2022-06-01 07:58:33
Can Kids Aged Two and Under Learn From TV and Movies?
The
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children under 18 months shouldn’t use screen media, and children between the ages of 18 and 24 months should only be exposed to high-quality programs that parents or caregivers watch with them.
Although much of the media directed at children under two claims it will advance their learning and cognitive development, research1 has shown that, in general, children’s learning from screens during this time is extremely limited and only takes place under specific circumstances.
Studies demonstrate that starting at around 6 months old, infants are capable of imitating simple actions they watch on TV for up to 24 hours afterward. By the time they’re two, they can remember brief TV sequences for up to a month later.
Still, research has consistently shown that very young children don’t learn from screen media as easily as they do from
real-life interactions.
This phenomenon, called the
"video deficit," persists until children are around 2 ½ or 3 years of age. Researchers have speculated that it may be due to very young children’s inability to understand the relationship between the information conveyed on a television screen and the real world.
In other words, they understand the information conveyed through screens but they don’t think it’s relevant to them.
For example, a study by psychologist Georgene Troseth found that immediately after viewing an assistant hiding a toy in a room on a live television monitor, a group of 2-year-olds failed to find the hidden toy in the room a majority of the time.
Consequently, the research suggests that once children acquire the cognitive skills necessary to understand and pay attention to screen media, educational TV and movies that are appropriate to a child's stage of development can provide opportunities for learning, especially if the programs approximate real-life social contexts.
#Research #socialmedia #cognitivedevelopment
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