Cognitive Interview & Admissions Flashcards

Which of the following is the MOST appropriate first step before conducting a cognitive interview of a fraud witness?

Answer: Building rapport and explaining the cognitive interview process

Establishing rapport and explaining the CI process reduces anxiety, increases cooperation, and prepares the witness to engage in effortful retrieval techniques.

A subject who is genuinely innocent but highly anxious about being suspected of fraud may display behavioral signs that superficially mimic deception because:

Answer: Anxiety and guilt share overlapping physiological and behavioral markers

Fear of being disbelieved, stress, and heightened arousal in innocent subjects can produce nervousness, fidgeting, and hesitation that resemble deception indicators.

When a fraud suspect admits to a small portion of wrongdoing but denies the larger scheme, the examiner should:

Answer: Use the partial admission as a bridgehead to explore the fuller scope through follow-up questions

Partial admissions are valuable entry points; skilled examiners use incremental acknowledgments to progressively expand the scope of disclosure through non-accusatory follow-up.

The primary purpose of asking a subject to 'tell me everything you remember, even if it seems unimportant' during a cognitive interview is to:

Answer: Counteract the natural tendency to self-edit and filter out peripheral details

People naturally suppress seemingly irrelevant details, but those details can contain critical investigative leads or corroborate other evidence in a fraud case.

Which of the following represents a 'cluster' of behavioral cues that, taken together, warrant further investigative scrutiny in an admission-seeking interview?

Answer: Sudden grooming gestures, increased speech errors, and shortened answers when asked about a specific time period

Clusters of deception indicators—particularly when they emerge in response to specific questions—carry more investigative weight than any single behavioral cue in isolation.

Under the Fifth Amendment, a fraud subject who is NOT in custody and is being interviewed by a private fraud examiner (not law enforcement):

Answer: Has no Fifth Amendment right to silence during the private interview

Miranda rights apply to custodial interrogation by government agents; a private fraud examiner's interview does not trigger Fifth Amendment Miranda obligations, though the subject retains the general right not to participate.

After obtaining an admission during a fraud examination, the BEST next step to strengthen its evidentiary value is to:

Answer: Have the subject provide a written, signed, detailed narrative in their own words

A written, signed, first-person narrative in the subject's own words is the most robust form of admission documentation, making recantation more difficult and establishing a contemporaneous record.