Television and Very Young Children

Abstract

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended that children younger than 24 months of age not be exposed to television. Nevertheless, television programs and home videos are increasingly produced for very young children. This article reviews the extant research concerning television and very young children with respect to the AAP recommendation. More very young children are currently watching television than in the recent past; they pay substantial attention to TV programs and videos made for them. When learning from videos is assessed in comparison to equivalent live presentations, there is usually substantially less learning from videos. Although one study finds positive associations of language learning with exposure to some children’s TV programs, other studies find negative associations of viewing with language, cognitive, and attentional development. Background TV is also a disruptive influence. Evidence thus far indicates that the AAP recommendation is well taken, although considerably more research is needed.

Neural basis of learning from television in young children

“…This may be because the subjects in the present study were 5-and 6-year-old children. Children of this age can learn rule-based actions from both live and video models, which is consistent with behavioral evidence from studies of the video deficit (Anderson & Pempek, 2005;Troseth & DeLoache, 1998). Nevertheless, at the neural level, children's left primary motor cortex was activated in the live condition but marginally less activated in the video condition.…”

“…On the other hand, children under 3 years of age typically fail to learn actions or vocabulary from video media, which is referred to as "video deficit" (Anderson & Pempek, 2005;Kuhl, 2007;Robb, Richert, & Wartella, 2009;Troseth & DeLoache, 1998). Several cognitive theories have been proposed explain the developmental changes that lead to teachability by TV.…”

Cyber Babies: The Impact of Emerging Technology on the Developing Infant

“…The exposure to TV media on the socioemotional development of young infants is still largely unknown and the research findings in early childhood tend to be inconsistent (Anderson & Pempek, 2005;Mistry, Minkovitz, Strobino, & Borzekowski, 2007;Napier, 2013). However, some patterns have emerged which warrant further investigation.…”

“…It has been theorized that screen time has a direct impact on neurological functioning through features of the medium itself, and that flashing lights, quick edits and auditory cuts might be over stimulating to developing brains (Anderson & Pempek, 2005;Christakis, 2009). With regards to TV shows or DVDs aimed at children, rapid scene changes and quick edits are specifically employed to engage infants' orienting response (the reflex that fixes attention to strange sights or sounds).…”

Impacto de Imágenes Femeninas Presentadas por los Medios de Comunicación en Adolescentes Mujeres de la Región Metropolitana de Santiago de Chile

“…La Encuesta Nacional de Salud de Chile 2009(Chile, Ministerio de Salud et al, 2010 Atlanta, 2005) destaca las elevadas prevalencias de hábitos alimenticios no saludables y sedentarismo. La televisión contribuye a la obsesión por la delgadez y la apariencia erotizada (Anderson & Pempek, 2005;Dittmar, 2009;Miller & Halberstadt, 2005), al sedentarismo, sobrepeso y sentimientos de insatisfacción corporal (Gerbner et al, 2002). La obesidad y el sobrepeso se han vinculado a autoestima baja y a una necesidad incrementada de aprobación que pudiesen incidir de manera indirecta en la OC.…”