Artful Insights: Enhancing Recall in Investigative Interviews through Sketching

Over the years, various techniques have been developed to enhance information elicitation from interviewees. One promising memory enhancing technique is the sketch procedure, which involves interviewees talking through a sketch of the details of an experienced event. Let’s take a closer look at the effectiveness of sketching as an interviewing tool.

What is Sketching, and what does it look like in an interview context? 

Sketching involves the interviewee talking through a detailed sketch of the experienced event. Sketching involves two main, concurrent steps, whereby the interviewee: 

1. draws the scene or elements of the event, and
2. provides a verbal explanation of the sketch. 

Sketching is based on the principle of encoding specificity, which suggests that recall is enhanced when the same cues present during the encoding of an event are present during recall. By externalising memory cues through sketching, sketching aids in mentally reconstructing the context of the event, thereby enhancing the accuracy and detail of the information recalled.

...sketching aids in mentally reconstructing the context of the event, thereby enhancing the accuracy and detail of the information recalled.

Here is what some sample sketching instructions look like (Eastwood et al., 2019):

In a moment, I am going to ask you to tell me what you remember from [the event under investigation].
Before you begin, I am going to ask you to try something that can often help people to remember more about what they have experienced [give paper and pen].
What I would like you to do is to please draw a detailed sketch of what happened [during the event that you experienced].
I would like you to sketch as many details as you can about the event. Importantly, I would like you to describe to me each item/thing that you are drawing as you draw it.
Please keep in mind that your artistic abilities are not being judged at all, but this is simply a technique used to enhance memory.
When you are ready you can start
[pause to allow interviewee to complete sketch].
What I would like to do now is go over what you saw.
Please feel free to refer to your sketch when telling me about what happened.
When you are ready, please go ahead and tell me, in as much detail as possible, everything that you remember from the event.
[Wait to ensure sure they have finished recalling information and pause for two seconds].
What else do you remember about the event?

What does the Research Say About the Effectiveness of Sketching?

Enhanced Interviewee Recall:

Across various studies, sketching consistently leads to more correct details being recalled without increasing the number of incorrect details (Dando, 2013; Eastwood et al., 2019). For example, Eastwood et al’s (2018) participants who sketched during an interview recalled 22% more correct details than those who did not sketch. This increase was particularly notable for object and action details, suggesting that sketching may be especially helpful for remembering visual and procedural aspects of events.

Enhanced Interviewer Recall:

Sketching also helps interviewers better understand the information provided by interviewees (Luther et al., 2022). By allowing interviewees to visually represent the scene and describe it, interviewers gain a clearer, more comprehensive picture of the event. By allowing interviewees to visually represent the scene and describe it as they draw, interviewers gain a clearer, more comprehensive picture of the event, which in turn can enhance their memory of the account. Luther et al. (2022) found that interviewers who watched an eyewitness create a sketch while describing an event recalled more correct details, fewer incorrect details, and fewer confabulations than those who only listened to the eyewitness’s verbal account. These findings suggest that sketching can be a valuable tool for improving the accuracy and completeness of information gathered during interviews.

...interviewers who watched an eyewitness create a sketch while describing an event recalled more correct details, fewer incorrect details, and fewer confabulations than those who only listened to the eyewitness’s verbal account.

Detecting Deception:

In addition to enhancing interviewee and interviewer recall, sketching can be a valuable tool for detecting deception. Truth tellers and lie tellers tend to provide different types and amounts of detail in their sketches and verbal accounts. For example, Deeb et al. (2022a) found that truth tellers tend to include more complications (unexpected events or obstacles) in their narratives, as these are a natural part of real-life experiences. Truth tellers also tend to provide more verifiable details, such as specific locations or actions that can be corroborated. Lie tellers, on the other hand, often strive to keep their stories simple and avoid details that could be easily disproven.

In the context of sketching routes travelled, Deeb et al. (2022b) found that self-generated sketches were particularly effective for detecting deception. Truth tellers provided more details and were more accurate in their sketches than lie tellers, who often struggled to fabricate plausible routes and landmarks. This finding suggests that asking interviewees to sketch a route from memory, without the aid of a map, can be a useful technique for assessing the veracity of their statements.

Application in Real-World Contexts:

The effectiveness of sketching has been demonstrated in both controlled experimental settings and more ecologically valid live interactions (Eastwood et al., 2018), suggesting its practical utility in real-world investigative interviews. Overall, sketching appears to be a fast, frugal, and effective tool for interviewers.

The converging evidence from the literature suggests that sketching is a highly effective technique that can be used in real-world investigative interviews. Incorporating sketching in your interview will help improve the accuracy and completeness of information obtained from interviewees and help you (as the interviewer) better understand the information you obtain, thereby enhancing the overall effectiveness of your interviews.