Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Eyewitness Memory01:22

Eyewitness Memory

571
Eyewitness memory refers to the recollection of events by someone who has directly witnessed them, often serving as critical evidence in legal settings. This type of memory is commonly used in criminal cases where a witness describes details like a suspect's appearance, clothing, or behavior during a crime. However, despite its perceived reliability, eyewitness memory is prone to significant errors.
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function...
571
Emotional Expression01:26

Emotional Expression

1.2K
Emotional expression encompasses how individuals convey their emotions through verbal communication and non-verbal cues. These non-verbal actions include facial expressions, body language, and physical gestures, such as frowning or smiling. Among these, facial expressions play a crucial role in emotional expression and are understood universally, indicating a biological basis for how humans communicate emotions.
Universal Facial Expressions
Psychologist Paul Ekman identified seven basic...
1.2K
Motional Emf01:22

Motional Emf

4.2K
Magnetic flux depends on three factors: the strength of the magnetic field, the area through which the field lines pass, and the field's orientation with respect to the surface area. If any of these quantities vary, a corresponding variation in magnetic flux occurs. If the area through which the magnetic field lines are passing changes, then the magnetic flux also changes. This change in the area can be of two types: the flux through the rectangular loop increases as it moves into the...
4.2K
Traumatic Memory01:20

Traumatic Memory

673
Emotionally traumatic events often lead to memories that are exceptionally vivid and enduring, sometimes persisting with remarkable clarity throughout an individual's life. A classic example of this phenomenon is a person who survives a car accident. Even years later, they may recall every detail of the event with startling accuracy — the screeching of the tires, the jarring impact, and the acrid smell of burning rubber. Such vividness contrasts sharply with how an individual...
673
Coping Strategies: Emotion Focused01:20

Coping Strategies: Emotion Focused

718
Emotion-focused coping refers to a set of strategies aimed at managing the emotional impact of stressors, rather than directly addressing their causes. This approach involves altering one's emotional response to stressful situations to reduce their psychological effects. For example, individuals might talk with a friend or engage in activities like journaling to express their feelings. Such actions can help achieve emotional clarity or release, providing the psychological stability needed...
718
Bystander Effect02:09

Bystander Effect

10.4K
The discussion of bullying highlights the problem of witnesses not intervening to help a victim. This is a common occurrence, as the following well-publicized event demonstrates. In 1964, in Queens, New York, a 19-year-old woman named Kitty Genovese was attacked by a person with a knife near the back entrance to her apartment building and again in the hallway inside her apartment building. When the attack occurred, she screamed for help numerous times and eventually died from her stab wounds.
10.4K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Experts' approaches when interviewing children and evaluating their care needs.

Child abuse & neglect·2026
Same author

Invasive Arterial Blood Pressure Monitoring to Detect Postintubation Hypotension in Patients Who Receive a Prehospital Emergency Anesthetic for Suspected Traumatic Brain Injury.

Air medical journal·2026
Same author

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, parental stress, and attachment styles.

Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry·2025
Same author

The psychobiology of child and parental stress and the subjective perception of parental stress in a clinical sample of children.

Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry·2025
Same author

Excessive hair cortisol concentration as an indicator of psychological disorders in children.

Psychoneuroendocrinology·2023
Same author

Underlying mechanisms of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder in children: A systematic review by means of research domain criteria.

JCPP advances·2023

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
08:09

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Published on: February 11, 2017

12.3K

The Emotional Child Witness Effect Survives Presentation Mode.

Annika Melinder1, Lisa Burrell1, Maria Olaussen Eriksen1

  • 1Cognitive Developmental Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway.

Behavioral Sciences & the Law
|March 19, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Child witnesses presenting sad emotions are perceived as more credible, even when expressing anger or positivity. Transcripts of testimony, rather than audio or video, yielded higher credibility ratings in mock legal interviews.

More Related Videos

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
07:56

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

11.0K
An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
07:36

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime

Published on: May 3, 2016

9.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
08:09

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Published on: February 11, 2017

12.3K
Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
07:56

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

11.0K
An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
07:36

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime

Published on: May 3, 2016

9.1K

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Law
  • Forensic Science

Background:

  • The emotional witness effect can influence legal decisions.
  • Stereotypes suggest abused children should appear sad, but they exhibit varied emotions.
  • The optimal presentation of child testimony to mitigate emotional bias is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of a child witness's emotional expression on credibility ratings.
  • To determine if presentation mode (transcript, audio, video) affects perceived credibility.
  • To identify optimal presentation strategies for child victim testimony.

Main Methods:

  • Mock police interviews were conducted with child actors portraying physical abuse victims.
  • Actors presented the same testimony with neutral, sad, angry, or positive emotional expressions.
  • Lay participants (N=465) rated witness credibility across transcript, audio, and video formats.

Main Results:

  • The "sad" emotional expression consistently received the highest credibility ratings across all presentation modes.
  • Presentation mode significantly influenced credibility ratings, with transcripts yielding the highest scores.
  • Emotional expressions and presentation format interact to affect perceptions of child witness credibility.

Conclusions:

  • A sad demeanor enhances perceived credibility in child witnesses, regardless of presentation format.
  • Presenting testimony as a transcript may mitigate emotional bias in legal evaluations.
  • Further research is needed to develop best practices for child victim testimony presentation.