Amina Memon & Sarah V. Stevenage (1996) Interviewing Witnesses: What Works and What Doesn't?
. Psycoloquy: 7(06) Witness Memory (1)
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Psycoloquy 7(06): Interviewing Witnesses: What Works and What Doesn't?
INTERVIEWING WITNESSES: WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN'T?
Target Article by Memon and Stevenage on Witness Memory
Amina Memon & Sarah V. Stevenage
Department of Psychology
University of Southampton
Highfield Southampton SO17 1BJ
United Kingdom
am@psy.soton.ac.uk
svs1@psy.soton.ac.uk
Abstract
In a forensic setting a witness is a key contributor.
Much research has recently been directed to helping the witness
achieve as full and accurate a recall as possible. One of the most
promising techniques to emerge is the cognitive interview (CI).
Tests of the cognitive interview with young adults suggest that it
generates consistent and significant gains in the amount of correct
information recalled. However, more recent studies (with adults and
children) suggest that the gains are accompanied by an increase in
errors and confabulations. These findings have important
implications for the cognitive interview as a forensic tool. The
following target article critically examines the evidence and
raises theoretical and methodological issues arising from work on
the CI. In light of the Recovered Memory debate, broader practical
implications of this work are considered.
Keywords
Cognitive interview, errors, eyewitness memory,
facilitated recall, police procedures, questioning, recovered
memories, structured interview.
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