Children and Media: Screen Media Learning

This week's focus is on children and media, specifically addressing whether children can learn from screen media. The topic encompasses various dimensions of media and developmental psychology, highlighting the importance of understanding how different forms of media impact children's learning and development.

Headlines and Reports on Children's Media Use

Recent reports and headlines have emphasized the alarming increase in the amount of time children spend in front of screens. Noteworthy points include:

Eye Problems: Research indicates that children are developing eye problems usually associated with older adults, particularly those over $60$ years of age, due to excessive screen exposure.
Screen Time Guidelines: Children are considerably exceeding the global guidelines for screen time recommended by health authorities. For example, the World Health Organization advises that children under $18$ months should have no screen time, while children aged $2$ to $4$ should be limited to one hour per day.
Mental Health Risks: Studies link excessive screen time to a heightened risk of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) among preteens. Experts caution that relying on electronic devices to soothe children can hinder their natural ability to self-regulate emotions, potentially resulting in more frequent emotional outbursts.
Caution in Interpretation: It is critical to interpret these findings cautiously; much of the research is correlational. For instance, children predisposed to OCD may naturally gravitate toward increased screen use. Opinions within the professional community regarding the effects of screen media on children's development are varied, and any guidelines should be grounded in solid evidence rather than stories highlighted in media.

Lecture Overview

The upcoming lecture will delve into key issues such as:

The prevalence of screen media use among children, examining how different age groups engage with screens.
Assessing the learning potential of screen media across diverse age brackets, focusing on specific developmental milestones.

Statistics on Media Access and Ownership

According to an Ofcom report, mobile phone ownership amongst children aged up to $8$ years stands at approximately $20$ , and this figure skyrockets to nearly full ownership by $12$ years of age.
The primary devices used by children aged $3$ to $17$ to connect to the internet are mobile phones and tablets. Older children, aged $12$ to $17$ , predominantly use mobile phones, whereas younger children typically favor tablets.
A comprehensive survey on device ownership for children aged $5$ to $18$ in the UK reveals significant access:
- Tablet: $74$ %
- Laptop: $67$ %
- Games console/player: $77$ %
- Smart speaker: $56$ %
- Desktop computer/PC: $51$ %
In terms of audio-visual media consumption:
- An overwhelming $85$ % of children watch TV using a traditional set, while many also engage with content through tablets and mobile phones, taking advantage of live streaming and user-generated platforms.

Media Consumption Statistics

Children's media consumption is becoming increasingly extensive, with notable statistics:

In $2021$ , children aged $5$ to $16$ were documented as spending approximately two to three hours daily watching television and one to three hours on the internet. Additionally, they dedicated one to two hours to playing video games and over an hour on mobile devices (excluding communication).
A report from the NHS states that children aged $5$ to $16$ accumulate around $6.5$ hours of screen time each day.
For children under five years, tablet usage averages around $9$ hours weekly, leading to concerns regarding overreliance on digital devices.
Significantly, more than a quarter of all children are reported to spend between four and six hours daily online. In Canada, children aged eight spend over five hours each day on screens for leisure activities.
In the US, most two-year-olds regularly use digital devices, with $90$ % being introduced to screens before their first birthday. Alarmingly, nearly $40$ % of parents in the US maintain that the television is continuously on or playing in the background.
Data from Australia indicates that up to $30$ % of a child's waking hours are spent in front of a screen.

Factors to Consider

When determining the capacity for children to learn from screen media, several factors need to be considered:

Child-related Factors: Factors including age, family background, and individual characteristics influence how each child interacts with media.
Media-related Factors: The type of media content, editing pace, and overall context play vital roles in learning efficacy.
Environmental Factors: The nature of exposure and caregiver presence during media consumption are pivotal for learning outcomes.
Outcome of Interest: This encompasses a range of areas such as language acquisition, executive function development, academic performance, literacy levels, numeracy skills, pro-social behavior, social skills, and emotional regulation.

Learning in Infants (Very Young Children)

Research has consistently shown that infants typically do not learn effectively from screen media. Even in instances where on-screen scenarios are realistic, very young children face challenges in learning from such sources. Important studies include:

Barr and Hayne (1999): This study involved infants aged $12$ , $15$ , and $18$ months, who were assessed on their ability to reproduce actions shown by an adult. The study found that while all age groups could replicate actions demonstrated live, only the $18$ -month-olds demonstrated some learning from video demonstrations. For $12$ -month-olds, outcomes were significantly poorer after video exposure.
Kool (2007): Investigated whether nine-month-olds could learn phonetic sounds from Mandarin through live exposure, television, or video. The study concluded that only those exposed to live interaction could discriminate Mandarin speech sounds later on.
Zimmerman et al. Study: Surveyed parents of children aged two to twenty-four months and found alarming correlations between screen time and vocabulary development. For instance, for every additional hour spent viewing media, there was a corresponding $17$ word deficit in vocabulary scores by $16$ months of age.
Linebarger & Walker: Found that $12$ to $15$ month-olds watching a commercial DVD designed for word learning showed no increase in vocabulary, contradicting parental beliefs that such media positively influences development.
A further study involving $72$ infants tested word learning under various conditions demonstrated that children with exposure to popular infant videos, even with parental interaction, did not learn more words than those without any video exposure.

Learning in Toddlers (18-30 Months)

Research suggests that toddlers are capable of learning from videos, provided that the content is interactive:

An experiment with $24$ -month-olds revealed that direct face-to-face instruction was more effective at promoting learning compared to instructions through pre-recorded video. However, when interactive features such as contingent responses were included, learning outcomes improved significantly.
A study by Roseberry et al. highlighted that toddlers who were exposed to engaging interactive media could learn new verbs effectively, again reinforcing that interactive and socially contingent media content is crucial for learning.

Learning in Preschoolers (3-5 Years)

Evidence indicates that preschool-aged children can learn effectively from educational television programs. For instance:

Studies suggest viewing programs like Sesame Street correlates with improved academic outcomes in high school, emphasizing long-term benefits of early educational media exposure.
The educational program Super Why has also been shown to enhance literacy skills significantly when watched over an extended period.
A longitudinal study by Strouse et al. found that moderate media use in preschoolers was associated with the most substantial language acquisition gains compared to high media usage.

Background TV

Research indicates that around $40$ % of parents in the US keep the TV on most of the time. Findings reveal that three-year-olds experience a significant reduction in playtime when background media is present, highlighting a negative impact on attention and engagement in hands-on play. Furthermore, background TV reduces the amount of attention parents can give, detrimentally affecting children's cognitive and language development.

Social and Cognitive Skills

Social Skills

The Bobo Doll experiment, conducted by Bandura, is a pivotal study demonstrating social learning theory, which posits that we learn behaviors by observing the actions of others. Bandura identified four critical components for imitation:

The aspect of the behavior observed.
The ability to remember what was observed.
The physical capability to replicate the behavior.
Motivation to perform the action.

Theory of Mind

A study analyzed the relationship between media exposure and children's development of theory of mind. Measuring media exposure through parent recognition tests, researchers discovered that while storybooks and movies positively influenced theory of mind, television programs did not show the same effect.

Emotional Competence

Brassmussen's research in $2019$ scrutinized how pro-social media influences emotion recognition and regulation in preschoolers. Programs such as the Daniel Tiger neighborhood app that incorporate games around emotions demonstrated improved emotional regulation strategies among preschoolers compared to control groups. Furthermore, a meta-analysis indicated that exposure to pro-social media is linked to reduced aggression.

Cognitive Outcomes

A study by Lillard and Pierson evaluated the impact of short-term exposure to fast-paced television versus educational programming on children's executive function skills. Key findings included:

Children who viewed fast-paced content, notably SpongeBob, exhibited poorer performance across various executive function tasks, suggesting that even brief exposure can detrimentally affect cognitive abilities.

Research has also explored the influence of screen time on mental imagery using two hypotheses:

Reduction Hypothesis: Suggests that viewing screen content is passive and does not engage active image formation.
Stimulation Hypothesis: Posits that sensory input during screen time can dominate visual and auditory modalities, detracting from other modes of cognitive processing.

Through a longitudinal study involving $266$ children aged $3$ to $9$ , evidence indicated that higher exposure to screen media correlated with diminished performance on tasks requiring mental imagery, underscoring the potential negative effects of extensive screen time.

Screen Time Since COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered children's screen time dynamics. Studies indicate that children and adolescents are not only spending more time on screens but this increase is linked to adverse mental and cardio-metabolic health outcomes. Additionally, findings demonstrated a marked decline in physical activity levels during school closures due to the pandemic.

Conversely, a study investigated the effectiveness of virtual story-reading sessions (video chat) compared to traditional story-time and pre-recorded reading. Assessments showed no substantial differences in comprehension or vocabulary acquisition across conditions, albeit indicating the potential viability of video chatting as an effective method for reading, especially when conventional interactions are limited.

Conclusion

Do children learn from screen media? The answer is multifaceted:

Age: Infants typically do not learn from screens, while toddlers and preschoolers may have varying success.
Type of Media: Educational and interactive media formats yield better learning outcomes.
Outcome: While language acquisition may suffer from excessive screen exposure, social skills can potentially benefit from pro-social media experiences.

Educational screen media appears beneficial for preschoolers and older children. Given the increasing prevalence of tablets, smartphones, TVs, PCs, and gaming consoles, ongoing research into their impact on children's development is essential for understanding long-term implications.