The effect of belief that testimony was elicited with a cognitive interview on jurors' judgments of guilt

Abstract

Although the “cognitive interview” has been shown to have the potential to enhance eyewitness recall, the proportion of correct to incorrect information it generates is similar to a “standard” police interview. If the Police are to employ the cognitive interview, therefore, it is important that jurors and jurists do not accept information gained through it uncritically. Thus, the present study was designed to investigate mock jurors' perceptions of the usefulness of the cognitive interview or its individual components, and how they might influence jurors' assignments of guilt in a mock trial. One hundred and fifty participants read transcripts of a mock trial that focused on the testimony of an eyewitness. Participants were informed that the testimony was elicited with a cognitive interview, its individual components or a control procedure. Broadly speaking, the results showed no significant differences between the cognitive interview or its individual components in terms of mock jurors' perceptions of usefulness and assignments of guilt. Implications are discussed.

Key Words:

• cognitive interview
• eyewitness
• jury
• hypnosis.