Suggestibility and Witness Interviewing using the Cognitive Interview and NICHD Protocol

Evaluation of a comprehensive interactive training system for investigative interviewers of children.

“…Interview protocols allow interviewers to structure their interviews, formulate questions and guide the elaboration of evidential details. This in turn provides all children with equal opportunities to recall their experiences, whilst immune to any biases or prior beliefs of the interviewers (La Rooy, Brown & Lamb, 2013). An abundance of research has shown that adherence to an interview protocol increases the use of open-ended questions, which are known to elicit longer, more detailed and more accurate accounts than specific questions (Cyr & Lamb, 2009;Dent & Stephenson, 1979;Lamb & Fauchier, 2001;Lamb et al, 2009;Sternberg, Lamb, Orbach, Esplin & Mitchell, 2001).…”

“…Interview protocols usually commence with a brief introduction, in which the time, date and names of individuals present in the interview room are stated. This is a legal formality to allow the child's interview to be used as evidence-in-chief should the case proceed to court (La Rooy et al, 2013). The collection of phrases provided in Figure 1 is just one example of an introduction.…”

“…In investigative interviews, however, such beliefs often lead children to acquiesce to interviewers' suggestive comments and provide inaccurate information (Hughes & Grieve, 1980). Ground rules are designed to minimise error arising from children's misunderstanding of the interview process and maximise the amount of accurate and relevant information provided by the child (La Rooy et al, 2013;Lyon & Saywitz, 1999;Sternberg et al, 1997).…”

The use of ground rules in investigative interviews with children: A synthesis and call for research

“…Among the primary goals of a practice phase are (a) to give the child an opportunity to be the expert about a neutral event that is unfamiliar to the interviewer and (b) to practice responding to open-ended questions with sufficient detail. It has been suggested that inclusion of this phase can model interviewer naiveté for children while discussing a neutral topic (e.g., La Rooy, Brown, & Lamb, 2013). Indeed, because the practice phase trains children to report everything they can remember about an event, even very young children lacking a welldeveloped theory-of-mind may nevertheless learn to adopt the role of the expert through practice.…”

The origin, experimental basis, and application of the standard interview method: An information‐gathering framework

“…A structure or protocol can keep interviewers focused on desirable questions and evidential details and ensure that questions are embedded within a framework that maximises trust and understanding. Adhering to a structure results in more standardised service delivery and reduces the influence of interviewer biases or prior beliefs, especially when it provides key phrases, common question stems, and sequences of questions to use at various stages through the interview (La Rooy, Brown, & Lamb, 2013).…”