Media’s Effects on Children

Given that children under 3 years of age comprehend and learn very little from television on
their own, it is not surprising that a majority of research indicates that media exposure during
infancy exerts a negative influence on children’s development. Though, a few studies have
demonstrated no relationship between early exposure and cognitive outcomes (e.g., Schmidt,
Rich, Rifas-Shiman, Oken, & Taveras, 2009). However, most correlation-based studies have
found a relationship between early television viewing and poorer language outcomes, attention,
and executive function skills (for a review, see Anderson & Pempek, 2005). Such studies assume
a direct effect of television on children, such that in its presence, children’s everyday activities
are disrupted, there by hindering healthy development. Everyday activities, such as playing or
interacting with others, provide children with the opportunities to gain knowledge and practice
skills that contribute to their development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Gibson & Pick, 2000; Piaget,
1936; Vygotsky, 1978).

A number of developmental theories emphasize the importance of these early interactive

processes between children and their environment. In terms of brain development, for example,
the first few years of life are a time of enormous change and growth. Although genetic factors set
development in motion, experience shapes its trajectory (for a review, see Shonkoff & Phillips,
2000). Environmental interactions influence and strengthen neural connections in the brain,
which in turn, engender more complex behaviors between infants and their environment (Nelson,
1999). That is, as children engage with their environment, they construct their own intelligence
through these direct, hands-on experiences (Piaget, 1936). Given the developmental literature, it
is not surprising that many concerns regarding children’s media use deal with the amount of time
that children spend with television due to its potential to displace important social interactions
and experiences (Wartella & Robb, 2008).

Displacement occurs if media replace or disrupt time spent in non-media related activities.
Media displacement is often considered a negative event, displacing valuable interactions or
opportunities necessary for healthy development. However, for this negative event to occur, it
has to be shown that children would actually engage in an activity that is more beneficial than
media use alone. In contrast, media use has the potential to displace harmful or less valuable
activities given that some forms of media can benefit children. Media displacement can also have
a neutral effect, displacing something that is functionally similar (e.g., viewing television
displaces time playing video games). Although the issue of displacement is a concern for
children of all ages, there are important age-related differences that determine the valence of
displacement.

Anderson and Evans (2001) posit that television’s effects on children depend upon the degree
to which children attend to and can comprehend the media content, and can be broadly divided
into two categories—background and foreground television.

Background television (BTV) refers to young children’s exposure to programs that are
designed for older children and adults. Here, television is on in the background because young
children do not actively pay attention to it and most likely do not understand the content. Past
research indicates that background television can have a disruptive influence on young children’s
toy play, attention, and social interactions (Courage et al., 2010; Kirkorian et al., 2009;
Nathanson & Rasmussen, 2011; Schmidt et al., 2008; Setliff & Courage, 2011). In contrast,
foreground television (FTV) refers to children’s exposure to programs designed for them, to
which they will attend and presumably understand.

Watching educational programs designed to engage children, like Sesame Street, can have a
beneficial effect for preschool-age children because they can comprehend and learn from such
programs (e.g., Anderson, Huston, Schmitt, Linebarger, & Wright, 2001). In this case, media
displacement has a positive influence if it displaces something of lesser value. In contrast,
infants’ and toddlers’ attention to television is highly variable and intermittent (Anderson &
Levin, 1976; Demers et al., 2012), and they do not show signs of comprehension until about 18
to 24 months (Pempek, et al., 2010). Therefore, television use among very young children most
likely has a negative displacement effect.

The amount of time spent using media has the potential to influence developmental outcomes
if it replaces other important experiences. In the research literature, there have been two areas of
concern regarding media-based displacement effects among infants and toddlers: the
development of attention-related skills and language skills.
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Literature:

 Hanson, K. G. (2017). The influence of early media exposure on children’s development

and learning (page: from 8 to 11). Doctoral Dissertations: 1011.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1011/?
utm_source=scholarworks.umass.edu
%2Fdissertations_2%2F1011&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages