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INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWING & MEMORY 1

Accuracy and Completeness of Interviewer Reports from Investigative Interviews

Amy Hyman Gregory, Ph.D.

Introduction

One of the main goals of an investigative interview is to obtain as much accurate

information as possible from a witness about the event in question. All parties involved in

investigations benefit from acquiring complete and accurate information from witnesses (Fisher,

1995). Investigative interviewers must acquire as much relevant information as possible from a

witness and may need to recall this information at a later stage during an investigation.

Interviewers would therefore benefit from any techniques that may help them to elicit more

accurate information and promote subsequent recall of that information. One such technique may

be note-taking.

Records of investigative interviews with witnesses are crucial when interviewers render

testimony in court. When recording devices (i.e., audio/video) are not available during

interviews, interviewers may rely on other methods to preserve the accuracy of information

elicited during interviews including their memory, notes taken during the interview, and any

subsequent written reports. In cases where interviews are not recorded, the interviewers’ notes

and subsequent reports based on those notes may be the only source of “accurate” information

remaining from the interview. Oftentimes written reports are the only remaining documentation

from interviews; thus when called to testify an expert witness may read directly from a

summarized report of a witness interview. Therefore, it is necessary to determine how accurate

interviewers’ recollections and written accounts of interviews are in order to ensure the veracity

of their content in court. Since interviewers likely take notes while conducting investigative

interviews these notes may be essential in creating written reports. It is therefore important to

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Commented [AHG2]: Introducing the topic and why it is important.

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Commented [AHG4]: Intended audience of the research project.

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INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWING & MEMORY 2

understand the impact of note-taking behavior on the accuracy of interviewer recall and

subsequent written reports from investigative interviews.

Remembering accurately how information was elicited during an interview may protect

the veracity of subsequent reports and expert testimony; note-taking may be crucial in preserving

the accuracy of interviews. However, research evaluating the accuracy of summarized reports

from investigative interviews based on interviewer notes is scarce; this is puzzling considering

interviewers oftentimes take notes while conducting interviews. Further, little research has been

conducted on how accurately summarized reports reflect what occurred during actual interviews

compared to audio/video recordings.

Remembering the types of questions that were asked to elicit information during an

interview is crucial in that whether a witness answers “yes” to “Didn’t he touch you?” or

spontaneously says “He touched me,” could potentially result in quite different veracity

judgments. In both cases, it is likely that an interviewer would encode, remember, and/or report

the witness information in the same manner: i.e., that the witness said she was touched. As a

result the interviewer would testify in court accordingly that the witness said she was touched.

Clearly, this can be problematic as the first question is considered suggestive in nature while the

second statement offers information voluntarily. Especially in the case of child witnesses, it is

crucial for the trier of fact to hear how information was elicited in order to assess the witness’s

credibility. Therefore, it is important that question type and phrasing to be properly accounted for

in interviewer reports in order to trace back how information was elicited. Research on witness

interviewing techniques has demonstrated that witness information elicited via open ended

questions is more likely to be accurate than information elicited via specific/closed or yes/no

questions (Fisher, 1995). It is therefore imperative that reports from investigative interviews

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INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWING & MEMORY 3

include not only information provided by interviewees but also the type and content of questions

asked by the interviewers during the interview to prevent misinterpretation.

Present Study

The present study will add to the literature on investigative interviewing and the accuracy

of subsequent reports based on these interviews. No study to date has examined how accurately

interviewers’ written reports reflect how witness information was elicited. Nor has research

addressed whether note-taking can aid subsequent interviewer recall and assist with generation of

more accurate accounts of witness interviews. Furthermore, adult interviewees will be included

in the present study as prior research has only included interviews with children. Finally, time

delay will be manipulated to determine the effects of delay on the accuracy and completeness of

written reports.

Hypotheses

There are two hypotheses for the present study. First, it is hypothesized that note-takers

will out perform non note-takers. Second, it is hypothesized that non note-takers in the two week

delay condition will write the least accurate and least complete reports.

Commented [AHG12]: Purpose of the present study.

Commented [AHG13]: Studying a population that is missing from the literature.

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INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWING & MEMORY 4

References

Fisher, R. P. (1995). Interviewing victims and witnesses of crime. Psychology, Public

Policy, and Law, 1(4), 732-764. doi: 10.1037/1076-8971.1.4.732 Commented [AHG15]: Including APA formatted reference page.