The effect of the enhanced cognitive interview on recall and confidence in elderly adults

Abstract

Early research with the cognitive interview suggested that it is a useful investigative technique to obtain information from eyewitnesses to crime. The cognitive interview appeared to increase the recall of correct information without a concomitant increase in the recall of incorrect details or confabulation. More recent research has failed to replicate original findings and has frequently reported increased recall of incorrect information and/or confabulation. Although the cognitive interview has been used with diverse interviewees, it has rarely been used with elderly adults, a group known to present difficulties as eyewitnesses. This study compared the efficacy of the enhanced cognitive interview with a structured interview in obtaining information from younger (18–50 years) and older (60+ years) adults who viewed a film of a simulated crime (armed robbery). The memory performance of participants was investigated in relation to total correct, incorrect and confabulated information recalled about key aspects of a crime and the offenders. Additionally, the confidence of participants' recall of information was investigated. Results from the current study indicated that recall of correct, incorrect and confabulated information was not significantly different in the cognitive and structured interview conditions. However, younger adults recalled significantly more correct information than older adults, although both age groups did not differ significantly in the amount of incorrect information recalled or the number of confabulations. Confidence in recall of information was not significantly related to age or interview condition. The implications of the results for the use of the cognitive interview with elderly eyewitnesses are discussed.