the enhanced cognitive interview · web viewappropriate non-verbal behaviour during the interview...

The Enhanced Cognitive Interview

A step-by-step guide

Dr Becky MilneNote: (I) This booklet is based on:

(i) Fisher, R. P., and Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-enhancing

techniques for investigative interviewing. Springfield, III: Charles C. Thomas.

(ii) Kohnken, G. (1993). The cognitive interview: A step-by-step introduction.

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(iii) Milne, R., and Bull, R. (1999). Investigative interviewing: Psychology and practice. Chichester: Wiley.(II) This material was jointly developed by Ray Bull, Angela Holley, Gunter Kohnken, Amina Memon, Becky Milne, and Linsey Wark.

Structure of the Enhanced Cognitive Interview

Phase 1: Greet and personalise the interview and Establish rapport

Phase 2: Explain the aims of the interview Focused retrieval and Concentrate

hard Report everything Transfer control

Phase 3: Initiate a free report Context reinstatement Open-ended question Pauses and no interruptions

Phase 4: Questioning Report everything Interviewee-compatible questioning

OK to say 'don't know' OK to say 'don't understand' Activate and probe an image Open and appropriate closed

questions

Phase 5: Varied and extensive retrieval Change the temporal order Change perspectives

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Focus on all senses

Phase 6: Investigatively important questionsPhase 7: SummaryPhase 8: ClosurePhase 9: Evaluation

Phase 1

Greet and personalise the interview

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Establish rapport

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Greeting and personalising the interview

The opening phase of an interview will often determine how well the interview proceeds. Before you begin the interview it is therefore necessary to establish trust and lay the foundations for successful communication. Remember that you are often a stranger and unfamiliar to the interviewee and that he or she may feel uncomfortable. In order to reduce tension and insecurity it is essential that you introduce yourself by name and greet the interviewee with his or her name (i.e. personalise the interview). Greeting should occur because it is at the heart of effective rapport development, the next step of the interview process.

Paying attention to the appropriate form of address at the initial greeting can help to send the message of equality both now and throughout the interview. This is essential as it reduces the perceived authority differential between interviewer and interviewee so that interviewees are less likely to comply to leading questions (see later for a description of a leading question and examples). As there is no such thing as a perfect interview it is essential to start building resistance against inappropriate questions, which may unwittingly be used by an interviewer later in the interview.

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The interviewer needs to treat the interviewee as an individual with an unique set of needs as opposed to being ‘just another interviewee’ of the day. This is because to obtain maximum retrieval is a difficult task requiring deep concentration. An interviewee therefore needs to feel like an integral part of the investigation in order to be fully motivated to work hard.

The interviewer needs to present him/herself as an identifiable person too. This is because humans dislike the unknown and will therefore prior to the interview draw upon past experiences and knowledge about police personnel and police interviews to help ascertain what to expect. This information may be attained from media representation of the police and as a result may not be particularly favourable. Thus, it is the job of the interviewer at the outset, and throughout, to lessen, any ‘stereotypes’ the interviewee may have. This can start through personalising the interview. Interviewers who are In uniform may have to spend more time on this and the next phase of the interview to overcome any barriers made by their clothing. First impressions count and the clothing an interviewer wears is a matter that can be considered before an interview. For example, interviewers in too formal attire may have more difficulty in personalising the interview and developing rapport when interviewing younger individuals.

Example: "You must be..... My name is...."

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Establish rapport with the interviewee

The word rapport comes from the Latin portare meaning 'to carry'. Thus an interview in which rapport has been appropriately developed is natural and carries the participants along with it in a relaxed manner. Rapport is essential and a good rapport between interviewer and interviewee improve both the quantity and quality of information gained in the interview. Rapport therefore has a direct impact on the whole interview process itself. Rapport is so important that it could be said that if there is no rapport there is no point in continuing the interview. Rapport is especially important where the type of information required is highly personal. There are a number of reason why rapport is so important and these will now be examined.

The interviewee's anxiety needs to be reduced for maximum remembering. This is because, people only have a limited amount of processing power available and the aim is to have full power devoted to retrieving as much information as possible. Anxiety may detract from this. Thus, before you begin to ask the interviewee about the event it is very important to create a relaxing atmosphere and to make the interviewee feel secure and confident both with the interviewer and with the interview situation. A good way to achieve this is to ask some neutral questions not related to the 'incident' which can be answered positively and therefore create a positive mood.

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Building rapport requires that you personally interact meaningfully with the interviewee, contributing as an interested party, not simply asking a series of census-like questions, for example, "Have you any children?" etc.. Such standardised phrases should be avoided as their use will convey to the interviewee that he or she is 'just another interviewee', which depersonalises the interview.

It is often a good idea to talk about yourself too as this openness can serve as a model to demonstrate what is required of the interviewee. This can also help to personalise the interview by making the interviewer more identifiable. For example, if the interviewee talks about a pet and you have a pet yourself you could mention this and describe your own experiences.

Ask open-ended questions. It is good preparation for the interview to encourage the interviewee to speak without interruptions when he or she is describing a familiar event, e.g. a recent holiday. Follow-up comments such as " I have not been there myself, what is it like?", have a dual role of helping to increase rapport and also priming the interviewee to give detailed, elaborated responses. Thus, rapport is also a training phase of the interview, training the interviewee what you expect of them later (i.e. that detailed responses are required).

Interviewees have different levels of language, and skilful interviewers tailor their own communication level to that of the interviewee using the same words as they do. It is in this rapport phase of the interview that the interviewer can start to

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assess the interviewee’s communication abilities (to build on Information gathered In planning and preparation) and this will allow them to develop an interactive model of interviewing determined and defined by the interviewee. This process is easier to do when examining interviewees detailed responses to open-ended questions. It is often useful to count how many words on average an interviewee uses per sentence, and use this figure as a guide to the length of sentences/questions the interviewer should use.

A guiding principle for developing rapport is to communicate empathy. Here the interviewer needs to demonstrate the understanding of the situation from the interviewee's perspective. At the start of the interview the interviewer should also allow the interviewee to vent her/his concerns and emotions about the incident(s) in question. These in turn can be used to explain the interviewer's investigative needs. This can help to initiate the next phase of describing the aims of the interview.

If the interviewee is nervous it will be important to continue to build rapport until he or she is fairly relaxed.

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Phase 2

Explain the aims of the interview

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Explain the purpose of the interview

It is important to explain to the interviewee what is to be expected from him or her, as for most interviewees an investigative interview is an alien situation. People typically fear the unexpected, and by describing the interview process this fear can be reduced.

There are a number of instructions, which need to be given at this point in the interview:

Interview factorsFocused retrieval and concentrationReport everythingTransfer of control of the interview

Each of these will now be examined in turn.

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Interview factors

There are some details concerning the interview itself, which need to be explained to the interviewee. The reason for the interview needs to be given which in turn will make its focus clearer. The interviewer, however, needs to be careful not to comment on the nature of the offence otherwise this can be seen as leading the interviewee.

Questions such as; "Do you know why you are here today?" have been found to help at this stage of the interview.

The interviewer needs to give an explanation of the outline of the interview. The outline will take the form of the interviewer asking the interviewee to give an account of what they remember and following this with a few questions in order to clarify what the interviewee has said. This will be followed by summary and closure. Note that you may be taking a few brief notes at this stage. Check if the interviewee has any concerns regarding the interview process itself and address them.

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Focused retrieval

Memory recall at the most detailed level requires focused attention and intense concentration. Therefore interviewers should attempt to promote focused concentration, as interviewees may not do this unless encouraged to do so and unless the interview environment is appropriate (i.e. no distractions). If there are too many distractions then the interviewee will find it very difficult to retrieve from the detailed level of memory. You should indicate that the task is not easy, but will require considerable concentration.

You could say,

"Try as hard as you can, really think about....because this can be quite difficult."

Interviewees also need to feel that they have an unlimited time for recall, so that they can effectively search memory and provide elaborate, detailed responses. If there is a restricted time, interviewees may shortened their responses accordingly, and shorter responses are usually less detailed.

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Report Everything

You should not assume that the interviewee will volunteer a great amount of relevant information unless told to do so. Rather you should explicitly state your need for detail. The report everything instruction therefore encourages interviewees to report everything they remember without any editing, even if the interviewees think the details are not important/trivial or cannot remember completely a particular aspect of the incident.

For example,

"You were witness to the incident this morning, tell me everything you can, even the things you think are not

important, and even if you cannot remember something completely or can only remember it partially. Everything which comes to mind tell me in your own time and pace".

There are a number of reasons for the effectiveness of this technique. Many interviewees may believe that the police already knows a lot about the event in question. As a result interviewees may not mention things they think are unimportant or which seem obvious, as interviewees do not want to be seen to be wasting police time. Some witnesses may (erroneously) believe that they know what types of information are of investigative value and therefore only report this type of

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information. In some cases this may result in interviewees mistakenly withholding important information. Thus, the instruction to report everything is likely to result in the reporting of information which otherwise may be held back by the interviewee. Interviewees may also withhold information if they cannot remember it completely. However, the recall of partial information may help the interviewer gain a more complete picture of the incident. (For example, if a witness recalls one character of a number plate and other witnesses each recall one other character).

An event is represented in memory at several different levels of precision, ranging from the very general to the very detailed. Which level the interviewee selects for reporting from depends, among other factors, on his/her past experiences with interviews, assumed communication rules and assumptions about the interviewer's knowledge of the incident. Unless asked to do so, interviewees tend to report from the general level. Telling the interviewee to report everything should get the interviewee to report from the more detailed level of the event representation. This should result in more correct details being reported.

In addition many people believe that their confidence is a reliable indicator of the accuracy of their recalled information and as a consequence report only that which they are confident about. Their recall may be edited if interviewees feel uncertain about certain pieces of information. However, research examining the within-person confidence-accuracy relationship suggests that there is by no means always a positive

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relationship. Thus, it is necessary to encourage interviewees to ignore the confidence or assumed importance that they give to specific pieces of information and to report everything even if they do not feel sure of this. (However, this encouragement must be tempered by clear instruction not to make anything up).

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Transfer of control

The interviewee will expect the interviewer, usually an authority figure, to control the interview. In addition, police interviews presented in the media tend to be interviewer led and dominated by a stream of questions. Therefore this may be what the interviewee is expecting, an active interviewer asking a series of questions to a more or less passive interviewee whose only task is to answer these questions and wait for the next one.

This is not the case for the cognitive interviewer. Here the role of the interviewer is that of a facilitator. He or she facilitates retrieval and helps the interviewee to recall information from memory, as and when they require it, in order to gain as much information from memory as possible. Remember that it is the interviewee who has witnessed the event and therefore, has all the information. Consequently, the main person in this exercise is the interviewee, not the interviewer.

Helping the interviewee to recall this information from memory requires the interviewer to pass over control of the interview to him or her. Thus, at the start of the interview the interviewee needs explicitly to be informed of this. It is the interviewee who should do most of the mental work and most of the talking throughout the course of the interview, i.e. the witness should control the flow of the information.

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Another reason why this instruction is so important is because detail is not often required in everyday communication. For example, when asking a colleague who has just returned from holiday "Did you have a good time?" only limited detail from them is actually sought. The reason for asking this question is generally out of being polite, common courtesy. This is because we learn from a young age what is termed the ‘Maxim of Quantity’, which states that detail in general communication is not required and may even be seen to be rude. However, in an investigative interview, the interviewee needs to give extensive detail and should do most of the talking. Unless directly told this the interviewee will not give such detail automatically as they will have years of experience of communicating which has dictated that to give detail is not necessary and to dominate the conversation by doing so is rude.

For example, the interviewer could say:

"I wasn't at the bank so I do not know what happened. You are the one with all the information, so tell me everything that you can remember".

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Phase 3

Initiating a free report

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The mental reinstatement of context

This instruction emanates from the research demonstrating that context can have a powerful effect on memory. It is sometimes easier to recall information if you are in the same place or context as that in which the encoding of the information took place. This helps us to explain why we are overcome with a surge of memories about our past life when we visit a place we once were (e.g. visiting a school you used to attend). The context in which an event was encoded is itself thought by some to be one of the most powerful retrieval aids. ‘Crimewatch’ reconstructions are attempting to reinstate the physical context of the event that took place in order to jog people's memories of the event itself.

Research has demonstrated the effects physical context can have on memory. Participants learnt a list of words either on land or 20 feet under water. Later the participants had to recall the previously learned list of words either on land or under water, thus participants were attempting to recall the words in the same context where they learnt the list or in a different context. It was found that those who learned the words on land recalled more of the words when they were also on land and those who learned the list of words under water recalled more of the words under water. Recall was approximately 50% higher when the learning and recalling contexts were the same.

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Context, however, is not always external to the rememberer, our internal state can also act as a contextual cue. For example, a person who is feeling in a positive mood when experiencing an event may be better placed to remember the event in that state (i.e. a positive mood). Recollection of an experience is likely to be most successful when a retrieval cue reinstates a person's subjective state at the time of an event, including thoughts, fantasies and feelings.

In a practical sense physically reinstating the context of the event (i.e. taking an interviewee back to the scene of a crime) may not be possible or advisable. There are a number of reasons for this. From an operational perspective if it is a recent crime, the Scenes of Crime Officers may still be present and taking someone back to the scene could contaminate the crime scene itself. Also, the witness/victim may become too traumatised and anxiety may interfere with the process of remembering, as noted earlier. Further, the crime scene may have actually changed. For example, the weather may be different, persons and objects that were at the crime scene are unlikely to have remained the same and so on. Thus, taking someone back may be counter-productive, if the scene is drastically different. In addition, taking someone back to the scene physically is expensive and time consuming, and if the interview is being recorded the logistics of doing this at the scene may be problematic (e.g. if the scene is outside and it is raining).

However, research has shown that the mental reinstatement of the context of the event, both the physical and internal contexts, can be as effective as taking someone back physically and can

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enhance recall. Of course, if mental reinstatement traumatises the interviewee this also may impede recall.

The context reinstatement instruction therefore asks interviewees to reconstruct in their minds the context, both physical (environmental) and personal (for example, how they felt at the time) features of the witnessed event. Any aspect of an environment in which an incident is encoded can, in theory, serve as a contextual cue.

For example, say to the interviewee:

"Put yourself back to the same place where you saw the assault. It is like when you have lost something and you try to picture in your mind where you last had it, it is like that. What I want you to do is create a picture in your mind of the flat. Think of where you were. How were you feeling at the time? What could you hear? What could you smell? Think of all the people who were present. Think about all the objects there. Think of the layout of the flat. Get a really good picture in your mind and then tell me everything you can remember without leaving anything out. All that pops into your mind, tell me".

The instruction regarding context reinstatement can take quite a while to give.

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It is necessary to leave a pause between each of the mini-questions/statements given to the interviewee to allow him/her enough time to picture the event/reinstate the context.

The questions/statements, which must not be leading or suggestive, should be asked in a slow and deliberate manner.

It is also sometimes helpful if interviewees close their eyes if they wish. If they do not want to do this then getting them to focus on a blank wall, or part of the floor or wall which is free from distractions can also be beneficial.

The use of sketch plans may also be helpful here. The interviewee could be asked to draw the layout of the TBR event and describe who was where etc.. This will also help the interviewee reinstate the context and could be a useful tool for the questioning phase of the interview to help focus the interviewee and structure the topic selection. In addition, this Is a useful Investigative tool In ensuring R v Turnbull rules are comprehensively covered.

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Initiate a free report

When the interviewee has successfully recreated the context of the event the interviewer should initiate an uninterrupted free report from the interviewee through the use of an open-ended invitation.

This phase also forms for the interviewer the planning stage of the forthcoming questioning phase of the interview, as the free report allows the interviewer an insight into the interviewee's mental representations of the incident (i.e. the way in which the interviewee holds the information about the event in their memory). Thus, brief note taking is recommended at this stage to identify the main topics/themes. If the interviewer takes too many notes at this stage, this tends to distract the interviewee, hindering the flow of recall. In addition, if the interviewer slows the interviewer down in order to take detailed notes, this again hinders maximum retrieval and important information may be lost.

The invitation could be

"Tell me everything you can, even the little things you think are not important. Remember I was not at the crime scene so just tell me everything in your own time".

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It is essential not to interrupt the interviewee during his or her narration or to ask specific questions.

Active listening strategies can be of help at this phase of the interview. For example, echo probing; when the interviewer reiterates part of what the interviewee said in the interviewee's exact words and by repeating them with inflexion in the form of a question. For example,

Interviewee: He had a gun, a big gun.Interviewer: A big gun?

This helps in two ways. It urges the interviewee to elaborate on this point in a non-biasing way but also demonstrates active listening.

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Good interviewer behaviour

Appropriate non-verbal behaviour during the interview is just as important for a successful interview as the verbal instructions. In an interview non-verbal behaviour (e.g. body position, hand signals etc.) is just as important as verbal behaviour. Here are some guidelines for good interviewer behaviour:

• Sit at an appropriate distance from the interviewee.

Proxemics. This term refers to the distance and the effects of differing distances between individuals (i.e. interviewer and interviewee in an interview situation). Everyone has around them a 'bubble' of space, which extends to an out stretched arms-length around them, though cultural differences in this do occur. It has been found that an invasion of a person’s interpersonal space is emotionally disturbing and may result in gestures indicative of stress. Thus, it is imperative to be aware that an interviewer's own behaviour can affect the behaviour of the interviewee in negative ways.

• Sit in a relaxed manner: turn your body somewhat towards the interviewee (ten-to-two position)

• Avoid hectic movements and hectic speech style

Posture and Orientation: The most prolonged interactions occur when

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both parties are either standing or sitting. When one person is standingand the other sitting the interaction tends to be cursory. The angle ororientation at which people stand or sit in relation to one another canconvey information about attitude, status and affiliation within

aninterview situation. Although, cultural differences do occur, a

side-to-sideposition indicates co-operation, conversation tends to take place

mostcomfortably at a 90 degree angle (or a ten-to-two position), andconfrontation tends to occur in a face-to-face orientation. As a

result,positions in an interview room can affect the interview outcome

evenbefore any verbal interaction has taken place.

Thus if the interviewer sits in a relaxed manner in a non-confrontational orientation; a 'ten to two' position, avoids hectic arm movements and speaks in a soft tone of voice, the interviewer can promote a relaxed atmosphere in the interview.

• Display the very behaviour you expect of the interviewee.

In a two person interaction, which is progressing well each person’s behaviour, will tend over time to mirror that of the other person - the Principle of Synchrony. Interviewers can make use of this to influence the interviewee's behaviour,

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simply by displaying the desired behaviour themselves. Thus, by speaking slowly in a calm, even voice and behaving in a relaxed way the interviewer can guide the interviewee to do so as well. The interviewer should encourage the interviewee to speak slowly, as rapid speech (which is common for anxious interviewees) becomes a problem for note-taking and memory retrieval. 'Mirroring', can also help build and maintain rapport. Intended behaviours can be demonstrated by the interviewer, which should eventually be mirrored by the interviewee. If an interviewer sits and speaks in a relaxed manner, the interviewee is more likely to demonstrate relaxed behaviour as well.

• speak slowly, use short sentences and leave pauses between sentences.

Paralanguage. This is what is left once the words are taken away, such as the loudness, timbre, rate, inflection, rhythm, and enunciation of an utterance. Paralanguage allows the individual to read more than what is said by the words alone (i.e. the way that an utterance is said). The rate at which words are spoken, the emphasis placed on specific words in an utterance, the tone of voice used, the pitch and the volume of the utterance all convey meaning (e.g. emotions and feelings). For example, appropriate use of pitch (soft) can help to create a restful atmosphere in an interview and guggles (e.g. 'mhm') can convey 'active listening'.

• Summarise the interviewees responses

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• Use echo probing

• Use querying when appropriate

Active listening: Some behaviours are rewarded or reinforced and thus the likelihood of their reoccurrence is increased. In an interview, from the rapport phase of the interview through to closure, the interviewer and interviewee will and should 'reinforce' each other for participating and speaking, through a number of non-biasing behaviours (i.e. not reinforcing only certain types of information). We will discuss three active listening strategies here. (See also 'mirroring' above).

(i) Summarising is beneficial for three reasons, it not only demonstrates active listening it also allows the interviewer to check his/her understanding of what has been said and also helps the information to be stored into the interviewer's memory for later use (see more on summarising later).

(ii) Echo probing is when the interviewer reiterates part of what the interviewee said in the interviewee's exact words and by repeating them with inflexion in the form of a question (as mentioned above). For example,

Interviewee - "A man stabbed her repeatedly."Interviewer - "Repeatedly?"

(iii) Querying is similar and occurs when a word or phrase is taken from the interviewee and queried. Language is complex and can result in people sometimes having different meanings

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for the same word. Querying can clear up misunderstandings and also demonstrate active listening.

Active listening requires the interviewer to maintain concentration.

• Use eye contact frequently but do not stare at the interviewee

An appropriate amount of Mutual gaze both implies good rapport and

allows turn taking signals to be employed effectively. Smiling and

intimacy implied by leaning forward towards another are behaviours

which may help when building rapport and maintaining rapport throughout the interview.

• Do not interrupt

• Allow for pauses

• Express attention and interest frequently by nodding, "mhm" etc. but do not give qualitative feedback (e.g. "good", "right").

• Praise the interviewee for his or her effort in general

Pauses and interruptions: The interviewer also needs to give the interviewee time to give an elaborate answer and should use

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pauses so that the witness can conduct a thorough search of memory. Speakers pause during a free narrative account for a variety of reasons. The interviewee may be seeking feedback from the interviewer on the quality of the response. For example, the interviewee may be thinking, "Have I given enough information or do I need to continue?", or "Have I been talking too long?". The interviewee may also pause in order to organise the rest of the narration or when trying to access information. Any interruption during these pauses may preclude further information being produced and information being lost.

Interviewers can promote extensive answers during these pauses by remaining silent or by expressing simple utterances (guggles) conveying their expectation that the witness should carry on (e.g. "mm-hmm"). This non-verbal behavioural feedback should not be qualitative (e.g. saying "right") as this may give the interviewee the impression that this is the type of information required and can be judged by courts as rewarding certain types of utterance. Instead, interviewers should praise the interviewee for his/her efforts in general and between interview phases. Similarly, the interviewer should not display surprise at information as this could be taken as a sign that the information is incorrect. Repeated interruptions soon teach interviewees that they have only a limited time to reply, which often leads to shortened responses to future questions.

• Express friendliness and support

• Express patience

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Finally interviewers should express friendliness, support and patience

regardless of how well an interviewee is doing.

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Phase 4

Questioning

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Before you ask any questions

Before asking the interviewee any questions it may be helpful to outline what is to be expected in this phase of the interview. It is helpful for the interviewer to inform the interviewee that you will now be asking them some questions, based on what they have already told you in the free narrative phase of the interview in order to expand and clarify what they have said. It is also helpful to repeat the report everything instruction, to explain that this is a difficult task which requires a lot of concentration and to point out that it is acceptable to say 'I don't know' to a question.

For example,"I am going to ask you some questions now based on what you have already told me. It is fine to say 'I don't know' to any questions you do not know the answer to. Tell me everything you can remember in response to each question".

Note that in this part of the interview the questions should relate only to what the interviewee has already said in the earlier free report. Interviewees are also told that it is perfectly acceptable to say "I don't understand" to questions asked of them.

There are a number of classes (and sub-classes) of questions, we shall only deal with the most important: open-ended,

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specific-closed, leading, misleading, forced-choice and multiple questions. These we have divided into appropriate and inappropriate questioning strategies.

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Appropriate questions: Open-ended

An open-ended question open-ended question opens up an interviewees response and is the best kind of question from the point of view of evidence and information-gathering (i.e. gaining good quality information). Therefore this type of question should be used predominantly during the interview. Open-ended questions are framed in such a way that the interviewee is able to give an open, unrestricted answer which in turn enables the interviewee to control the flow of the information in the interview. This questioning style also minimises the risk that the interviewer will impose his/her view of what happened on the interviewee. Open questions elicit responses similar to those obtained by free recall, which has been found to be the most accurate form of remembering.

Questions beginning with the phrase "Tell me" or the word "Describe" are useful examples of this type of question. An example of a open-ended question is:

"You were at the scene of the incident this morning. Tell me everything that you remember".

Open-ended questions can also be used to elaborate upon incomplete information provided in free recall.

E.g. "You said that the perpetrator was a man. Please describe him for me?"

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Appropriate questions: Specific-Closed

A specific-closed question is one that closes down an interviewee’s response and thus allows only a relatively narrow range of responses, and the response usually consists of one word or a short phrase. Specific-closed questions are the second best type of question and should be used to obtain information not provided by the witness in the free recall phase of the interview. In addition, specific-closed questions should only be used after an attempt to elicit the information by use of an open-ended question has failed. This is because the use of short-answer questions allows the investigator to control the interview and minimise irrelevant information being provided. However, they may cause interviewees to be passive, decreases their concentration and therefore can result in less recall. Also, specific-closed questions can produce more incorrect responses than open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are therefore preferable because they elicit more elaborate and more accurate responses. They are also associated with longer response latencies that probably indicate that the interviewee is thinking hard. Also, open-ended questions lend themselves to neutral rather than suggestive wording.

In answering the open-ended question given above which requested a description of the perpetrator the interviewee may have omitted hair colour, thus a specific-closed question could be:

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E.g. "What colour was the assailant's hair?".

An interview is a learning experience especially if the interviewee has a limited or no knowledge of the interview situation. As a consequence any interviewer behaviour is likely to have an immediate effect on the interview process (e.g. on an answer given). The interviewee will also learn from this behaviour what is to be expected and will try to adjust his/her behaviour accordingly. Thus, if an interviewer opens an interview by using a succession of specific-closed questions, which do not allow the interviewee to give full answers, the interviewee will expect this to occur throughout the interview. As a result, the interviewee will give short answers, even if the interviewer may subsequently request long responses from the interviewee later in the interview, using open-ended questions. This is one reason why open-ended questions should be used first with specific-closed questions as a last resort option.

Some people define open-ended questions by their opening word. Who, What, Where, When, and Why. Although these 'W' questions can be framed as open-ended questions, they are much more commonly used as specific-closed questions.

Q. "Who said that?" A. "Theresa Green"

Q "What did she say?" A. "She said......"

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Q. "Where were you standing?" A. "Outside the bank"

Q. "When was that?" A. "About 9.30"

An example of a ‘W’ question framed as an open-ended question is "What happened next?". However, its effect does depend on where in the interview this question is asked. If "What happened next?" is used within predominately open-ended questions it should elicit an open-ended response from the interviewee. If it is embedded among a large number of specific-closed questions however, it is unlikely to elicit a lengthy response because the interviewee is not used to giving detail.

A ‘Why' question, although it may produce a response, can create more problems than it solves, particularly if the question seeks an explanation of behaviour. This is because people often do not know, with any degree of accuracy, what their own motivation is, let alone what is the motivation of others. "Why did he do that?" may well be a closed question but it is also a question, which the interviewee cannot possibly answer with 100% accuracy.

In addition, ‘why’ questions also tend to promote the feeling of blame. Victims often partly blame themselves for what happened and so why questions may strengthen this erroneous belief. This will not help the interviewee or the remembering process.

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Wording the questions

The interviewer needs to tailor the language of the individual questions to each witness and avoid using grammatically complex questions such as

"What was the man who was carrying the gun doing when his accomplice was nicking the money?"

and avoid using questions that include double negatives. The key is to keep questions as short and simple as possible, including only one point per question.

If the interviewer is seeking elaboration on what the interviewee mentioned in her/his free report the interviewer should as far as possible try to use the same words as the interviewee used. For example,

"You said the man was strange looking. What did he look like?".

Negative phrasing should also be avoided as this suggests a negative response, which it often receives. For example,

"You didn't see his hair colour, did you?".

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In addition, jargon and technical terminology should not be used as these reduce the interviewee's confidence and alienate the interviewee. Moreover, a witness could just respond in the affirmative, to avoid embarrassment, if s/he does not understand the jargon.Specific-closed questions should not be repeated ‘word-for-word’ because the interviewee may feel that their first answer was incorrect and change their response accordingly. When a question is not answered or the answer is not understood it should be reworded instead of repeated. Also, if the interviewee has been unable to answer a number of questions in succession the interviewer should explicitly change to an easier line of questioning, with a short break in the interim, otherwise the interviewee may lose self-confidence.

If there is concern regarding the interviewee's involvement in the event, this should be left to a further interview. At this time no confrontational questions should be asked.

Similarly inconsistencies in reports should be clarified, in a non-threatening problem-solving manner, at the last possible moment in the interview, but before closure since inconsistency may well reflect errors in recall or misunderstandings rather than being an indication of lying.

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Inappropriate questions

1. Forced-choice questions

This type of question can also be termed the selection question and leaves interviewees only a small number of alternatives from which they must choose and which may, in fact, not include the correct option. For example,

"Do you prefer tea, coffee or hot-chocolate?"

Although one might not have difficulty in answering this question concerning preference, suppose that your true preference (orange squash) is not included. Do you say that this is the case or do you just make a selection and ignore the missing element? The result of asking this type of question is that interviewees, particularly vulnerable interviewees, are likely to guess the answer by selecting one of the options given, even when the correct alternative is not provided. People also could answer in the affirmative to this question and the interviewer must either assume to which part of the question this corresponds (which may be incorrect) or re-phrase the question.

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2. Multiple questions

A multiple question is an utterance that asks about several things at once.

For example,

"Did you see him? Was he standing? Did he have a coat?"

The main problem with this utterance is that people do not know which part of it to answer. Furthermore, this type of questioning is not conducive to maximum recall, as the interviewee has to remember the sub-questions given in the question while also trying to retrieve the information required when answering each sub-question. Also, when an interviewee responds to such a question misunderstandings can occur as the interviewer may wrongly assume that the interviewee is responding to sub-question one, when actually s/he is responding to sub-question two.

Less obvious examples of this type of question include those questions that refer to multiple concepts. For example, "What did they look like?" This question asks the interviewee to describe two or more people, and thus not only may limit the amount of retrieval but also may confuse the interviewer as to whom the interviewee is currently describing and misunderstandings could then occur.

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3. Leading and misleading questions

A leading question is:

..So worded that it is not neutral; i.e. it suggests to the witness, by its form or content, what the answer should be, leads him to the desired answer, or indicates the questioner's point of view.

The distinction between a leading and misleading question concerns the nature of the implied response. The prior leads the interviewee to a correct response whereas the latter leads the interviewee to an incorrect response.

A perpetrator was found to be in possession of a sawn-off shotgun when apprehended at the crime scene. The interviewer knows this but the witness has not mentioned it. If the interviewer asks, "Was the man carrying a sawn-off shotgun?" this is a leading question.

Unknown to the interviewer, a get-away vehicle was a black van. If the interviewer asks, "Was the get-away car a blue Ford Escort?" when the interviewee has not yet mentioned a get-away vehicle this would be a misleading question.

In a real investigative interview the interviewer cannot be 100% sure, which of these two types of questions s/he is asking. Such questioning is a particular problem when an interviewer develops a hypothesis about what took place and subsequently

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tries to prove rather than disprove it through the use of inappropriate questions.

In addition, interviewees who do not provide distorted information in response to such questions are nevertheless likely to become irritated by questions that imply the intended answer, especially answers they know are incorrect.

Leading/misleading questions come in a number of different forms, some being more suggestive than others. The leading/misleading questions thought to be the most suggestive are tag questions. For example, "You did see the gun didn’t you?". It has also been found that questions worded using the compared to a result in greater levels of erroneous responses. This is because the presupposes the existence of an item.

Witnesses can be led into producing erroneous reports of events when words with an unanticipated implied content are used in a question. Since it is sometimes impossible to foretell the consequences of the use of a particular word or phrase, the sensible thing to do is to try and use the most neutral term. It has been found that estimated height was 10 inches more when participants were asked "How tall...?" as compared to "How short..?". Instead use "What was the height of the individual?"

Interviewees may also be more likely to succumb to suggestive questioning when the interviewer is seen as an authority figure.

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Witness compatible questioning

Within the questioning phase of the interview the interviewer should break down the interviewee’s account into manageable topics or episodes and extend upon each area using open-ended and then specific-closed questions as outlined above. Each topic/episode should be systematically probed until the interviewee is unable to provide any more information. Interviewers can also summarise what the interviewee has said, using his/her own words, in relation to each topic or episode (see more on summary later). Try to avoid topic hopping (i.e. rapidly moving from one topic to another and back again), as this is not conducive to maximum retrieval (see below).

Good questioning should avoid the asking of a series of predetermined questions. Instead, the sequence of questions has to be adjusted according to the interviewee's retrieval process. This is what is meant by "witness-compatible questioning".

Each witness will store the information concerning the incident in memory in an unique way. Thus, for maximum retrieval the order of the questioning should resemble the structure of the witness's knowledge of the incident and should not be based on the interviewer's notion or a set protocol. It is the interviewer's task to deduce how the relevant information is stored by the interviewee (via free report) and to organise the order of questions accordingly.

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When a question is posed the interviewee creates the relevant mental image and tries to retrieve the information required, and 'read out' the requested information. For example, if you ask the interviewee to describe the perpetrator he or she brings into consciousness a picture of the perpetrator. If the next question pertains to the same picture ("What clothes did he wear?) the interviewee continues to use the same picture. However, if the next question concerns a different picture ("Can you describe the get-away vehicle please?") the first picture has to be abandoned and a new picture is activated. Each act of drawing up a new picture code into consciousness interrupts the memory search and requires some mental effort. Asking questions which require switching among mental images (i.e. topic hopping) has been found to cause noticeable decrements in recall.

It is important therefore that all questions relating to a particular image are asked before the interviewer asks the interviewee to activate and probe another image. The questions therefore have to be in line with the image that the interviewee is dealing with at that point in time.

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Activating the picture

This technique is similar to the mental reinstatement of context, however it is now used to help the interviewee create a picture in his or her mind's eye concerning more specific details of the event (i.e. a mini-context reinstatement). Thus activating a specific picture begins by recreating the psychological and environmental context. The context here is very specific in that it refers to a particular moment in the incident, for example, when the perpetrator entered the bank.

For example, if the first aspect of the event that the interviewee reported in her or his free report was the perpetrator, she or he can be now asked the following

You mentioned the perpetrator. I want you to try and get a good clear picture of him in your mind's eye.

When did you get the best view of him? Think of what he looked like, his overall appearance. What was he wearing? What could you smell? What could you hear? When you have a good clear picture of him, tell me everything you can about him in as much detail as you can.

This is what is called activating a picture. This takes several seconds and it is imperative that you keep quiet while the interviewee is "developing" the picture. Again it may be helpful

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for the interviewee to close his or her eyes or to focus on a blank wall.

Probing the picture

After the interviewee has activated the mental picture, he or she is now ready to describe its contents. With the interviewee thus primed to provide a detailed description, the next question is crucial in conducting an effective interview. The following guidelines should therefore be followed closely:

• Begin with an open-ended question to enable the interviewee to supply an extensive answer.

• The question should contain an explicit request that the interviewee provide elaborate detail.

• The question must be delivered slowly, deliberately, and softly, so that the interviewee can maintain the picture without being distracted.

• For each image start with open-ended questions and follow-up with closed questions, but only when the open-ended

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questions do not result in the desired information. Avoid using leading questions.

Phase 5

Varied and extensive retrieval

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Extensive retrieval

The more attempts the witness makes to remember a particular episode the more information will be recalled. Witnesses should therefore be encouraged to conduct as many retrieval attempts as possible, because many witnesses may normally terminate their memory search after the first attempt.

However, simply asking the witness to repeat the same search strategy is unlikely to lead to much new information. Thus, in addition to searching extensively, using concentration, the interviewee should be encouraged to use a variety of memory search strategies. One way of doing this is to get the interviewee to use varied retrieval strategies, such as reverse order recall and change perspectives, as described next. However, it is vital at this phase in the interview to allay any fears that this is being done because the interviewee is not believed.

Retrieval may also be varied by probing different senses. Typically interviewers concentrate on what the interviewee saw and as a consequence what a person heard, touched, smelt and tasted are often ignored. Valuable information may therefore go unreported. Sketch drawings can be also used, which not only help in reinstating the context of the event but also aid both the interviewee and interviewer to orientate themselves (i.e. relations between people and objects in the event scene). This is

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especially Important when Identification may be an Investigative Issue.

Recall in a variety of temporal orders

Once interviewees have (using free report) recounted the incident in their own order, the interviewer should encourage the interviewee to recall the event using a variety of different orders; for example, from the end to the beginning of the event (i.e. reverse order recall) and/or working backwards and forwards in time from the most memorable aspect of the event. For example,

We are going to try something, which sometimes helps people remember more. What I am going to ask you to do now is to tell me what happened but this time backwards. It is not as hard as it sounds. OK, What was the very last thing you can remember

happening?......... What happened just before that?........ What happened just before that?..... . (This prompt is repeated until the interviewee has reached the beginning of the incident).

Memory is constructive and when people are asked to remember an event their remembering is influenced by their prior knowledge, expectations and the employment of scripts (e.g. what typically happens in an armed robbery), among numerous other factors. When an event is freely recalled most people report the event mostly in real time (i.e. in the order in

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which it took place). When recalling in this way people use their script knowledge of such events to help them recall this particular event. This results in the recall of information, which is in line with the script. However, script inconsistent information that did occur may not be recalled. The change order instruction invites the interviewee to examine the actual memory record, which in turn can result in the reporting of additional information that is incidental to the script.

Research has shown that witnesses who were instructed to recall a crime in forward order and in reverse order remembered more total correct information than witnesses who recalled twice in forward order. The additional information gained concerned action information (i.e. what people did), which can distinguish the TBR event (what happened on the Friday night the assault happened) from similar events (what typically happens on Friday nights).

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Change perspectives technique

People have a tendency to report events from their own psychological perspective. The CI change perspective instruction asks the interviewee to recall the event from the perspective of another person who was present.

For example,

"OK we are going to try another technique which may help memory, but do not guess at information. Go through the event again in the shoes of..."

Care must be taken with this technique as interviewees "may misinterpret the instructions of adopting a different perspective as an invitation to fabricate an answer" (Fisher and Geiselman, 1992, p.111).

Thus witnesses should be explicitly told not to guess at this stage of the interview.

It is also imperative when using this instruction, to explicitly tell the interviewee that they must only report details about events that they have actually witnessed themselves.

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Memory 'jogs'

There are also additional memory aids that can be used. These memory 'jogs' are used to help the reporting of specific details concerning people (e.g. names, faces, voices, clothing, appearance) and objects (e.g. vehicles, number sequences, weapons).

1. Names

People are often unable to remember names. To assist with this the interviewer could request the interviewee to think about the following;

(i) name frequency (common or unusual name?),

(ii) name length (short or long?; number of syllables?), and

(iii) the beginning letter of the name by conducting an alphabetical search. The 'first-letter' technique has been found to be successful approximately two-thirds of the time it is used.

Similar techniques can help in the remembering of vehicle licence plate characters.

2. Person information

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Witnesses tend not to realise that the interviewer requires detailed descriptions, specifically of the perpetrator, and instead tend to focus on the actions in the incident. As a result person descriptions tend to be short and incomplete. Interviewees also often have difficulty reporting information about people. When a mental image does exist, reporting information from that mental image often involves a translation process from a visual to a verbal medium. This is a difficult task that requires concentration and assistance from the interviewer. This problem is compounded by the fact that most people have a limited vocabulary regarding person information. The following techniques may help.

Physical appearanceDoes the person remind you of someone you know? Why?

Any peculiarities?

ClothingDid the clothing remind you of anyone? Why? What was

the general impression?

Speech characteristics and conversationDid the voice remind you of anyone? Why? Think of your

reactions to the conversation.

It is important to remember when using the above three techniques to always back up the question with WHY. This is because if in response to "Did the voice remind you of anyone?" the answer may be Sean Connery, but the interviewee may not

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necessarily be thinking of a Scottish accent. Thus asking "Why?" is imperative.

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Phase 6

Investigatively Important Questions

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Investigatively Important Questions

At some point In the Interview It may be necessary to Introduce Information that has not already been mentioned by the Interviewee, but Is Important for the Investigation. It Is at this end point of the Interview where leading Information could be given, however the following need to be borne In mind:

(I) All Interviewees may be vulnerable to suggestion;

(Ii) Information gained from leading questions may have little evidential value; and

(Iii) Information gained from leading questions should Immediately be followed by open-ended questions.

Where Identification may be an Issue ADVOKATE needs to be comprehensively covered (R v Turnbull 1976).

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Summary

Interviewers should repeat in summary form the interviewee's account of the event, in the interviewee's own words. This allows the following:

(i) to check the interviewer's own recall for accuracy; and

(ii) function as a further retrieval phase for the interviewee, however, the interviewee should be instructed that it is fine to add 'new' information at this point in the interview,

otherwise they are unlikely to stop an interviewer in full flow of summarising.

If there is a second interviewer present the lead interviewer should check whether they have missed anything.

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Closure

At the end of the interview the interviewer should attempt to leave the interviewee in a positive frame of mind. This is especially the case regarding recall of highly emotive events. In this phase the interviewer should gradually return to the neutral topics discussed in the rapport phase.

Then the interviewer should thank the interviewee for his/her co-operation and efforts. The interviewer should at this point ask the interviewee if s/he has any questions and also should try to prolong the interview's functional life by, for example, providing a contact name and telephone number. It is natural for witnesses to think about the event long after the interview and this may elicit further valuable information. Advice on seeking help and support should be given too. The interviewer should also gather all the relevant interviewee demographic information (e.g. necessary for police records) at this point in the interview, as opposed to at the beginning. This obviates the harmful effects such short answer questions would have on the subsequent interview. Furthermore, the personal nature of such questions can be rapport-inhibiting.

It is important to leave the interviewee with a positive last impression of the interview. This point has important repercussions, one of which is that a well managed interview

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can positively influence police-community relations. Many interviewees will tell friends, family, etc. about the skill of the interviewer and their feelings about the interview process as a whole.

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Evaluation

Evaluation should take two primary forms; (I) evaluation of the information obtained and (ii) evaluation of the interviewer performance.

Evaluation of information obtained: After the interview has concluded the interview team need to make an objective assessment as to the information obtained and evaluate this in light of the whole investigation. Are there any further actions and/or enquires required? What direction should the investigation take?

Evaluation of interviewer performance: The interviewer’s interviewing skill should be evaluated. This can take the form of self-evaluation with the interviewer examining the interview for areas of good performance, and poor performance. This should result in a development plan. The interview could also be assessed by a supervisor, someone who is qualified to examine the interview and give good constructive feedback to the interviewer, highlighting areas for improvement. This could form part of a staff appraisal system.

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