The ESRC-funded research carried out by a team at the Department of Psychology, Stirling University, involved pre-school children from local nurseries and primary schools who were given tasks to show how they adapt to different communication media. Tasks were designed to suit children from different ages and abilities and researchers collected a wide variety of information about children's dialogues both with other children and with adults. Their verbal and non-verbal communication strategies were also investigated. "That involved finding out, for example, how often they used hand gestures to express information which they did not say in words," says Dr Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon, one of the authors of the report.
The research also investigated how children reacted to video link technology. The study investigated the impact of using live video links while questioning children about a neutral event compared with questioning them face-to-face. By using a configuration of silvered and half-silvered mirrors, children were able to make mutual eye contact with adults. "This replicated face-to-face interaction much better than most video conferencing systems," says Dr Doherty-Sneddon.
Thirty-two six year olds and thirty-two ten year olds took part. Each child was interviewed by a trained adult, either face-to-face or via a live video link. The results showed that face-to-face and video condition interviews did not differ in terms of correct information, relevant information during a narrative recall or the style of questioning required to elicit information. "What we did find was that more incorrect information was given during specific questioning in the face-to-face interviews and younger children were particularly resistant to leading questions in the video scenario," says Dr Doherty-Sneddon. "Both reflect an improvement in the quality of the children's testimony under the video conditions, she adds.
Furthermore, interviewers spent more time managing younger children in the live link condition, suggesting that the children were more relaxed. Initial impressions from the videos of the interviews and from the reports given by the interviewers backed this up. Live link smiles were significantly longer than face-to-face smiles and children smiled 52 percent more frequently during the live link than in face-to-face interviews.
The conclusion of the study is that the positive effects of the video interviews are due to increasing of social distance between the child and the interviewer. The child is more relaxed as a result and more able to disagree with the adult when necessary, resulting in more accurate information. The findings could have profound implications for the use of video links where children are witnesses in a court of law although there are still mixed feelings in the legal world about the use of the live link.
"Some lawyers feel it is very positive because it has emotional benefits for children, others have reservations because they feel they are losing immediacy and quality of evidence can be lost," says Dr Doherty-Sneddon. "We believe that video links are likely to make sure one will get at the truth and make it less likely for children to be coerced into saying things they don't want to say."
For further information contact:
Dr Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon, Department of
Psychology, University of Stirling
Stirling FK9 4LA
telephone: 01786-467640,
email: gwyneth.doherty-sneddon@stir.ac.uk
or
Michael Wylie, Lesley Lilley, Jacky Clake, ESRC External Relations
telephone:
01793-413122/413119/413117.
NOTE TO EDITORS
The ESRC is the UK's largest independent funder of research and postgraduate
training in social and economic issues. It currently has an annual budget of
around £65 million from the Government.