Describe the elements of the cognitive interview (6 marks)

The first step is reinstate the context whereby the interviewer asks the eyewitness to mentally and physically imagine and recall the crime scene including environmental context of crime scene e.g. smell, people who were there etc.The second step is change the order where the eyewitness recalls the sequence of events backwards to ensure no information is missed out and not influenced by schema or expectations of what should of stereotypically happened.The third step is to report everything regardless of how insignificant the detail may seem as this could trigger more memories.The final step is to change the perspective, whether that be from other witnesses or the perpetrator to avoid schemas.The structure of the cognitive interview uses social elements such as eye contact and rapport building to further encourage eyewitnesses to recall more accurate memories and feel comfortable doing so.