The influence of prior knowledge on inexperienced interviewers' questioning of children

Thirty‐eight interviewers with no prior investigative interviewing experience questioned school‐aged children (N = 68, aged 6–10 years) about a personally experienced event. These interviewers relied primarily on question types that are not recommended by interviewing guidelines. Providing interview...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied cognitive psychology 2022-07, Vol.36 (4), p.758-766
Main Authors: Price, Heather L., Ornstein, Peter A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
child interviews
Children
children's eyewitness testimony
Elementary School Students
Forensic science
informal disclosures
Interviews
Knowledge Level
Persuasive Discourse
Prior knowledge
Prior Learning
Questioning Techniques
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Summary:Thirty‐eight interviewers with no prior investigative interviewing experience questioned school‐aged children (N = 68, aged 6–10 years) about a personally experienced event. These interviewers relied primarily on question types that are not recommended by interviewing guidelines. Providing interviewers with misleading prior knowledge exacerbated this negative questioning style by significantly increasing the likelihood of suggestive questioning, compared to interviewers who received only vague background information. These findings, coupled with the infiltration of prior knowledge into some children's testimonies, raise concerns about the natural questioning styles to which children are exposed when interviewed by adults who are not trained in forensic interviewing.
ISSN:0888-4080
1099-0720
DOI:10.1002/acp.3959