Perceptions of Witness Credibility: Effects of Interviewer Technique, Child Age, and Child Ethnicity

This study looks at how the interviewer’s question style and a child witness’s characteristics affect adults’ perceptions of child witnesses. The study tests differences in question style (leading vs. open-ended), child age (5 years vs. 10 years), and child ethnicity (White vs. Hispanic vs. Black) and how these factors affect adults’ ratings of a child witness’s credibility, honesty, reliability, and memory accuracy. Participants will read a short transcript from a forensic interview where a child describes an interaction with an adult that made the child feel uncomfortable. Only the question style, the child’s age, and the child’s ethnicity will change across transcripts; the main content will stay the same. After reading the transcript, participants will complete rating scales about the child witness and will also rate the adult’s responsibility. Data will be collected online using Qualtrics and analyzed to test how question style, child age, and child ethnicity relate to the ratings, including whether these factors combine to strengthen or weaken each other’s effects.