The Impact of Television on Early Childhood Development

Andrea Coffey

Seton Hall University

 Every well-intentioned parent wants their child(ren) to follow a healthy course of

development. These parents also often work to discourage bad habits in their children; what is

driving those parental intentions is a mosaic of conflicting information involving media use and

children that paints a dizzying picture. There is an ever expanding industry that markets

technology and video programming to parents of infants and young children, with promises to

bolster their vocabulary and cognition. Children of all ages seem to be enamored by these

programs and their ability to interact with them. Many parents seemingly embrace these products

as a way to support learning. Schools and educators are harnessing this engagement and

incorporating technology in classrooms, with a commitment to produce a population of career

ready individuals for the twenty-first century. On the other hand pediatricians and clinical

researchers have partnered together and published warnings and caveats to the growing trend of

media use amongst the developing youth. The clinical harshness of words such as attention

deficit, obesity, sleep disorder, and addiction can be devastating to parents. Well intentioned

parents are left standing at a crossroad wondering if they are helping or hurting their childs

development by allowing media use at young age. This study seeks to explore the impact of

technology on early childhood development.

Literature Review

The Cognitive Process of Viewing Television

It is important to first know the cognition involved in the process of watching television.

Despite the glazed over expression that viewers often showcase, watching television is a

sophisticated cognitive process. According to Anderson and Hanson, watching television

includes identifying and processing the visual stimuli, coordinating the visual stimuli with

auditory stimuli, understanding transitions, using short term memory, inferencing, analyzing

characters, sustaining attention, and applying storyline comprehension skills (2010). The

aforementioned processes are varied in levels of cognition. Over time and throughout

development our brains are able to process more sophisticated conventions, therefore television

will impact children differently based on their level of development.

Infants, Toddlers, and Television

To begin with, infants have a poor visual range and as they mature, so does their vision.

Research has shown that infants cannot identify people or objects on two dimensional screens

until they are six months of age (Anderson & Hanson 2010). This identification is the first step

in being able to process television. While the sound and movement is attention grabbing, it often

does not sustain attention because infants lack experience and context to apply these visuals to.

Infants are often compared to a blank canvas. The same can be said for the newborn brain

which is very malleable (Courage & Howe 2010). Every novel experience of the world is a

brilliant brush stroke on their canvas. Piaget classifies this as the Sensorimotor Stage of

development for that reason; infants explore the world through sensory experiences and begin to

develop motor skills. Our three dimensional world is the springboard to our experiences, and the

foundation to our ever-growing schemata, making it the most appropriate choice of exploration

for infants. On the other hand television (for the most part) is categorized as two dimensional,

therefore viewing television is accepting that the images in the two dimensional space are a

separate entity from the three dimensional space we live in (Anderson & Hanson 2010). This
understanding will not occur until later in the cognitive development. This proves that television

exposure to infants for the purpose of increasing cognition is irrelevant. Infants cannot process

and understand what is going on in the two dimensional space, because they are still learning

about the world around them. Children eighteen months and younger do not comprehend the

messages and content on television programs (Kirkorian et al 2008). This has been proven

through research and concluded in multiple studies, proving that television and media content are

developmentally inappropriate and show no benefits to cognitive development for infants.

Pediatricians and researchers advise against both background television and directly

watching television for infants because they need to explore their physical surroundings.Until

children have mastered the physical world around them, they shouldnt be overly engaged in the

digital world (Rushkoff 2013). The idea behind this is that watching television is a distraction to

their discovery and may displace more meaningful activities (American Academy of Pediatrics

2016). Having the television on in the background is also proven to decrease the amount of time

that parents and caregivers are interacting with their babies, which is also crucial in healthy

development. To conclude, infants and young toddlers do not gain any cognitive advantages

through television and other media outlets.

Toward the end of this stage, at approximately two years of age most typically

developing children are able to understand, internalize, and imitate what is being seen on

television (Anderson & Hanson 2010). This finding shows that towards the end of this stage of

development, children are influenced by television. Common sense tells us that if children can

imitate what is being shown on television, then the quality of the content matters. Que the

research.
Young Children

While little is known about how television impacts infants, the opposite is true for young

children. This is largely in part, because the communication barrier and lack of cognitive

development are no longer prevalent. Preschool aged children are much more expressive and

cognitively capable. This means that television has a great impact on young children and more

research is available to support that.

There are three major findings for this age group, in regards to how television impacts

young children. Firstly the content of the media being consumed, matters greatly (Bavelier,

Green, & Dye 2010). Secondly, there is no clear, definitive research that links attention deficit

disorder and television (Courage & Howe 2010). Lastly, children who watch less television

scored higher on intelligence tests (Zimmerman & Christakis 2005).

To begin with, decades of research have been devoted to studying educational television

programs such as Sesame Street, Blues Clues, and Dora the Explorer. There is a positive

correlation between the consumption of educational television and desirable cognitive outcomes

such as: school readiness, increased vocabulary, emotional management, and problem solving

(Bavelier, Green & Dye 2010; Kirkorian, Wartella, Anderson 2008). The positive impact is

largely in part to how these programs are structured. Educational programs use language that is

directed toward children and easy to understand, making it developmentally appropriate.

Children are also engaged in this form of programming because it involves interaction and elicits

response. The characters, dialogue, and content are all carefully thought out modeling examples

that are relevant in the lives of young children. Conversely, children who watch television shows

with violence show a decrease in self-regulation (Kirkorian, Wartella, & Anderson 2010) and are
more likely to imitate that violence. Content available on television such as the news, can also

have damaging effects on young children such as emotional trauma (American Academy of

Pediatrics 2010). From these observations it can be concluded that the content of television

shows has a direct impact on young children.

The research regarding the correlation of television and attention deficit has been labeled

as inconclusive. The reason for this is because the correlation cannot be definitively linked to the

causation, due to external factors such as accompanying factors of behaviors seen in children

with ADHD (Courage & Howe 2010), the level of parent education, and financial income. One

correlation between television use and children with ADHD seems the most relevant. Children

with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are often challenging to care for, making a passive

activity like watching television, a preferred activity. Additionally, children who are diagnosed

with ADHD often struggle socially, so they fill their leisure time with television and media rather

than play (Courage & Howe 2010). This proves that children with ADHD are more likely to

watch television, rather than watching television is the cause of their condition.

A longitudinal study was conducted that tracked children from infancy to childhood and

focused on their television habits. These children were assessed in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000

using a variety of standardized tests that measured intelligence and reading performance. The

results of this study were analyzed by Zimmerman and Christakis, which concluded that children

who watched television for a shorter amount of time scored higher on the tests. Trends in the

study showed that children who are higher achieving watch television in addition to completing

their school work. In contrast, students who scored low displaced school work with watching
television. Increasing the amount of television time was also associated with a decrease in

imagination, reflection, and creativity.

The interpretation of this data should be analyzed with careful consideration. To begin

with, the data is outdated and media has changed dramatically since this study. Also, the results

show a correlation but that does not necessarily determine that an increase of television will

definitively decrease intelligence and academic and cognitive functions. It does make sense that

children who balance their time between academics, hobbies, and leisure perform better on

academic tests. Specifically children who chose to read and participate in activities that involve

problem-solving and imagination score better on intelligence tests, because they are essentially

practicing and rehearsing the very thing they are being tested on.

Conclusion

Parents who are left standing at the crossroad of do or dont let your child watch

television should forge their own path between the two. Using the data from research coupled

with warnings from pediatricians, it seems that the answer is to find a healthy balance, and

remember that television will impact children differently depending on their level of

development.

Television programming for infants in regards to enhancing cognition is ineffective,

because infants cannot readily understand the content being streamed. Infants learn through the

physical exploration of the world around them, making that the best choice for healthy and

appropriate cognitive development.

 While toddlers can imitate actions seen on television, their cognition still isnt developed

all the way. If toddlers want to watch television, it is best to do so with an adult who can guide

their learning and explain novel concepts.

Young children beginning at preschool age begin to understand the content of television

more and can be impacted by this. Television that is produced with the goal of educating

children, can have a positive effect on children. Other programs available on television that are

not created with an educational objective do not have a positive impact on children. When the

content of television is violent, children will process that violence and often repeat it. In

summation, the quality and duration of television coupled with the developmental stage of a

child will dictate how it impacts children.