The cognitive interview: Is its benefit affected by the level of witness emotion?

Abstract

This research investigated whether a witness's emotion could influence the accuracy of statements obtained by the use of a cognitive interview. A total of 70 first-year university students viewed a video depicting a road accident. Electrodes were attached to their arms in order to send fictitious electric shocks during the video (high-arousal condition) or to measure physiological signs (low-arousal condition). One week later, they were interviewed using either a cognitive interview (CI) or a structured interview (SI). It was hypothesised that the beneficial effect of the cognitive interview would be amplified by a high level of arousal, particularly concerning central aspects of the video. Results indicated that a CI elicited more correct central and peripheral details recalled, whatever the level of arousal inducted during the encoding of the to-be remembered event. Furthermore, high-arousal participants produced more accurate testimonies concerning peripheral details than participants exposed to a low level of arousal. No interaction between interview and emotion was found. The theoretical and practical implications for interviewing witnesses are described.

The Cognitive Interview for Use with Adults: An Empirical Test of an Alternative Mnemonic and of a Partial Protocol

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Emotional Intelligence in Police Interviews—Approach, Training and the Usefulness of the Concept

“…The cognitive interview has been found to be effective for interviewing witnesses experiencing emotional arousal (Ginet & Verkampt, 2007). Furthermore, Fisher and…”

“…intrusive memories) to be enhanced in clinical populations whereas voluntary memory is likely to be incomplete, fragmented, and disorganized (Brewin, 2007). However, in the investigative interview context, it is difficult to conclude exactly how trauma or emotional arousal will influence the memory process, for instance, to what degree the interviewee will recall central or peripheral details from the event (Christianson, 1992;Ginet & Verkampt, 2007). Post-traumatic reactions often include experiences of anxiety that in turn may influence cognitive functioning, such as attention and working memory (Derakshan & Eysenck, 2009).…”

Impact of Emotional Valence and Different Source Problem Conditions on the Resolution of Analogical Target Problems

“…The relationship between emotions and cognition is intensively investigated in different areas of science and different perspectives, both throughout Slovakia (Jurásová, Špajdel, 2011(Jurásová, Špajdel, , 2012Kováč, 2010;Čavojová, 2010;Pilárik, Matušíková, 2010;Démuth, 2003), and abroad. It was proved that emotions influence the decision making process (Halama, 2011;Baumeister, DeWall, Zhang, 2007;Damasio, 1994), problem solving (Mikulincer, Sheffi, 2000;Blanchard-Fields, Jahnke, Camp, 1995), memory (Brierley et al, 2007;Ginet, Verkampt, 2007) and attention (Fredrickson, Branigan, 2005). While investigating the emotion-related surface similarities in analogical problem solving, Hesse, Kauer, Spies (1997) found that those target-relevant source problems are preferred that are emotionally congruent with target problems.…”

“…It was proved that emotions influence the decision making process (Halama, 2011;Baumeister, DeWall, Zhang, 2007;Damasio, 1994), problem solving (Mikulincer, Sheffi, 2000;Blanchard-Fields, Jahnke, Camp, 1995), memory (Brierley et al, 2007;Ginet, Verkampt, 2007) and attention (Fredrickson, Branigan, 2005). While investigating the emotion-related surface similarities in analogical problem solving, Hesse, Kauer, Spies (1997) found that those target-relevant source problems are preferred that are emotionally congruent with target problems. Negative emotions in general lead to more thorough information processing and reduce the range of reasoning because they signalize an unpleasant or dangerous situation.…”