ABSTRACT
The Cognitive Interview (CI) arose out of a need to examine ways of improving witness memory as well as addressing some of the social factors that can impact on the quality of the report obtained from a witness. This chapter considers research that has examined whether the CI can aid the recall of vulnerable witnesses namely senior citizens, individuals with intellectual disabilities or autism and very young children. The developments have attempted to make the CI conform more to real-world forensic requirements. Before describing the procedure and reviewing the empirical research, it is useful to understand why a procedure such as the CI is necessary. The research suggests that the report everything instruction in combination with context reinstatement might be the most effective component of the CI. The studies of the CI have improved in design in that they have shown the CI can yield more correct information than interviews that contain the same structure and rapport building.
