The cognitive interview: comparing face-to-face and video-mediated interviews

Purpose: Eyewitness testimony can determine the outcome of criminal investigations. The cognitive interview (CI) has been widely used to collect informative and accurate accounts. However, face-to-face interviews have been restricted during the current pandemic, raising the need for using video-conferencing. The authors tested whether virtual interviews could produce elaborate accounts from eyewitnesses and if the CI superiority effect against a structured interview (SI) could be fully replicated online. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used a 2 × 2 factorial design with interview condition (CI vs SI) and environment (face-to-face vs virtual) manipulated between-subjects. A total of 88 participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Participants watched a mock robbery and were interviewed 48 h later using either the SI or the CI. Both interviews contained the same structure and interview phases but only the CI included its key cognitive mnemonics/ instructions. Both sessions were either face-to-face or online. Findings: Participants interviewed with the CI recalled more information than participants interviewed with the SI, regardless of the interview environment. Both environments produced a comparable amount of recall. Report accuracy was high for all groups. Practical implications: This can be crucial to inform police practices and research in this field by suggesting investigative interviews can be conducted virtually in situations such as the current pandemic or when time and resources do not allow for face-to-face interviewing. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study showing that the CI superiority effect can be replicated online and that a fully remote CI can produce elaborate accounts

The Effectiveness of Different Eyewitness Interview Tools in Memory Consolidation for Long-term Access

This study examines the effectiveness of different interviewing tools in consolidating eyewitness memory. This applied research used the post-test with control group design. The population includes all undergraduate students of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science of the University of Tehran, studying in the academic year 2019-20. Eighty participants (21 males and 59 females) were selected using cluster sampling and divided into four groups of equal size. First, participants watched a video recording showing a bank robbery. In the second session, they were interviewed using an eyewitness interview tool (no interview session for the control group). In the last session, all participants were examined using a free recall task. Data were analyzed using MANOVA in SPSS-23 software. The results indicated no significant differences between the CI and the self-administered interview groups (SAI) in either the interview session or the delayed recall task. Participants in the structured interview group recalled significantly fewer details in the first interview session than did the CI and SAI groups. However, this significant difference was only found between the CI and SI groups in the delayed recall session. Thus, the results suggest that early recall can help consolidate witnesses' memory and help them recall more information in later recall attempts

Testing a modified cognitive interview with category clustering recall in Iran

The cognitive interview (CI) has been an effective method for interviewing eyewitnesses often leading to changes in legislation and practice in many countries. This study was the first to employ the CI in Iran and test whether category clustering recall (CCR) was superior to a free recall when incorporated within an investigative interview. A between‐subjects design assigned 66 participants to one of three interview conditions after they watched a mock robbery. The participants were interviewed 48 hr later using either a structured interview (SI), the CI, or a modified cognitive interview (MCI) that replaced free recall with CCR at the first retrieval attempt. Analysis of variance suggests CCR was more effective than free recall and the CI group recalled more information than the SI group, replicating the CI superiority effect. This has implications for law enforcement in Iran and worldwide by suggesting these techniques can be used to enhance recall

Body size perception in stroke patients with paresis

Recent studies have suggested that people’s intent and ability to act also can influence their perception of their bodies’ peripersonal space. Vice versa one could assume that the inability to reach toward and grasp an object might have an impact on the subject’s perception of reaching distance. Here we tested this prediction by investigating body size and action capability perception of neurological patients suffering from arm paresis after stroke, comparing 32 right-brain-damaged patients (13 with left-sided arm paresis without additional spatial neglect, 10 with left-sided arm paresis and additional spatial neglect, 9 patients had neither arm paresis nor neglect) and 27 healthy controls. Nineteen of the group of right hemisphere stroke patients could be re-examined about five months after initial injury. Arm length was estimated in three different methodological approaches: explicit visual, explicit tactile/proprioceptive, and implicit reaching. Results fulfilled the working hypothesis. Patients with an arm paresis indeed perceived their bodies differently. We found a transient overestimation of the length of the contralesional, paretic arm after stroke. Body size and action capability perception for the extremities thus indeed seem to be tightly linked in humans. Copyright: © 2021 Shahvaroughi-Farahani et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited