PrepTest 150, Section 1, Question 12

What we’re looking for

Working the answers

• A

  Making everyone susceptible to hypnosis would solve the applicability problem. It wouldn't eliminate the lack of an overall accuracy improvement or the possibility of false confidence. Fixing that one obstacle doesn't establish hypnosis as the best method.

• B
  Correct

  The writer explicitly says “even trained officers often deviate” from the specified procedures. So training every officer wouldn't remove the problem of using a complicated method correctly. The time needed to conduct the interview would remain another concern.

• C

  Eye closure isn't presented merely as a fallback for police forces unable to afford cognitive-interview training. It appears to offer an equivalent recall benefit with a simpler procedure. Even a well-funded force could have a reason to use it.

• D

  Ease of learning is a practical advantage, not proof that a technique elicits more accurate information. Hypnosis is less complex than the cognitive interview but has the reliability problems described earlier. The writer doesn't give us this general ranking by difficulty.

• E

  Obtaining more information doesn't by itself indicate false confidence. The cognitive interview increases the number of details recalled, and eye closure improves recall without more errors. False confidence concerns unjustified certainty, including certainty about incorrect details, rather than the sheer amount a witness says.