ERIC Number: EJ802187
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: N/A
The Effects of Background Television on the Toy Play Behavior of Very Young Children
Schmidt, Marie Evans; Pempek, Tiffany A.; Kirkorian, Heather L.; Lund, Anne Frankenfield; Anderson, Daniel R.
Child Development, v79 n4 p1137-1151 Jul-Aug 2008
This experiment tests the hypothesis that background, adult television is a disruptive influence on very young children's behavior. Fifty 12-, 24-, and 36-month-olds played with a variety of toys for 1 hr. For half of the hour, a game show played in the background on a monaural TV set. During the other half hour, the TV was off. The children looked at the TV for only a few seconds at a time and less than once per minute. Nevertheless, background TV significantly reduced toy play episode length as well as focused attention during play. Thus, background television disrupts very young children's play behavior even when they pay little overt attention to it. These findings have implications for subsequent cognitive development.
Descriptors: Play, Toys, Cognitive Development, Toddlers, Television Research, Television Viewing, Child Behavior
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A