The utility of the cognitive interview as a credibility assessment tool

• Main Author: Swihart, Gayla
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8279

The Cognitive Interview is currently being used by various law enforcement agencies as a credibility assessment tool. This research is designed to investigate whether there is utility in using the CI in this way. Seventy-eight subjects were interviewed, each telling 2 stories, one true and one false, and these stories were coded for various verbal content characteristics- number of words, number of details, number of new details generated by the CI, filled pauses, repetitions, subjective details, and references to the difficulty of the task. There was a significant difference in the number of overall new details between the true and false accounts. There were more new details (as a function of total number of words) for the true stories at least when the true stories were told first. There were several interactions involving version and order for word count, details, and new details, but no other significant findings for other coded clues to deception. The findings suggest that the CI may be useful as a credibility assessment tool, however caution is suggested before accepting its utility until further investigation is complete.