The Cognitive Interview for Eyewitnesses with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

The cognitive interview (CI) is one of the most widely accepted forms of interviewing techniques for eliciting the most detailed, yet accurate reports from witnesses. No research, however, has examined its effectiveness with witnesses with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty-six adults with ASD and 26 matched typical adults viewed a video of an enacted crime, and were then interviewed with either a CI, or a structured interview (SI) without the CI mnemonics. Groups did not differ on the quantity or quality of their reports when interviewed with a SI, however, when interviewed with a CI the ASD group was significantly less accurate. Findings indicate that investigative professionals should be cautious in relying on the CI to interview witnesses with ASD.

Appendix

A. Structured and Cognitive Interview Protocols

Italics = Cognitive Interviews Only

Rapport and explain aims

• Reiterate that interviewer blind to contents of video

• Explain that participant will be asked to go over events a few times; motivate to repeatedly recall

• Don’t guess; ok to say “don’t know”

• ‘Report all’ (no matter how trivial)

• Concentrate hard

• Transfer control

• Any questions

Stage 1:

• Context reinstatement:

• Free recall

‘Remember more’ prompt

Stage 2: Questioning

• Activate and probe an image

• Open questions based on what participant said in free recall

• Witness-compatible wording (e.g. if they use the term ‘guy’ then interviewer asks about the ‘guy’ rather than the man

• Minimal closed questions for follow-up details

• No leading questions

• Don’t guess; ok to say “don’t know”

Stage 3: Second retrieval attempt/reverse order

Stage 4: Third retrieval attempt/change perspective

Closure

B: Context Reinstatement Protocol

What we are going to do is called context reinstatement, where you remember other things that you saw and felt just before you watched the video clip. This will help you to remember better.

In a few minutes I am going to ask you to tell me everything that you can remember.

In order for you to recall to the best of your memory I would like to you contextually remember the environment just before you saw the events unfold—what you could see, hear, sense, how you felt—and use this information to guide your recall.

I will go through this very slowly, so that you can relax and take it all in, inorder to build up a clear picture in your mind. This will take several minutes before you speak to build up a really clear picture of the clip in your mind. Please try to relax, concentrate and focus really hard with each instruction that I give. Although this might seem like a series of questions I don’t want you to answer them, they are just there so that you can build up a clear picture in your mind. At the end I will ask you to tell me what happened, not now, so in the meantime try to relax and take it all in.

If you close your eyes it will help you to focus, I will just look down here.

I would like you to clear your head of all other thoughts. Try to blank everything else from your mind, and focus only this task [5 s].

Think about how you were feeling when you came in here today [10 s].

Now picture yourself as you went into in the room where you watched the video [10 s].

Focus on that room [10 s].

Remember where you were sitting [5 s] and how the chair felt [5 s].

Think about the lights [5 s] and noises [10 s] in the room just before the video started [10 s].

Remember your mood when you started watching the video [5 s]. How were you feeling? [5 s].

How was your physical state? [5 s].

Now picture the screen ahead of you [10 s].

Build up a clear mental picture of that moment and visualise it [10 s].

Remember what the colours in the video were like [5 s].

Think about the noises you heard in the video [10 s].

Visualise where the event is taking place and what the scene or environment around looks like. Take in these surroundings and mentally note everything that you see [10 s].

Visualise what people are involved, what they look like, what they are wearing, what they are doing and how they are behaving [10 s].

Think about everything that you saw, noting every single detail, no matter how small or irrelevant it may seem, even if it seems trivial [10 s].

Back in this context you should be able to see the videotape in your mind. Picture the events you saw in the video as if they were happening right now before your eyes [10 s].

I’d like you to keep picturing and remembering what you saw. When you are ready please explain to me, in every detail, what you saw from the beginning of the videotape to the end—as you tell me keep your eyes closed and concentrate and focus on that image in your mind. Don’t leave anything out, even if it seems only partial or not significant. Take your time.

As you run through what happened, try to replay the event in your head, as if it were a video that is replaying before you, which you are watching right now.

When you are ready, please tell me everything you saw.