Introduction
We live in the period when TV, online videos are used for many different purposes. Various video programs can provide educational purposes, accelerating and facilitating the processes of learning, different movies and TV shows can perform the function of entertainment. And although some video-reportages, films can carry the aggression, violence, etc. in general TV media themselves are not something positive or negative. Whether TV brings benefits or harm to the individual, as I believe, depends more on how the individual will use what television media offers to him/her.
In the modern time, not only adults watch different media, but young children are also exposed to watching different TV programs, cartoons, educational movies etc. Parents of young children can use baby media to calm a child, as a safe replacement for other activities, as the background, to distract the attention of the child, etc. Some parents also tend to believe that watching television programs by children is a necessary element of a normal development of a child. However, these assumptions are often baseless and not supported by any facts (Brown, 2011).
In early childhood, there is some invisible but intensive development in the brain. The brain of a 5-year-old child in size is almost the same as that of an adult. Brain structures in early childhood are plastic and flexible. A child after one`s birth has approximately 2500 synapses. Until the age of 2-3-year, the number of synapses in neurons increases to 15000 (Craig& Baucum, 2002, p. 319). These and other facts of neuroscience help us to understand why and how important it is to train and develop a young child. Since early childhood is a very important period of a development of a child, parents must be very careful when they exposed their children to media watching. Parents also must understand how media can influence their children.
Summary of article №1
DeLoache et al. indicate that many modern parents tend to overestimate the significance of baby visual media`s influence on children`s development. Authors give the example of the mother who wrote on one WebSite, that her 18-months-old child`s vocabulary began to increase after the child was exposed to watching one company`s media program for children. However, authors of the article emphasize, that, probably, increasing of the child`s vocabulary occurred due to natural processes rather than due to watching baby media (DeLoache, Chiong, Sherman, Islam, Vanderborght, Troseth & O’Doherty, 2010).
So like this mother who misattributed her child`s linguistic advance to video watching, many parents tend to have misconceptions about the influence of baby media on child`s development.
DeLoache et al. conducted the study aimed to examine how visual media influences development of language skills of children who are younger than two years old. The age of the study`s participants was between 12 and 18 months. The number of participants of the experiment was 72 (DeLoache, Chiong, Sherman, Islam, Vanderborght, Troseth & O’Doherty, 2010).
All the children were divided into four groups. The first group of children watched baby video program (selected specifically for the experiment) with their parents for 4 weeks, at least, five times per week. Parents watched the video together with their children and were encouraged to communicate with children at the time of watching a video.
The second group watched the same video over the same length of time. However, the second group of children watched the video alone. Parents could be in the room, but did not interact with a child, as one watched the video.
In the third group, the experimenters offered parents special instructions, following which parents had to teach their children on their own, without the use of video. At the same time, parents could teach their children as they would in their natural manner.
The fourth group was the control group. This group was created to recognize which changes over the 4 experimental weeks occurred regardless of the interventions, and what changes have occurred due to video and parents` teaching.
Researchers tested children`s knowledge of words at the first meeting and at the end of 4 experimental weeks. Only the results in the third group, where parents have taught their children, have reached a level above chance. Those children who have not watched the video, but who have been exposed teaching by parents, showed the best results in learning new words for 4 weeks. The results of children, who were exposed to watching an educational video together with parents or without parents, did not significantly differ from the results of children in the control group (DeLoache, Chiong, Sherman, Islam, Vanderborght, Troseth & O’Doherty, 2010).
In addition, the researchers found that despite the fact that the children of the first and second group, who watched the educational video, showed minor progress in learning new words, their parents thought that the video helped their children to achieve high results. In other words, many parents overestimate their children's progress and educational opportunities the video program. Also, it was found there was a connection between how parents` liking the video program, and their tendency to overstatement evaluation of the possibilities of this program.
Summary of article №2
In their study Robb et al. report about results of previous researches and evidence that media can positively influence cognitive development of children. For example, the study conducted by Rice and Woodsmall showed that children in the age between 3 and 5 can learn novel words from media programs. However, the older participant of the study was, the better result he/she had shown (Robb, Richert& Wartella, 2009).
Robb et al. conducted the similar study aimed to examine how one of a baby educational program can influence increasing of children`s vocabulary. Researchers studied the two patterns a child's speech - receptive and expressive speech. Expressive language includes words which a child uses to communicate with other people, which a child can pronounce. Receptive vocabulary includes the words that a child understands, but does not say.
45 infants in the age between 12-15 months and their parents were participants of the study. The experimental period was continuing during six weeks. Initially, by using questioner for parents researchers had tested what words infants knew and what words he/she did not knew. There were two groups in the experiment. A group of children who watched Baby Wordsworth included 20 infants while control group included 25 children. Parents of children from the first group were instructed to watch the Baby Wordsworth 5 times every two weeks. Every two weeks children and their parents, who participated in the study, visited the researches laboratory, so experimenters could observe and indicate some changes in infants` vocabulary every two weeks (Robb, Richert& Wartella, 2009).
Like the result of the previous study conducted by DeLoache and colleagues, results of this study did not show significant changes or improving in infants` expressing or receptive vocabulary for those children who watched the DVD-program.
Robb et al. suggested that may be the reason that watching the Baby Wordsworth did not bring expected benefits for the cognitive development of infants was connected with the quality of this particular baby media program. Authors of the study pointed out that the program did not allow adults to watch this video together with their child. Also, this DVD could be difficult for children`s perceiving because of oversaturation of information etc.
Robb and his colleagues concluded that the problem is that voice from a video cannot to replace the parents` talk, so it is the main reason why DVD has not influenced positively language development of infants.
Conclusion
After the analysis of two research papers, it can be concluded that the child media can affect children in different ways: both positively and negatively. Effect of viewing video programs, movies, cartoons depends, first, on its content and quality. Some programs are really able to influence positively the cognitive development of children, and some baby media influence the inhibition of the development of children` cognitive abilities. Therefore, parents need to carefully select the special television educational programs for children and do not let children watch everything (even when it is children's programs, cartoons).
Secondly, not all, but most studies indicate that video programs can influence positively the cognitive development of children over the age of 2-3 years. However, for children younger than two years watching the video program has no developmental effect, because children of this age are not yet able to understand and perceive the meaning of what is happening on the screen.
In any case, parents should understand that even the most high-quality programs are only the additional tool for the development of the child. Baby media alone cannot bring the desired effect in the development of the child, or even can have a negative influence on the cognitive function of the child. TV, cartoons and a variety of children's programs will never replace the child's communication and interaction with parents. That is why most of the baby`s media producers emphasize that baby media must be watched not by a child alone but by parents and children together.
References
Brown, A. (2011). Media use by children younger than 2 years. Pediatrics, 128(5), 1040-1045.
Craig, G. J., & Baucum, D. (2002). Human development. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
DeLoache, J. S., Chiong, C., Sherman, K., Islam, N., Vanderborght, M., Troseth, G. L., & O’Doherty, K. (2010). Do babies learn from baby media?. Psychological Science. 21 (11), 1570-1574
Robb, M. B., Richert, R. A., & Wartella, E. A. (2009). Just a talking book? Word learning from watching baby videos. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27(1), 27-45.
