An empirical test of the `mnemonics components' of the Cognitive Interview

This paper reports some preliminary research in which the various mnemonic components of the Cognitive Interview were isolated and compared with an instruction to try harder. The purpose of this was to control for possible motivational effects. Adult and children (aged 5- 9 years) were asked to recall details of a staged event under one of four instruction conditions. In the first condition, they were encouraged to reinstate context; in the second condition to change perspective; in the third condition to report the event on reverse order and in the fourth condition to try harder. There were no significant differences in correct recall or errors as a function of instruction condition. An analysis of different types of information reported in the interviews suggested some types of information were more frequently reported. Accuracy rates were high and while the older children recalled more information correctly they were no more accurate than the younger children. The implications of the findings are discussed with reference to some of the theoretical and methodological issues raised by research on cognitive interviewing.