Although there have been significant advancements in investigative technology over the past twenty years the interview still remains one the most important tools for those conducting internal disciplinary and grievance investigations. Employers’ decisions relating to disciplinary and grievance matters are still based mainly on information provided by people (witnesses) as a result of an interview. But what happens when a witness is unable to remember important details or a specific and perhaps vital sequence of events? This can be a common problem for not only for HR practitioners but also for managers charged with internal investigations as interviews may take place some weeks or even months after an event occurred. Traditional advice relating to the use of open ended questions will prove unhelpful in such situations as the witness may wish to assist but is in effect blocked. It was for this reason the technique of cognitive interviewing was developed with the objective of providing a set of techniques and tools for interviewers with the aim of assisting them in improving witness recall.
The process of cognitive interviewing has been thoroughly researched and subjected to rigorous academic study and is used widely by the police, within local authorities and also by fraud investigations within both the public and private sectors. This technique also has a role to play in interviews relating to incidents involving employee misconduct and is being increasingly employed by the HR profession within the context of internal investigations. The technique is ethical and flexible and there is no reason why it cannot be used in all areas of disciplinary and grievance investigations where information is needed from a witness or witnesses about an event.
The cognitive interview technique was developed in the United States by psychology Professor R. Fisher and Professor E. Guiselman originally for police officers, but was quickly embraced by investigators, lawyers and legal support staff required to interview witnesses, victims and compliant suspects. Cognitive interviewing is a forensic tool which uses a series of memory retrieval techniques with the aim of increasing the amount of high quality information which can be obtained from a witness. It is claimed to improve witness recall by up to 40% as well as improving the accuracy of the information provided to interviewers.
But how does it work? A cognitive interview comprises four main stages, each involving a slightly different technique. For the purpose of clarity I have added a fifth and sixth stage in order to assist the interviewer in opening and closing the interview effectively:
Stage 1: opening the interview
In this stage the interviewer should explain the purpose of the interview factually and simply. They should also introduce themselves and any other interviewers or note takers present and explain their role. It is important at this stage that no pressure is brought to bear on the interviewee to recall specific events or facts. A relaxed environment should be created and interviewers should allow plenty of time to complete the interview. It is also important not to start the interview by asking the witness directly about the details of the incident, particularly if this happened some time ago.
Stage 2: context recreation
In this stage the interviewer needs to understand that memory is context dependant. This means that the interviewer should, through skilled questioning, ask the witness to think about how they were feeling prior to and during the event to be recalled – perhaps even going as far as to evoke sounds or smells. It is also helpful to ask the witness or interviewee to think back to the original event, recalling the environmental factors and the time of day e.g. the details of a room, whether they were hot or cold and whether they felt rushed, anxious or perhaps bored.
For example if an employee were being interviewed as a witness to an allegation of assault in the workplace by a manager upon one of his staff for the purposes of disciplinary proceedings examples of useful questions in order to recreate the context might be:
- What type of work were you doing at the time?
- Can you describe the physical environment of the office?
- Was it winter? Was it dark outside? Was it raining or snowing?
- How were you feeling that day?
- Had anything particularly unusual happened before you went to work?
- Were you angry with any of your colleagues?
- Did you feel you had too much work to do or that you were ‘snowed under’?
Stage 3: focused concentration
This is the stage of the interview in which the interviewer seeks to enable the witness to focus or concentrate on the task, particularly on the sensory details. Such sensory details such as sights, smells, noises should improve recall even if the subject may consider them irrelevant. It is crucial at this stage that the interview avoids interrupting or intruding in any other way. A stream of consciousness should be encouraged i.e. a free flow of unedited information.
Examples of useful techniques and questions during this stage:
Basic Visualisation Technique
Encourage the interviewee/witness to close their eyes for a moment. Ask them to try to visualise the office and what they were doing on the day in question.
Questions:
- Can you remember any particular smells e.g. coffee, perfume, food?
- What could you see going on in the next office?
- Was it noisy or quiet?
- Was anyone playing music on their computer?
- Were there lots of phones ringing?
- Was the office particularly hot or cold
Stage 4: extensive retrieval
The interviewee should not be stopped after a cursory search of memory but should encouraged to make multiple attempts at retrieval. A witness who feels they have recalled everything about an event should be encouraged to have another attempt as this can unlock previously un-recovered detail simply because of a confident assertion on the part of the interviewer that there is more to be retrieved.
Stage 5: varied retrieval
Events are often recalled in chronological order and many non cognitive interviews are structured to encourage this. In order to facilitate varied retrieval the interviewee should be encouraged to recall the details in a different order or even from the perspective of third party witnesses to the event.
Examples of useful techniques
Reversal technique
Ask the witness to recall details in reverse order.
Third party technique
Ask the witness to imagine the situation from the perspective of a third party. This third party may be an imaginary figure e.g. ‘I want you to imagine you are a freelancer working in the office for the day. You know nothing about the two parties involved or the culture of the organisation. How might such a freelancer describe what happened on that afternoon?’
Stage 6: closing the interview and managing expectations
When the interview is finished it is important to explain to the witness that he/she may contact you should they recall something else. Ask them if there is anything else they’d like to add. Doctors often describe the ‘door handle’ syndrome. Just as a patient is leaving the consultation (which often takes the form of an interview where the patient is encouraged to tell their story and recall as much as possible about their symptoms) they will recall something extremely significant. Doctors are therefore trained to give the patient a final opportunity to speak or recall by simply saying, ‘is that all?’ or ‘is there anything else you want to tell me?’ Finally explain to the interviewee what is likely to happen as a result of the interview and that you may wish to speak to them again before thanking them for their help.
A well planned cognitive interview can save you time, eliminate the need for costly re-interviewing and improve the quality of evidence and subsequent decision making.
Summary of key points
- Cognitive interviewing is a well researched and widely used forensic tool designed to improve witness recall
- It is ethical and proven and is used by law enforcement agencies, lawyers and legal support staff around the world.
- It is claimed to improve witness recall by up to 40% as well as improving the accuracy of the information provided to interviewers.
- A cognitive interview comprises four main stages, each involving a slightly different technique.
The four stages are:-
1. Context recreation
2. Focused concentration
3. Extensive retrieval
4. Varied retrieval
- It is also important for the interviewer to open and close the interview effectively.
- A well planned cognitive interview should save time, eliminate the need for costly re-interviewing and improve the quality of evidence and subsequent decision making.
Note: A version of this article appeared in Independent Lawyer Magazine, March 2009. See also Gillian Dowling’s article ‘New Discipline and Grievance Procedures’ in The People Bulletin, 3 June 2009: http://news.thepeoplebulletin.co.uk/wordpress/employment-law/new-discipline-grievance-procedures/