information categories (person, action, etc.). High inter-rater

reliability was found for all measures in that ICC values ranged between .985 and 1.000 with an

overall ICC of .993.

Results

Even though participants in the CI group performed one more retrieval attempt (phase 5)

than participants in the RCI group, interview length was similar for both groups. Interview

Page 136: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

136

duration according to interview condition and interview phase is presented in Table 5.2 as are the

recall data.

Unit of Information Accuracy Interview Time

CI RCI CI RCI CI RCI

Interview Phase M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD

2 – Initial Free Report 42.18 16.58 40.46 14.67 .94 .04 .96 .04 9 2 8 2

3 – Quest. / CCR 30.18 9.14 51.86 11.75 .89 .07 .91 .05 10 3 16 6

4 – RO / New inf. 5.36 3.71 .91 2.02 .92 .11 .97 .09 5 2 2 1

5 – New inf. w/ CP 2.14 2.36 .83 .28 3 1

Note: CCR, category clustering recall; RO, reverse order; CP, change perspective; Quest., questioning; New inf., new

information recall.

Table 5.2. Number of newly recalled units of information, accuracy and interview time (in minutes) according to

interview condition and interview phase.

First, a 2 (interviews) × 3 (measures) ANOVA was conducted to see if interview condition

had an effect on recall performance throughout the entire interview (all interview phases

combined), operationalized in three measures: (1) number of correct units of information

recalled; (2) number of errors committed; and (3) number of confabulations committed. This

found a significant difference in recall performance according to interview condition, F (3, 40) =

3.16, p < .05, Wilks’ Λ= .81, p2 = .19. The univariate F tests found participants in the RCI

group (M = 93.18, SD = 23.28) recalled more correct units of information than participants in

the CI group (M = 79.32, SD = 21.66), F (1, 42) = 4.18, p < .05, p2 = .09. Furthermore,

participants in the RCI group committed a lower number of confabulations (M = .59, SD = .80)

than participants in the CI group (M = 1.46, SD = 1.50), F (1, 42) = 5.67, p < .05, p2 = .12.

There was no difference between participants in the RCI group (M = 6.45, SD = 3.57) and

participants in the CI group (M = 5.82, SD = 3.30) regarding number of errors committed

throughout the interview, F (1, 42) = .38, p = .543, p2 = .01.

Next, two mixed 2 × 3 ANOVAs were conducted to see if interview condition (CI vs. RCI)

as well as interview phase (Phase 2 vs. Phase 3 vs. Phase 4) had an effect on: (i) number of

correct units of information newly recalled on each phase, and (ii) recall accuracy (ratio between

the number of correct units of information recalled over all the recalled units of information).

Preliminary phase and closure phase were not included in these analyses because participants

Page 137: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

137

did not recall information at these interview phases, as well as Phase 4 (third recall for new

information with change perspective), which was also excluded since only the CI group performed

this interview phase (see Table 5.2 for recall measures during this interview phase).

Regarding (i) number of correct units of information newly recalled, a main interview

condition effect for participants’ number of correct units of information recalled was found, F (1,

42) = 5.40, p = .025, p2 = .11. As previously reported, participants in the RCI condition recalled

more details than participants in the CI condition. An interview phase effect for participants’

number of correct units of information newly recalled was also found, F (1.592, 66.882) =

210.34, p < .001, p2 = .83. Pairwise comparisons revealed participants recall less new units of

information in phase 4 (see Table 5.2), in comparison with phase 3, p < .001, 95% CI [-41.640, -

34.132] and phase 2, p < .001, 95% CI [-44.187, -32.176]. Lastly, an interaction effect between

interview condition and interview phase was also found, F (1.592, 66.882) = 22.51, p < .001,

p2 = .35. Pairwise comparisons revealed no differences between participants in the RCI

condition and participants in the CI condition for number of correct units of information newly

recalled during phase 2 (initial free recall), p = .716, d = .52, 95% CI [-7.797, 11.252].

Nonetheless, during phase 3 (questioning vs. CCR) participants who performed a second recall

attempt with CCR (RCI group) recalled more new correct units of information (see Table 5.2) than

participants who answered to a witness-compatible questioning (CI group), p < .001, d = 2.04,

95% CI [-28.087, -15.277]. During phase 4 (second full recall with reverse order vs. simple

instruction for recalling new information) participants who performed a second full recall in

reverse order (CI group) recalled more new correct units of information than participants who

were simply asked to try to recall new details (RCI group), p < .001, d = 1.49, 95% CI [2.637,

6.272]. However, as shown in Table 5.2, the number of newly recalled correct units of

information was very low for both groups during phase 4, as well as for the CI group during

phase 5. Furthermore, as also shown in Table 5.2, although participants in the CI group recalled

more new correct units of information during phase 2 (initial free recall) in comparison with

phase 3 (questioning), p < .01, 95% CI [3.589, 20.411], participants in the RCI group recalled

more new correct units of information during phase 3 (second recall with CCR) in comparison

with phase 2 (initial free report), p < .01, 95% CI [-19.821, -2.998].

Regarding (ii) recall accuracy, no interview condition effect, F (1, 28) = 2.65, p = .115,

p2 = .09, interview phase effect, F (1.286, 36.001) = 2.70, p = .100, p

2 = .09, or interaction

effect, F (1.286, 36.001) = .55, p = .509, p2 = .02, was found.

Page 138: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

138

Discussion

This study examined whether Category Clustering Recall (CCR) could, in comparison with

witness-compatible questioning, increase the quantity of information witnesses are able to report

during an investigative interview. Furthermore, this study assessed if a shorter and simpler

instruction for recalling new information at a later interview phase (‘Please focus for a few

minutes on the video recording you have viewed two days ago, and tell me if you can remember

anything else’) would be as effective as a full additional recall attempt in reverse order as

commonly used in the Cognitive Interview (CI). Our major findings were participants who

performed CCR (RCI condition) were able to recall a considerably higher number of newly correct

details with very high report accuracy. However, participants who performed a full second recall

attempt in reverse order (CI group) were able to recall more new details at this later interview

phase than participants who were simply asked to try to recall new details. Nonetheless, recall

during these last interview phases (phase four and phase five) was low for both groups.

Since Paulo et al. (2016) recently found using CCR can enhance recall in comparison

with the change order mnemonic, the present study assessed whether CCR could also be a

viable alternative to witness-compatible questioning. This study found participants who

performed a second recall task with CCR (RCI group), instead of being asked to answer a

witness-compatible questioning with mainly open-ended questions (CI group), provided more new

correct units of information. The CCR superiority effect regarding recall quantity is not only

noticeable on new recall for phase 3 (where this manipulation was conducted) but also on recall

quantity for the entire interview, even though participants in the CI condition had one more

interview phase and recalled more new information at later interview phases, as we will address

below. Furthermore, participants in the RCI group surprisingly recalled more new information

during their second recall with CCR than during their first recall attempt (initial free report). This

is quite an unusual result since the initial free report is usually where a higher number of new

details are recalled (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992; Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2013) as replicated

in this study for the CI group. Thus, using category clustering to guide recall of a crime event may

be even more effective than an initial free recall attempt and may help to obtain additional

information when the initial free report is less detailed. This is a very important finding which

should be further addressed. Furthermore, although participants in the RCI condition recalled

more information, interview length was similar for both interview conditions. The CCR took an

Page 139: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

139

average of six more minutes to be conducted in comparison with a questioning phase, but this is

not an unexpected result given participants require more time to provide more information and

this additional interview time would not normally represent a major constraint.

As described in the method section (appendix A), participants in the CI group were

asked, in average, 8.73 open-ended questions and 1.91 close-ended questions during witness-

compatible questioning. Nonetheless, only seven information categories were used in CCR to

guide recall (person details; person location details; object details, object location details; action

details, conversation details; sound details) , thus the number of questions (vs. the number of

information categories) cannot explain CCR superiority effect. However, there are several

theoretical reasons why CCR may have been effective. First, according to the spreading activation

theory of semantic processing memory is often organized according to semantic similarity, thus

activation of semantically related memories occurs when successively recalling information

related to one specific semantic category (Collins & Loftus, 1975). Therefore, when asked to

recall, for instance, objects, recalling ‘chair’ might prime similar objects recall (e.g., ‘desk’ and

‘counter’) that might gradually trigger the recall of other related objects, such as ‘paper’ and

‘pencil’, which might otherwise not be activated and recalled. Furthermore, the present study

suggests CCR may be able to trigger recall of semantically related memories without consequent

accuracy loss. Second, previous research shows organizing information (e.g., words) into

semantic categories (e.g., animals, objects, and plants) either during encoding and/or recall

(semantic clustering) typically allows participants to recall more information whether this is used

spontaneously or not (Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969; Manning & Kahana, 2012). Finally,

recalling an event in category clusters might be a natural and familiar strategy because people

often spontaneously encode, organize, and/or recall information in semantic clusters (Robinson,

1966). Therefore, CCR may be more compatible with the witnesses’ mental organization of the

event and less cognitively demanding (e.g., attention) which means more cognitive resources can

be allocated for trying to remember new details (Paulo et al., 2016).

Report accuracy was high for both interview groups. Furthermore, error and

confabulation frequency was low for both groups, even though the number of committed

confabulations was even lower for the RCI group. Therefore, even though CCR elicited more

correct details it did not compromise report accuracy. High accuracy was expected for all

interview conditions because all the interview protocols contained adequate instructions (e.g.,

instruction not to guess; rapport building; transfer of control, etc.) and adequate questioning

(when questioning was used) in order to maximize report accuracy (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010).

Page 140: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

140

Furthermore, category clustering has previously been found to enhance recall regarding

information quantity while not compromising recall accuracy (Dalrymple-Alford & Aamiry, 1969;

Manning & Kahana, 2012; Paulo et al., 2016; Robinson, 1966).

Lastly, since the change order and change perspective mnemonics have been

particularly criticized (Bensi et al., 2011; Boon & Noon, 1994; Dando et al., 2011; Davis et al.,

2005; Kebbell et al., 1999), this study assessed whether these CI components could be replaced

with a simpler instruction for recalling new information (‘Please focus on the video recording and

tell me if you can remember anything else?’). Participants who were given this simple recall

instruction during phase 4 (RCI group) were only able to recall (in average) less than one new

unit of information at this interview phase (phase 4). However, participants in the CI group who

were instead asked to recall one more time everything they could remember in reverse order

(phase 4 - change order) and after trying to remember new details while adopting a different

internal perspective (phase 5 - change perspective), were able to recall a considerably higher

average of new units of information (five units during phase 4 and two units during phase 5).

Therefore, the change order and change perspective instructions seem to be more effective than

simply asking the participant if she/ he can add any new detail to her/ his report. Nonetheless,

new information recall at these later interview phases was, as usually found in the CI literature

(Davis et al., 2005), quite small regardless of what procedure was used. Maybe participants have

somewhat ‘exhausted’ their memory capacity and are unable to recall much more new details, or

unwilling to apply more effort, particularly in the RCI condition where participants had already

provided a very high number of new details during free recall and CCR.

Practical Implications

Not only did CCR allow the interviewer to obtain more detailed information which may be

crucial for police officers and other professionals (Fisher 2010), it also may have several practical

advantages over a questioning phase in some situations. Firstly, CCR is easier to use in

comparison with appropriate witness-compatible questioning which typically requires extensive

training and experience from the interviewer and is one of the hardest interview procedures to

conduct, partly because it needs to be highly adapted to each witness and each report.

Moreover, since CCR requires probably less effort from the interviewer, she/ he can allocate

more resources to attentively listen to and monitor the witness, plan the subsequent interview

phases, take notes if necessary, etc. Secondly, since CCR is a guided recall task (no questions

were included) instead of a questioning task, CCR may involve less interference from the

Page 141: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

141

interviewer. Interviewers’ interference can easily have a negative impact on recall not only when

inadequate questions are asked (e.g., suggestive questions) but also if the interviewee perceives

that since the interviewer is asking him several questions she /he can adopt a less participative

role (e.g., provide shorter responses) during the interview (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992). Therefore,

using a recall task instead of a questioning phase might encourage the interviewee to actively

participate in the interview and be more responsible for his/ her own report (transfer of control).

Thirdly, even though most interviewing procedures (e.g., rapport building, CCR, etc.) need to be

adjusted to each interview, CCR is more generic than witness-compatible questioning since while

using CCR the interviewer uses very broad information categories present in almost every crime

to guide recall. Again, this can be useful particularly for less experienced police officers who

might lack the ability to fully adapt each interview procedure to each witness. Nonetheless, CCR

should not be used instead of witness-compatible questioning at all times. As Paulo et al. (2016)

stated these techniques are often complementary. Furthermore, witness-compatible questioning

can be very important particularly when more experienced police officers are conducting the

interview and want to address a specific topic or question.

Lastly our study further supports a possible alternative for time critical situations might

be to exclude the later recall attempts from the interview protocol regardless of how they are

conducted (e.g., reverse order, different perspective, second free recall or a simple instruction to

recall new information) since these procedures seem to be unable to elicit a considerable

number of new details which might justify using these in time-demanding situations (Dando et al.,

2011; Davis et al., 2005).

Conclusions

Professionals and researchers have now available a new tool to help obtain more correct

information from the witness which may be particularly useful in situations where a recall

strategy might be more appropriate than a questioning strategy. Even though CCR might already

be partially used in the field during witness-compatible questioning (Can you describe everyone at

the crime scene?), this is likely to occur in many different ways which might have different

efficacy and likely to be combined with additional questions (e.g., was anyone else there?). To our

knowledge, this is the first study which used CCR without additional questioning and found this

procedure to be very effective in comparison with witness-compatible questioning and even in

comparison with an initial free recall attempt.

Page 142: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

142

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology

under Grant number SFRH/BD/ 84817/2012. This study was conducted at the Psychology

Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and also supported by the

Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science,

Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through

COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653).

References

Bensi, L., Nori, R., Gambetti, E., & Giusberti, F. (2011). The enhanced cognitive interview: A

study on the efficacy of shortened variants and single techniques. Journal of Cognitive

Psychology, 23, 311-321. doi:10.1080/20445911.2011.497485

Boon, J. & Noon, E. (1994) Changing Perspectives in Cognitive Interviewing. Psychology, Crime,

and Law, 1, 59-69. doi:10.1080/10683169408411936

Brown, C., Lloyd-Jones, T., & Robinson, M. (2008). Eliciting person descriptions from

eyewitnesses: A survey of police perceptions of eyewitness performance and reported

use of interview techniques. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 20, 529-560.

doi:10.1080/09541440701728474

Campos, L., & Alonso-Quecuty, M. L. (1999). The cognitive interview: Much more than simply

“try again”. Psychology, Crime & Law, 5, 47-59. doi:10.1080/10683169908414993

Colomb, C., & Ginet, M. (2012). The cognitive interview for use with adults: an

empirical test of an alternative mnemonic and of a partial protocol. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 26, 35–47. doi:10.1002/acp.1792

Colomb, C., Ginet, M., Wright, D., Demarchi, S., & Sadler, C. (2013). Back to the real: Efficacy

and perception of a modified cognitive interview in the field. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 27, 574-583. doi:10.1002/acp.2942

Page 143: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

143

Clarke, C., & Milne, R. (2001). National evaluation of the PEACE investigative interviewing course

(Publication No. PRAS/149). London: Home Office.

Clifford, B. R., & George, R. (1996). A field evaluation of training in three methods of

witness/victim investigative interviewing. Psychology, Crime and Law, 2, 231-248.

doi:10.1080/10683169608409780

Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing.

Psychological Review, 82, 407-428. doi:10.1016/B978-1-4832-1446-7.50015-7

Dalrymple-Alford, E. C., & Aamiry, A. (1969). Language and category clustering in bilingual free

recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 8, 762-768. doi:10.1016/S0022-

5371(69)80041-1

Dando, C. J., Ormerod, T. C., Wilcock, R., & Milne, R. (2011). When help becomes hindrance:

Unexpected errors of omission and commission in eyewitness memory resulting from

change temporal order at retrieval? Cognition, 121, 416-421.

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2011.06.015

Dando, C., Wilcock, R., Behnkle, C., & Milne, R. (2011). Modifying the cognitive interview:

Countenancing forensic application by enhancing practicability. Psychology, Crime &

Law, 17, 491–511. doi:10.1080/10683160903334212

Dando, C. J., Wilcock, R., & Milne, R. (2008). The cognitive interview: Inexperienced police

officers’ perceptions of their witness interviewing behaviour. Legal and Criminological

Psychology, 13, 59-70. doi:10.1348/135532506X162498

Dando, C., Wilcock, R., & Milne, R. (2009). The cognitive interview: the efficacy of a modified

mental reinstatement of context procedure for frontline police investigators. Applied

Cognitive Psychology, 23, 138-147. doi:10.1002/acp.1451

Davis, M. R., McMahon, M., & Greenwood, K. M. (2005). The efficacy of mnemonic components

of the cognitive interview: Towards a shortened variant for time-critical investigations.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 75-93. doi:10.1002/acp.1048

Fisher, R. P. (2010). Interviewing cooperative witnesses. Legal and Criminological Psychology,

15, 25-38. doi:10.1348/135532509X441891

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-enhancing techniques for investigative

interviewing: The cognitive interview. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (2010). The Cognitive Interview method of conducting police

interviews: Eliciting extensive information and promoting therapeutic jurisprudence.

Page 144: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

144

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 33, 321–328.

doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2010.09.004

Geiselman, R. E., & Fisher, R. P. (2014). Interviewing witnesses and victims. In M. St-Yves (Ed.).

Investigative interviewing: Handbook of best practices. Toronto: Toronto, ON: Thomson

Reuters Publishers

Goodman, G. S., & Melinder, A. (2007). Child witness research and forensic interviews of young

children: A review. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 12, 1-19.

doi:10.1348/135532506X156620

Griffiths, A., & Milne, R. (2010). The application of cognitive interview techniques as part of an

investigation. In C. A. Ireland & J. M. Fisher (Eds.), Consultancy and advising in forensic

practice: Empirical and practical guidelines (pp. 71–90). Chichester, UK: BPS Blackwell.

Kebbell, M. R., Milne, R., &Wagstaff, G. F. (1999). The cognitive interview: A survey of its forensic

effectiveness. Psychology, Crime and Law, 5, 101-115.

doi:10.1080/10683169908414996

Kieckhaefer, J. M., Vallano, J. P., & Compo, N. S. (2014). Examining the positive effects of

rapport building: When and why does rapport building benefit adult eyewitness memory?

Memory, 22, 1010–1023. doi:10.1080/09658211.2013.864313

Lamb, M. E., La Rooy, D. J., Malloy, L. C., & Katz, C. (2011). Children’s testimony: A handbook

of psychological research and forensic practice (2nd ed.). SXW, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

doi:10.1002/9781119998495.

Larsson, A. S., Granhag, P. A., & Spjut, E. (2002). Children’s recall and the cognitive interview:

do the positive effects hold over time? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 203-214.

doi:10.1002/acp.863

Manning, J. R., & Kahana, M. J. (2012). Interpreting semantic clustering effects in free recall.

Memory, 20, 511-517. doi:10.1080/09658211.2012.683010

Mello, E. W., & Fisher, R. P. (1996). Enhancing older adult eyewitness memory with the cognitive

interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10, 403–417. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-

0720(199610)10:5<403::AID-ACP395>3.0.CO;2-X

Memon, A., Wark, L., Bull, R., & Köhnken, G. (1997). Isolating the effects of the cognitive

interview techniques. British Journal of Psychology, 88, 179-197. doi:10.1111/j.2044-

8295.1997.tb02629.x

Milne, R. & Bull, R. (1999). Investigative Interviewing: Psychology and Practice. Chichester, WS:

Wiley. doi:10.1002/cbm.444

Page 145: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

145

Nash, R. A., Nash, A., Morris, A., & Smith, S. L. (2015). Does rapport-building boost the

eyewitness eyeclosure effect in closed questioning. Legal and Criminological Psychology.

doi:10.1111/lcrp.12073

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2013). The enhanced cognitive interview: Towards a

better use and understanding of this procedure. International Journal of Police Science &

Management, 15, 190-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1350/ijps.2013.15.3.311

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2015a). The Enhanced Cognitive Interview:

Expressions of uncertainty, motivation and its relation with report accuracy. Psychology,

Crime & Law, 22, 366-381. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2015.1109089

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., Saraiva, M., & Bull, R. (2015b). The enhanced cognitive

interview: Testing appropriateness perception, memory capacity and error estimate

relation with report quality. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29, 536-543.

doi:10.1002/acp.3132

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2016). Improving the enhanced cognitive interview

with a new interview strategy: Category clustering recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology,

30, 775-784. doi:10.1002/acp.32532016

Prescott, K., Milne, R., Clark, J. (2011). How effective is the enhanced cognitive interview when

aiding recall recall of older adults including memory for conversation? Journal of

Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8, 257-270. doi:10.1002/jip.142

Riccó, A. (Director), & Riccó, R. (Director). (2004). O Assalto [The robbery] [Television series

episode]. In V. Castelo (Producer), Inspector Max. Lisbon: Produções Fictícias.

Robinson, J. A. (1966). Category clustering in free recall. The Journal of Psychology:

Interdisciplinary and Applied, 62, 279-286. doi:10.1080/00223980.1966.10543793

Stein, L. M., & Memon, A. (2006). Testing the efficacy of the cognitive interview in a

developing country. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 597–605. doi:10.1002/acp.1211

Tulving, E. (1991). Concepts of human memory. In L. R. Squire, N. M. Weinberger, G. Lynch, &

J. L. McGaugh (Eds.), Memory: Organization and locus of change (pp. 3–32). New York:

Oxford University Press.

Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. (1973). Encoding specificity and recall processes in episodic

memory. Psychological Review, 80, 352–373.

Vallano, J. P., & Compo, N. S. (2015). Rapport-building with cooperative witnesses and criminal

suspects: A theoretical and empirical review. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 21, 85-

99. doi:10.1037/law0000035

Page 146: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

146

Verkampt, F., & Ginet, M. (2009). Variations of the cognitive interview: which one is the most

effective in enhancing children’s testimonies? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 1279–

1296. doi:10.1002/acp.1631

Vrij, A., Fisher, R. P., Blank, H. (2015). A cognitive approach to lie detection: A meta-analysis.

Legal and Criminological Psychology. doi:10.1111/lcrp.12088

Westera, N. J., Kebbell, M. B., & Milne, B. (2011). Interviewing witnesses: Do investigative and

evidential requirements concur. The British Journal of Forensic Practice, 13, 103-113.

doi:10.1108/14636641111134341

Wright, A. M., & Holliday, R. E. (2006). Enhancing the recall of young, young–old and old–old

adults with cognitive interviews. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 19–43.

doi:10.1002/acp.1260

Wright, A. M., & Holliday, R. E. (2005). Police officers’ perceptions of older eyewitnesses. Legal

and Criminological Psychology, 10, 211-223. doi:10.1348/135532505X37001

Page 147: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

147

Chapter IV

Conclusions

Page 148: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

148

Page 149: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

149

Developing new research and theory driven techniques that can be added to the

Cognitive Interview (CI) to obtain more information from the witness or evaluate her/ his report

accuracy are still crucial in the investigative interviewing field (Fisher, 2010). Furthermore, as

shown in the first article included in this dissertation, research on investigative interviewing in

Portugal is still very scarce and adequate interview protocols were not previously developed and

empirically tested with a Portuguese population. Therefore, we conducted several studies which

aimed to: (1) translate, adapt and test the efficacy of a Cognitive Interview with a Portuguese

population, thus developing the first effective CI protocol in the Portuguese language (see second

article); (2) develop new interview strategies to enhance recall (Category Clustering Recall – see

fourth and fifth article); (3) examine if verbal expressions of certainty/uncertainty (see third

article) or frequency judgments (see second article) can be used by investigative professionals to

evaluate report accuracy in a practical and time-saving way; and (4) further explore what

psychological variables and memory processes influence witnesses’ recall.

With the goal of later developing innovative empirical studies which addressed important

aspects of investigative interviewing, we first critically examined and addressed the CI literature

and usage (Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2013; Paulo, Luna, & Albuquerque, 2014) with different

types of crime witnesses (Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2015), particularly focusing on the

Portuguese situation regarding CI usage and research (see first article). Since almost no research

in Portugal on investigative interviewing or the Cognitive Interview has ever been published, we

determined the first crucial step would be to translate, adapt, develop and test the efficacy of a

Portuguese version of the Cognitive Interview with a Portuguese population. We found a

Portuguese version of the CI produced more information without compromising accuracy in

comparison with a structured interview. Major differences regarding the amount of elicited

information according to interview condition were found for free recall (see second article). This is

consistent with previously published studies which suggest the CI superiority effect could be

consistent across different countries and cultures (Stein & Memon, 2006). These are important

results for Portuguese professionals and researchers because interview protocols should be

translated, adapted and thoroughly tested before being used and, as mentioned above, an

assessment of the efficacy of an adequate interview protocol for crime witnesses in Portugal was

never previously made.

While conducting the investigative interviews of our first empirical study, one particularly

interesting aspect caught our attention: participants frequently and spontaneously used verbal

expressions of uncertainty (e.g., ‘I think’ or ‘I believe’) to inform the interviewer they were unsure

Page 150: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

150

about the accuracy of the information they were providing. Since it can be very valuable for an

interviewer working in the investigative interviewing field, whom has not access to the crime

event, to assess if the information the witness is providing is accurate, evaluating if participants

can effectively monitor the accuracy of the information they are recalling can be very important

(Evans & Fisher, 2010). Even though previous CI studies (Allwood, Ask, & Granhag, 2005)

addressed participants’ ability to monitor accuracy for the information they previously recalled,

this is typically achieved with the use of numerical confidence judgments performed after the

interview has been conducted which has several disadvantages, for instance, requiring a

considerable amount of interviewer’s time and not being viable in real investigative interviews.

Furthermore we previously had found witnesses’ ability to monitor report accuracy varies

according to the method used for this purpose. Thus witnesses are not always capable of

evaluating their report accuracy, for instance, when using frequency judgments (see second

article). Since no previous study addressed if information preceded or followed by uncertainty

verbal expressions was less accurate than witnesses remaining recall, we addressed this subject

in the third article presented in this thesis. We found spontaneous ‘uncertainties’ were less

accurate than ‘certainties’ and thus their exclusion raised overall, CI, and Structured Interview,

accuracy values. Furthermore, we later replicated these findings (Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull,

2016) and found witnesses of also being capable of differentiating more accurate information by

stating they were sure about the accuracy of such information (‘full certainty’ – e.g. ‘I am

definitely sure he had a black shirt’). This is, we found for the first time witnesses are capable of

verbally and qualitatively distinguishing in a holistic, natural, and time-saving way more accurate

information (full certainty) from fairly accurate information (regular recall) and less accurate

information (uncertainties) through qualitative confidence judgments which are performed and

communicated to the interviewer verbally while the interview is still being conducted. Even though

these measures should not be taken as indisputable accuracy markers, professionals might want

to consider these as memory strength indices when analyzing witnesses’ reports.

In the first two empirical studies we presented in this dissertation (second and third

article) we repeatedly found both the change order and change perspective mnemonics to be

unable to elicit a considerable number of new details which might justify using these mnemonics

in time-demanding situations. In fact, whether these two original cognitive interview mnemonics,

or other additional recall attempts, are worth using is arguable since these often only produce

very limited additional information (Davis et al., 2005). Nonetheless, it is crucial to develop other

research and theory driven techniques which can be added to the Cognitive Interview for

Page 151: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

151

obtaining more accurate information from the witness and replace less effective and time-

demanding CI components, like the change order and change perspective mnemonics (Fisher,

2010). For this purpose, we developed a new theory and research driven interview strategy:

Category Clustering Recall (CCR). This recall strategy is supported by previous Psychology theory

and research suggesting (1) recalling in category clusters might be a natural recall technique

which has previously shown to enhance recall in other contexts (e.g., word list recall) and may

be compatible with the witness’ mental organization of the event since witnesses often naturally

and spontaneously encode, organize and recall information in semantic categories (Manning &

Kahana, 2012); and (2) successively recalling information (e.g., ‘paper’, ‘desk’, and ‘pencil’)

related to one specific cluster (e.g., objects) might gradually trigger other memories (e.g.,

‘counter’) which are closely related to this cluster and might otherwise not be activated and

recalled, according to the spreading-activation theory of semantic processing (Collins & Loftus,

1975).

For the above stated reasons, we first tested if Category Clustering Recall could be more

effective than the Change Order mnemonic (see forth article) during participants’ second recall

attempt, and later tested if this technique could also be more effective than a witness-compatible

questioning phase conducted after a free recall attempt (see fifth article). Since witness-

compatible questioning is one of the hardest interview procedures to use in investigative

interviews and can easily have a negative impact on recall if inappropriately conducted (Fisher,

2010), having a simpler and easier to apply technique could be very valuable in some situations

(e.g., when less experienced interviewers are conducting the interviews). Therefore, if a simple

guided recall instruction like Category Clustering Recall could in some situations be as, or more,

effective than witness-compatible questioning or the change order mnemonic, this guided recall

task could be very valuable for investigative professionals.

We found participants who were interviewed with CCR were able to recall a considerably

higher number of correct details without compromising report accuracy in comparison with

participants who used the change order mnemonic during their second recall attempt (see forth

article) and participants who were asked to answer a witness-compatible questioning after a free

report attempt (see fifth article). Thus, Category Clustering Recall might be a very important

technique for investigative professionals, allowing the interviewer to obtaining more correct

information without additional questioning. CCR only requires the interviewer to be able to explain

to the witness a simple instruction, thus requiring less adjustment, effort, interference and

training from the interviewer in comparison with the traditional witness-compatible questioning or

Page 152: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

152

the change order mnemonic. Furthermore, Category Clustering Recall was considerably more

effective than these two interview procedures.

A common goal we established for several studies presented in this thesis was to further

address what psychological variables and memory processes directly influence witnesses’ recall.

Understanding the impact of these variables on witnesses’ reports may well be very important for

researchers and practitioners to develop more effective interview protocols, and for the judicial

system, as we will address below. Among other findings, our results suggest: (1) a higher

perception of interview appropriateness is associated with more detailed reports and more

interest in being an interviewee (see second article); (2) performance on memory tests was not

related to witnesses’ subsequent recall (see second article); (3) witnesses’ frequency judgments

for their error rate was not associated to their real error rate (see second article); and (4)

witnesses who perceived themselves as more motivated during the interview had better recall

accuracy (see third article). From these findings, important implications can be drawn. For

instance, these results suggest the interviewer should always explain to the witness why each

interview procedure is being used because otherwise even the most theory-driven procedure

could be harmful for the success of the investigation if perceived as inappropriate by the witness.

Furthermore, judges, attorneys, police officers, or other professionals should not consider a

witness’s report to be ‘poor’ because she or he had low results on memory capacity tests or self-

reported, through the use of frequency judgments, to have probably committed many mistakes

during recall. Lastly, accounting for witnesses’ motivation is also a key point professionals should

consider.

Overall, our research may have major implications for researchers and professionals

working within the investigative interviewing field. Therefore, divulging these findings was

established as one of our main priorities. Concurrently, an effort to present our findings to

Portuguese professionals and researchers, promote research and debate about witness

interviewing in Portugal, as well as promote collaborations between professionals (e.g.,

researchers and police officers) was also a concern which was considered throughout this project

(Paulo, Albuquerque, & Bull, 2016). As a result, Portuguese researchers and professionals have

now available a Portuguese version of the Cognitive Interview which has been empirically tested.

Furthermore, professionals and researchers worldwide have now available new tools to enhance

witnesses’ reports and evaluate report accuracy.

As a major contribution of our research project to investigative professionals and

researchers, we would like to further highlight the development and testing of the Category

Page 153: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

153

Clustering Recall strategy which elicited a very impressive amount of accurate information and

might be crucial in investigative interviews. Furthermore, this guided recall strategy is easier to

use in comparison with several complex interview techniques such as witness-compatible

questioning or the change order mnemonic, thus being advantageous in several situations. We

would also like to highlight how useful spontaneous verbal expressions of certainty and

uncertainty may be as memory strength indices when analyzing witnesses’ reports. Even though

these measures should not be taken as indisputable accuracy markers, these provide the

interviewer with a new simple and time-saving method to differentiate information which is more

likely to be correct from information which is less likely to be correct. Furthermore, this method

for evaluating report accuracy does not have any negative impact on recall since it is performed

spontaneously and/or after recall is provided by crime witnesses.

In sum, the studies presented in this thesis, as well as other work conducted throughout

this project, have major contributions for real-life investigations and research regarding witness

interviewing not only in Portugal, but also worldwide. Our findings provide researchers with

further insight on the psychological variables and memory processes involved in witness

interviewing, and provide professionals with new interview techniques for enhancing crime

witnesses’ recall and evaluating report accuracy, which are two key points to consider during

investigative interviews (Fisher, 2010).

References

Allwood, C., Ask, K., & Granhag, P. (2005). The cognitive interview: Effects on the realism in

witnesses’ confidence in their free recall. Psychology, Crime & Law, 11, 183–198.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10683160512331329943

Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing.

Psychological Review, 82, 407-428. doi:10.1016/B978-1-4832-1446-7.50015-7

Davis, M. R., McMahon, M., & Greenwood, K. M. (2005). The efficacy of mnemonic components

of the cognitive interview: Towards a shortened variant for time-critical investigations.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 75-93. doi:10.1002/acp.1048

Evans, J. R., & Fisher, R. P. (2010). Eyewitness memory: Balancing the accuracy, precision and

quantity of information through metacognitive monitoring and control. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 25, 501–508. doi: 10.1002/acp.1722

Page 154: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

154

Fisher, R. P. (2010). Interviewing cooperative witnesses. Legal and Criminological Psychology,

15, 25-38. doi:10.1348/135532509X441891

Manning, J. R., & Kahana, M. J. (2012). Interpreting semantic clustering effects in free recall.

Memory, 20, 511-517. doi:10.1080/09658211.2012.683010

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2013). The enhanced cognitive interview: Towards a

better use and understanding of this procedure. International Journal of Police Science &

Management, 15, 190-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1350/ijps.2013.15.3.311

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B, & Bull, R. (2015). Entrevista de crianças e adolescentes em

contexto policial e forense: Uma perspectiva do desenvolvimento [Investigative

interviewing of children and adolescents: A developmental perspective]. Psicologia:

Reflexão e Crítica, 28, 623-631. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1678-7153.201528321

Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2016). É possível obter um bom testemunho? A

Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada: Investigação com uma amostra Portuguesa [Is it

possible to obtain a good report? The enhanced cognitive interview: Research with a

portuguese population]. In L. Nunes, A. Sani, & S. Caridade (Eds.), Crime Justiça e

Sociedade: Visões Interdisciplinares. Porto: Edições CRIAP.

Paulo, R. M., Luna, K., & Albuquerque, P. B. (2014). La entrevista cognitiva mejorada: Cómo

interrogar a un testigo de manera eficaz [The Cognitive Interview: How to effectively

interview a witness]. Ciencia Cognitiva, 8, 12-14

Stein, L. M., & Memon, A. (2006). Testing the efficacy of the cognitive interview in a

developing country. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 597–605. doi:10.1002/acp.1211

Page 155: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

155

Appendix A

Page 156: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

156

Page 157: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

157

Appendix A: Full description of the two interview protocols (CI vs. RCI)

according to interview phase.

During Phase 1 (preliminary phase) procedures such as greeting, establishing rapport,

explaining the instructions and interview purpose to the witness, transferring control of the

interview to the witness and asking not to guess were followed for both interview protocols.

During Phase 2 (initial free report) all participants were asked to recall what they could

remember about the video in any order and pace they desired. They were reminded to report

everything they could remember with as much detail as possible and mental reinstatement of

context was applied.

During Phase 3, the CI group experienced witness-compatible questioning with mainly

open-ended questions (M = 8.73, SD = 1.98) and a lower number of close-ended questions (M =

1.91, SD = .19). Similar questions were asked to all participants with the purpose of obtaining as

much new information as possible (e.g., ‘Please describe everything you can remember about

the crime scene’; ‘Please describe everything you can remember about the weapon’ — if the

participant previously reported seeing a weapon). However, slight differences across participants

in the number and type of questions used (see average number of open-ended and close-ended

questions above) was necessary to conduct appropriate witness-compatible questioning which

requires being adapted to participants’ previous recall. All questions were compatible with the

witness’ previous recall. Mental imagery instructions were also used — for example:

you told me you looked at the weapon when the robber entered the bank. Can you

please close your eyes …, think about everything you remember concerning the

weapon …, its color …, its shape …, and when you have a full picture of the

weapon in your mind describe everything you can remember about it.

Participants in the RCI group were asked instead to report everything they could

remember about the video recording once again. They were encouraged to give this second

report and this procedure’s importance was explained:

(…) I know it may seem redundant, but it is highly important you report one more

time what happened on the video (…) report not only new information you might

recall, but also all information you’ve already reported (…) Please focus as hard as

Page 158: Rui Miguel de Medeiros Paulo - repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt · O uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas, por vezes ainda frequente em contexto policial e forense, exacerba esta

158

you can and tell me one more time what happened on the video. Even thought this

task might seem redundant, it is highly important.

For this recall attempt, RCI participants were asked to use Category Clustering Recall

(CCR). This recall strategy consisted on asking participants to recall one more time everything

they could remember about the crime episode but this time organize their recall/speech into

seven information categories (person details; person location details; object details, object

location details; action details, conversation details; sound details). Paulo et al. (2016) suggested

using these information categories because (i) these are frequently important topics for a police

investigation, therefore commonly used in investigative interviews’ coding process; (ii) these are

very broad categories which are present in almost every crime, therefore minimizing the

interviewer’s impact on the participant’s report and replacing the use of specific questions; (iii)

‘conversation’ and ‘sound’ categories focus on a different sensorial mode (hearing instead of

vision) which can be important for eliciting new information (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992).

Participants in the RCI group were not given any additional instructions or asked any additional

questions during this interview phase.

During Phase 4 (second recall) participants in the CI group were asked to report

everything they could remember about the video once again, but this time organize their

recall/speech into temporal clusters (in reverse order). Participants were again encouraged to

give this report and this procedure’s importance was explained (as described above for the RCI

group during phase 3). Participants in the RCI group were instead not asked to recall one more

time what they could remember about the video. They were simply asked to focus one last time

on the video recording and try to remember additional details they had not previously recalled:

(‘Please focus for a few minutes on the video recording you have viewed two days ago and tell

me if you can remember anything else’).

During Phase 5 (third recall) participants in the CI condition were asked to adopt a

different internal perspective in order to try to remember new details: ‘(…) please focus on the

event as if it was a normal event at the bank instead of a robbery as you probably assumed

before seeing the robber entering the bank (…) Can you remember anything else?’. This phase

was not conducted for the RCI group.

On the last phase (closure), for both groups appreciation for participants’ hard work and

cooperation was acknowledged and neutral topics were again discussed.