cognitive interview / entretien cognitif
Synonyms: Enhanced Cognitive Interview, cognitive interviewing
Group: Human, Psychology, Thematic grouping Memory and Law
Groupe : Homme, Psychologie, Regroupement thématique Mémoire et justice
Definition: Interview protocol to collect the testimony of cooperative eyewitnesses and victims based on the use of mnemonic aids and social communication techniques.
Définition : Protocole d'entretien pour recueillir la parole de témoins oculaires et de victimes coopératifs reposant sur l’utilisation d’aides mnémotechniques et de techniques de communication sociale.
Broader term: investigative interview
Terme générique : entretien d’enquête
Narrower terms: Cognitive Interview for Person Description, Cognitive Interview for Suspects, Holistic Cognitive Interview
Termes spécifiques : Entretien cognitif adapté à la description des personnes, Entretien cognitif pour suspects, Entretien cognitif holistique
Related terms: demonstration for more detail technique, Geiselman effect, encoding specificity principle, episodic specificity induction, mental context reinstatement, free recall task
Termes associés : technique de démonstration du rappel détaillé, effet Geiselman, principe de la spécificité de l'encodage, induction de spécificité épisodique, restauration mentale du contexte, tâche de rappel libre
Study method of: eyewitness testimony, autobiographical memory, episodic memory
Editorial note: The first version of the Cognitive Interview, published in the mid-1980s, asked the person being interviewed to use four memory aids to improve their free recall of the crime: 1) exhaustive recall of the facts, even those that may seem unimportant; 2) mental reinstatement of the physical and emotional context of the crime; 3) change of order of the facts, consisting of the person trying to remember the facts starting with the end of the event and then going back in time; 4) change of perspective, with the person having to remember the facts using a perspective different from his or her own, for example, by taking that of another witness present at the scene. These aids were chosen on the basis of scientific arguments about the functioning of memory (Tulving and Thomson's principle of specific encoding [1973] and Bower's multiple access to memory traces [1967]). The first version of the Cognitive Interview, published in the mid-1980s, asked the person being interviewed to use four memory aids to improve their free recall of the crime: 1) exhaustive recall of the facts, even those that may seem unimportant; 2) mental reinstatement of the physical and emotional context of the crime; 3) change of order of the facts, consisting of the person trying to remember the facts starting with the end of the event and then going back in time; 4) change of perspective, with the person having to remember the facts using a perspective different from his or her own, for example, by taking that of another witness present at the scene. These aids were chosen on the basis of scientific arguments about the functioning of memory (Tulving and Thomson's principle of specific encoding [1973] and Bower's multiple access to memory traces [1967]). In the 1990s, a new version of the Cognitive Interview added social communication techniques. Several research teams are also testing modified versions of the protocol in order to adapt it to particular populations (e.g. children), to construct shorter versions by removing the least interesting aids (change of order and change of perspective), or by integrating new recall instructions or modifying some of the usual instructions (e.g. replacing the mental reinstatement of context by the drawing of the crime scene)..
Note éditoriale : La première version de l’Entretien Cognitif, publiée au milieu des années 1980, propose à la personne interrogée d’utiliser quatre aides mnésiques pour améliorer son rappel libre du crime : 1) le rappel exhaustif des faits, même de ceux qui peuvent lui paraître sans importance ; 2) la restauration mentale du contexte physique et émotionnel du crime ; 3) le changement d’ordre des faits, consistant pour la personne à tenter de se souvenir des faits en commençant par la fin de l’évènement et à remonter ensuite dans le temps ; 4) le changement de perspective, la personne devant se souvenir des faits en utilisant une perspective différente de la sienne, par exemple, en prenant celle d’un autre témoin présent sur les lieux. Ces aides ont été choisies à partir d’arguments scientifiques sur le fonctionnement de la mémoire (principe de l’encodage spécifique de [Tulving et Thomson, 1973] et accès multiple aux traces mnésiques [Bower, 1967]). Dans les années 1990, une nouvelle version de l’Entretien cognitif ajoute des techniques de communication sociale. Plusieurs équipes de recherche testent également des versions modifiées de la technique afin de l’adapter à des populations particulières (les enfants, par exemple), pour en construire des versions plus courtes en supprimant les aides les moins intéressantes (changement d’ordre et changement de perspective), ou encore en intégrant de nouvelles consignes de rappel ou en modifiant certaines consignes habituelles (par exemple, le remplacement de la restauration mentale du contexte par le dessin de la scène de crime).
Selected bibliography: Aschermann, E., Mantwill, M., & Köhnken, G. (1991). An independent replication of the effectiveness of the cognitive interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 5(6), 489‑495. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2350050604 [Study type: empirical study, replication / Access: closed], Ashkenazi, T., & Fisher, R. P. (2022). Field test of the cognitive interview to enhance eyewitness and victim memory, in intelligence investigations of terrorist attacks. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 11(2), 200–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0101871 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Brunel, M., & Py, J. (2013). Questioning the acceptability of the Cognitive Interview to improve its use. L’Année Psychologique, 113(3), 427‑458. https://doi.org/10.4074/S0003503313003059 [Study type: literature review / Access: open], Brunel, M., Launay, C., Hermant, M., & Py, J. (2022). Perception of acceptability and usability of a modified cognitive interview in the evaluation of police training in France. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 37(1), 38–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-020-09416-9 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Fisher, R. P., & Ashkenazi, T. (2023). The Cognitive Interview in laboratory and field tests of crime and terrorism. In G. E. Oxburgh, T. Myklebust, M. Fallon, & M. Hartwig (Eds.), Interviewing and interrogation: A review of research and practice since World War II (pp. 341–366). Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher. [Study type: literature review / Access: open], Geiselman, R. E., Fisher, R. P., Firstenberg, I., Hutton, L. A., Sullivan, S. J., Avetissan, I. V., & Prosk, A. L. (1984). Enhancement of eyewitness memory : An empirical evaluation of the cognitive interview. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 12(1), 74‑80. [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Ginet, M. (2003). Les clés de l’entretien avec le témoin ou la victime. La Documentation Française. [Study type: literature review / Access: closed], Ginet, M., Brunel, M., Verkampt, F., Désert, M., Colomb, C., & Jund, R. (2014). L’Entretien Cognitif reste-t-il efficace pour aider de très jeunes enfants issus de milieux défavorisés à témoigner d’un événement visuel ? L'Année Psychologique, 114(2), 289–313. https://doi.org/10.3917/anpsy.142.0289 [Study type: empirical study / Access: open], Ginet, M., Dodier, O., Bardin, B., Désert, M., Greffeuille, C., & Verkampt, F. (2018). Perspective effects on recall in a testimony paradigm. Journal of General Psychology, 145(4), 313–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221309.2018.1494126 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Hurtubise, M.-A., & Viau-Quesnel, C. (2020). Améliorer le rappel des individus âgés de 60 ans et plus à l’aide de l’entretien cognitif: Une revue et méta-analyse. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 39(3), 348–364. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980819000424 [Study type: literature review, meta-analysis / Access: open], Memon, A., Meissner, C. A., & Fraser, J. (2010). The Cognitive Interview : A meta-analytic review and study space analysis of the past 25 years. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 16(4), 340‑372. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020518 [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: closed], Paulo, R. M., Albuquerque, P. B., & Bull, R. (2016). The enhanced cognitive interview: Expressions of uncertainty, motivation and its relation with report accuracy. Psychology, Crime & Law, 22(4), 366–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2015.1109089 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Py, J., Ginet, M., Desperies, C., & Cathey, C. (1997). Cognitive encoding and cognitive interviewing in eyewitness testimony. Swiss Journal of Psychology/Schweizerische Zeitschrift Für Psychologie/Revue Suisse de Psychologie, 56, 33–41. [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Py, J., & Demarchi, S. (2006). L’entretien cognitif : Son efficacité, son application et ses spécificités. Revue Québecoise de Psychologie, 27(3), 177‑196. [Study type: literature review / Access: closed], Verkampt, F., & Ginet, M. (2010). Variations of the cognitive interview: Which one is the most effective in enhancing children’s testimonies? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(9), 1279–1296. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1631 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], Verkampt, F., Ginet, M., & Colomb, C. (2014). The influence of social instructions on the effectiveness of a cognitive interview used with very young child witnesses. European Review of Applied Psychology, 64(6), 323–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erap.2014.09.003 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed], van Can, S., Dodier, O., Otgaar, H., & Verkampt, F. (2016). The benefits of multiple recollection strategies on adolescents’ testimonies: Quality versus within-statement consistency? Journal of Forensic Practice, 18(2), 118–130. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-01-2015-0007 [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]