An Attempt to Compare Cognitive and Self-administered Interview
Purpose:
The paper contains a literature review on cognitive and self-administered interview as well as discussion on their effectiveness. The paper also compares the accuracy of memory recall, which is facilitated by the above mentioned interviews, when it is used in obtaining the information from witnesses.
Design/Methods/Approach:
In the first part a descriptive method was used and in the second an empirical method. In the pilot study the students of the Faculty of criminal justice and security University of Maribor took part. A simulated crime case has been shown to the participants. After seeing it, 31 respondents filled out a self-administered interview and 28 of them participated in a cognitive interview.
Findings:
The participants of the cognitive interview provided more correct and false/confabulated details of the event as participants of a self-administered interview. Since the formula of the accuracy of memory recall is sensitive to the false/confabulated details, the obtaining of information with self-administered interviews on average resulted in a more accurate memory recall than this was the case with cognitive interview.
Research Limitations / Implications:
The limitation of the research is in small sample. The results of the pilot study therefore do not provide reliable conclusions. The survey used a recorded simulated crime case, which could have influenced the results.
Practical Implications:
The contribution can be understood as starting point for discussion and addressing questions about more comprehensive more effective and more ethically acceptable interviews in obtaining information from eyewitness in the Slovenian judicial system.
Originality/Value:
This is the first paper in Slovenia that compares accuracy of memory recall by using cognitive and self-administered interview. The contribution can be understood as a preparation for a more thorough study on self-administered interview.
UDC: 159.9:340.6
Keywords: self-administered interview, cognitive interview, accuracy of memory recall, witnesses