Interviewer Training

The interviewers were all female research assistants[3] who received payment for the interviews conducted. All interviewers were university students in Psychology. There were three interviewers in each condition. The CI and SI groups were trained in two 4-hour sessions which began with an introductory lecture on the importance of the interview in psychological assessment and information gathering. Both groups were given guidelines about non-verbal behaviour in the interview (e.g., seating position, eye contact, pauses and speech rate). (There was an opportunity to practise and receive feedback on these later in the training). Both groups were then informed that each interview should comprise a number of phases. For each phase there was a demonstration role-play which was followed by a live practice role-play (interviewers were asked to choose an event, playing the part of interviewee and interviewer) these latter being video-recorded. The interviewers then received feedback on their interviews. There were plenary discussion/question sessions at the end of the training. In addition to active role-plays, the interviewers were encouraged to rehearse mentally the various phases of the interview. For each group (i.e., CI and SI) the interview was divided into the phases of free recall (FR) and questioning (QU). Prior to this both CI and SI interviewers engaged in building rapport with the witness by asking open-ended questions (not about the to be recalled event) to generate casual conversation. They also used this time to make it clear that they did not have any knowledge of the event (this was true) and that the witness could dictate the pace of the interview. The last two instructions were part of the `transfer of control' procedure. The FR and QU procedures were as follows:

In the free recall phase the SI interviewers and the CI interviewers were asked to request a free narrative account from the witness and to use this as a strategy for obtaining information to be referred to later in the questioning phase. The CI interviewers were also given training in encouraging witnesses to reinstate mentally the context (as described in the introduction) prior to obtaining a free report. The CI interviewers also incorporated at this stage the instruction to report everything.

In the questioning phase, the CI and SI interviewers were asked to use the information reported in free recall as a guide for follow-up questions. (Both the CI and SI interviewers had also been similarly instructed in the use of appropriate types of questions). They were asked to begin with open questions and then follow these with closed questions. In general interviewers were asked to use the QU phase to find out who was present at the event and what they did. Where a person was mentioned, interviewers were asked to elicit details about clothing. They were specifically instructed to avoid leading, misleading, and forced-choice questions. The CI interviewers received additional training in the activation and probing of images relating to various parts of the event.

The untrained interviewers (n=3) received no prior training or information on the techniques to be used. They received a brief protocol asking them to generate a free report and then ask questions but were given no instructions on the types of questions to ask or interview strategy. They were merely asked to find out about the witnessed event. All interviewers were asked to do their best and get as much information as possible.

The interviewer protocols are presented in Appendix I.

Procedure

Participant witnesses were asked to take part in a study on memory and were shown a short video clip (1.5 minutes in duration) of a shooting incident in which a young boy is murdered. The event was shown to participants in groups of four to six. Witnesses were interviewed individually five days after the event by a CI, SI or untrained interviewer.