Abstract

Jurors’ perceptions of child witnesses can have significant influence in judicial outcomes, particularly in cases where children’s testimony is central. The role of gesture in shaping jurors’ perceptions is underexplored. Gesture enhances memory recall and reduces cognitive load, making it an important component of effective communication. The present research consists of two experiments that examined whether child witnesses’ use of gesture during recall of an alleged crime affected jurors’ perceptions of child witness credibility and defendant guilt. In Study 1 (N = 187), all participants read one of two scenarios describing a 4-or-8-year-old child witness who gestured. They then responded to questions regarding the child’s credibility and the defendant’s guilt. Study 1 results indicated that when the child gestured, there were no significant age differences in child credibility nor continuous and dichotomous guilt judgments. Women rated the child witness who gestured as more credible than did men, regardless of the child’s age. Study 2 (N = 114) experimentally manipulated gesture use (gesture vs. no gesture) across scenarios while holding child age (4 years) constant. Again, gesture did not significantly affect ratings of child credibility, continuous guilt judgments, or categorical verdicts. Across studies, these findings suggest that in some samples women are more sensitive to child witnesses who gesture than men and that gesture might possibly equalize age differences. However, when a gesture condition was compared to a no-gesture condition, gesture did not improve mock jurors’ perceptions of 4-year-olds. Implications for forensic interviewing are discussed.

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