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Facilitating children's eyewitness recall with the revised cognitive interview

M R McCauley1, R P Fisher

  • 1Department of Psychology, Florida International University, North Miami 33181, USA.

The Journal of Applied Psychology
|August 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary

The revised cognitive interview (CI) significantly improves children's recall of accurate information compared to standard interviews. Repeated CI interviews yield more unique accurate facts without compromising overall accuracy.

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Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Forensic Psychology
  • Memory Research

Background:

  • Accurate testimony from child witnesses is crucial in legal settings.
  • Standard interview techniques may not optimize information retrieval from children.
  • The cognitive interview (CI) is a memory-enhancement technique with potential for child witnesses.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the effectiveness of a revised cognitive interview (CI) against a standard interview for recalling information from child witnesses.
  • To assess the impact of repeated interviews on information recall using both methods.
  • To evaluate the accuracy and completeness of information elicited by the revised CI.

Main Methods:

  • Eighty-six 2nd-grade children participated in a "Simon says" game with an unfamiliar adult.

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  • Children were interviewed twice: once within 3 hours and again 2 weeks later.
  • Interviews used either a standard format or a revised cognitive interview (CI).

    • Main Results:

    • Children interviewed with the revised CI recalled significantly more correct information than those interviewed using the standard method, on both initial and delayed interviews.
    • Children receiving two revised CI interviews recalled more unique accurate facts (M=25.44) than those receiving two standard interviews (M=16.75).
    • While the revised CI elicited more inaccurate facts, the overall accuracy rate remained equivalent between the two interview methods.

    Conclusions:

    • The revised cognitive interview (CI) is a more effective method for eliciting accurate information from child witnesses compared to standard interviews.
    • Repeated application of the revised CI enhances the quantity of unique accurate details recalled by children.
    • Findings support the use of the revised CI in forensic contexts involving child victims and witnesses to improve testimonial evidence quality.