Seeing Gestures Important (04-12-10)

Previous research has shown that the way that questions are asked influences the responses received and that gestures convey information.  This project by Broaders and Goldin-Meadow melds these two fields of research and results indicate the importance of seen gestures on conversation outcomes.  After observing adult conversations with 5-7 year old children the researchers found that “interviewers’ gestures serve as sources of information (and, at times, misinformation) that can lead witnesses to report incorrect details, and the gestures witnesses spontaneously produce during interviews convey substantive information that is often not conveyed anywhere in their speech.”

Sara Broaders and Susan Goldin-Meadow.  “Truth is at Hand:  How Gesture Adds Information During Investigative Interviews.”  Psychological Science, in press.