The Digital Witness: Exploring Gestural Misinformation in Tele-Forensic Interviews with 5-8-Year-Old Children

Child abuse is a major concern worldwide. While live-link interviews have been successful in legal and medical contexts, its potential for eyewitness interviews remains insufficiently studied, particularly in terms of non-verbal misinformation. This study explored tele-forensic interviewing (tele-FI), where video-conferencing software such as Zoom or Skype are used to conduct forensic interviews, as an alternative to face-to-face interviews. Focus was given to the susceptibility of eyewitness memory to the gestural misinformation effect (GME) where post-event information in the form of gesture can distort recall of a witnessed incident. Forty-seven children were recruited ranging in age from 5- to 8-years-old (M = 6 years 11 months). Comparisons were made to face-to-face conditions from prior published work by the authors (N = 63, M = 7 years 2 months) using the same methodology, video, and question sets. Results find support for the GME during tele-FI, with 1.23 misinformation details recorded on average and tele-FI showing a similar response pattern as face-to-face interviews. Accuracy was shown to be comparable in tele-FI (M = 16.21) compared to face-to-face interviews (M = 14.02), with a notable increase in the amount of relevant information provided in the tele-FI condition. Developmental age showed significant increases in the quality and quantity of data. This study provides evidence for tele-FI as a viable alternative to face-to-face interviews, and represents the first exploration of the GME in tele-FI, to the best of our knowledge. Discussion focuses on the benefits of tele-FI and the implications for police interview guidelines.