CMI Witness Interview Techniques & Human Factors Flashcards
6 cards from real CMI practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 CMI Witness Interview Techniques & Human Factors flashcards as text
Which of the following is a key principle of trauma-informed interviewing in marine casualty investigations?
Answer: Recognizing that trauma can affect memory and adjusting interview techniques accordingly
Trauma affects memory encoding and retrieval; trauma-informed techniques account for this by using gentle, non-leading prompts and allowing fragmented recall without pressure.
In human factors analysis, 'complacency' during routine marine operations is most associated with which failure mode?
Answer: Reduced vigilance and missed cues due to over-familiarity with a task
Complacency arises when repeated uneventful operations lower alertness, causing mariners to overlook warning signs they would normally detect.
What does the term 'confirmation bias' mean in the context of a CMI conducting a marine investigation?
Answer: The tendency to seek or interpret evidence in a way that confirms one's pre-existing hypothesis
Confirmation bias can cause an investigator to favor evidence that supports an early theory while discounting contradictory evidence, compromising objectivity.
The 'Swiss Cheese Model' of accident causation, developed by James Reason, is used in marine investigations to illustrate:
Answer: How multiple layers of defense must each have a gap align before an accident occurs
The Swiss Cheese Model shows that accidents occur when holes in successive defensive layers — human, technical, organizational — line up to allow a hazard to reach a target.
A CMI investigator notices that a witness's account changes significantly between an initial informal statement and a formal recorded interview. The best course of action is to:
Answer: Document both statements, note the discrepancies, and probe the reasons for the change through follow-up questioning
Statement discrepancies must be documented and explored, as they may reflect memory consolidation, coaching, fear, or genuine recollection changes — all relevant to the investigation.
In marine human factors investigation, 'task saturation' refers to:
Answer: A state in which a crew member's workload exceeds their capacity, leading to errors or missed tasks
Task saturation occurs when demands on a mariner exceed their cognitive or physical capacity, increasing error probability during high-stress or high-workload situations.