The Cognitive Interview and Enhanced Cognitive Interview in Financial Forensics and Investigations

Abstract

Background – Psychological research on witness interviewing focuses on the cognitive interview (CI) and the enhanced cognitive interview (ECI), as developed in the eighties and refurbished in the early nineties. It is argued that the CI/ECI techniques outperform the standard interview (SI) approach. Given the complex structure of human memory and psychology, the interviewing techniques best suitable for witness interviewing have remained controversial among the academia since that time.

Aims – This scholarly paper aims to contrast the standard interview, the cognitive interview and the enhanced cognitive interview approach in order to make recommendations for further psychological research and police interviewing practice. Furthermore, the approaches are evaluated in light of vulnerable witnesses like children, persons with intellectual disabilities and the elderly.

Methodology – The settings of witness interviewing, the problems surrounding investigation officers’ and criminal court practice, as well as the interviewing techniques are assessed by the way of literature review. Laboratory and field studies covering the period of 1984 to 2013 are discussed, representing previous research.

Results – The CI/ECI techniques help in obtaining more information of higher accuracy from invulnerable and vulnerable witnesses (save for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) interviewees) as compared to the SI approach.

Conclusion – As the CI/ECI techniques require training and the development of social skills, more educative efforts are necessary to establish the CI/ECI approaches among the investigation officers. From the viewpoint of future research, supporting the implementation in the field can be considered a worthwhile task.

Keywords: Cognitive Interview, Enhanced Cognitive Interview, Mnemonics, Witness Interviewing

JEL Classification: A23, K13, K14, K19