Daniel Anderson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Daniel Anderson

Child Development, Sep 1, 1979

The study experimentally tested the relationship between visual attention and comprehension of a ... more The study experimentally tested the relationship between visual attention and comprehension of a TV program. 72 5-year-old children watched a 40-min version of the TV program &amp;quot;Sesame Street.&amp;quot; Half the children viewed the program in the presence of a variety of toys and half viewed without toys. The children were then tested for their comprehension of the program. Although visual attention to the TV in the no-toys group was nearly twice that in the toys group, there was no difference between the groups in comprehension. There were, nevertheless, significant within-group correlations between visual attention and comprehension even for questions concerning only auditorily presented material. The results were interpreted as indicating that in a normal TV viewing setting, variations in the comprehensibility of the TV program may determine variations in children&amp;#39;s attention to the TV.

Child Development, Jun 1, 1987

The longer a look at TV is maintained, the conditional probability that it will be further mainta... more The longer a look at TV is maintained, the conditional probability that it will be further maintained rapidly increases for about 15 sec, after which it increases slowly. This increase in the conditional probability of maintaining a look is called "attentional inertia." An external audiovisual distractor stimulus was presented during 3- and 5-year-olds' TV viewing. The distractor was less effective in eliciting a head turn from the TV if it was presented after a look at the TV had been continuously maintained for at least 15 sec. If a head turn to the distractor following such a maintained look did occur, moreover, its reaction time was significantly increased. Parallel effects were found for the nonviewing pauses between looks. The results provide evidence of increasing attentional engagement as a look at TV is maintained.

In this Monograph, we report the follow-up of 570 adolescents who had been studied as preschooler... more In this Monograph, we report the follow-up of 570 adolescents who had been studied as preschoolers in one of two separate investigations of television use. The primary goal of the study was to determine the long-term relations between preschool television viewing and adolescent achievement, behavior, and attitudes. Using a telephone interview and high school transcripts, we assessed adolescent media use; grades in English, science, and math; leisure reading; creativity; aggression; participation in extracurricular activities; use of alcohol and cigarettes; and self-image. In each domain, we tested theories emphasizing the causal role of television content (e.g., social learning, information processing) as contrasted with those theories positing effects of television as a medium, irrespective of content (e.g., time displacement, pacing, interference with language). The results provided much stronger support for content-based hypotheses than for theories emphasizing television as a me...

Infant Behavior and Development, 2021

This study compares parent language directed at their toddlers while coviewing toddler-directed t... more This study compares parent language directed at their toddlers while coviewing toddler-directed television and while storybook reading. Participants were 15- or 30- month-old children and their parent. A quantitative analysis of parent language revealed that it is more frequent, rich, and complex during reading relative to television viewing regardless of child age; although parents used more complex language and more diverse words with older children. The difference between media held even when the storybook text read aloud was not considered in the analysis. Consistent with the results of earlier research, shared book reading produces more and richer verbal interactions with toddlers than coviewing television and is thus more likely to positively influence early language development.

AV communication review, 1977

Most discussion and research concerning the effects of television on young children have centered... more Most discussion and research concerning the effects of television on young children have centered on the impact of specific program content on social or cognitive behavior. There has been considerably less concern about the effects of watching television per se. Recently, however, a number of critics have been concerned with a structural aspect of the medium itself-program pacing. T. Berry Brazelton, the noted pediatrician, is foremost among the critics: "The disintegration of ego mechanisms which one sees in [the child's] hypersensitivity and in the screaming, thrashing, disorganized hyperactivity which ensues after a period of television watching in most children is evidence of the cost of such a period" (quoted by McDaniel, 1972). Sabin (1972) cites Brazelton in asserting "that television assailed young viewers with exhausting stimuli akin to the sounds, fears and tensions that have gradually killed prisoners in concentration camps." Brazelton is not alone in his concern: "To give a child 30 seconds of one thing and then to switch it and give him 30 seconds of another is to nurture irrelevance and to give reinforcement to a type of intellectual process that can never engage in sustained and developed thought" (Culhane, 1970).

Journal of Children and Media, 2020

ABSTRACT There is a great opportunity for modern technologies to advance research on children and... more ABSTRACT There is a great opportunity for modern technologies to advance research on children and media. Noninvasive data collection and analysis of a large variety of behaviors and bodily functions are becoming more possible, affordable, and useable with children. These include brain imaging, genetic and epigenetic analysis, hormonal assays, eye tracking, actigraphy, point of view video recording, content analysis, and language analysis. The possibilities for entirely new perspectives and forms of knowledge are exciting and growing.

Pediatrics, 2017

In this article, we examine the impact of digital screen devices, including television, on cognit... more In this article, we examine the impact of digital screen devices, including television, on cognitive development. Although we know that young infants and toddlers are using touch screen devices, we know little about their comprehension of the content that they encounter on them. In contrast, research suggests that children begin to comprehend child-directed television starting at ∼2 years of age. The cognitive impact of these media depends on the age of the child, the kind of programming (educational programming versus programming produced for adults), the social context of viewing, as well the particular kind of interactive media (eg, computer games). For children <2 years old, television viewing has mostly negative associations, especially for language and executive function. For preschool-aged children, television viewing has been found to have both positive and negative outcomes, and a large body of research suggests that educational television has a positive impact on cognit...

Child development, Jul 26, 2016

Eye movements were recorded as 12-month-olds (n = 15), 4-year-olds (n = 17), and adults (n = 19) ... more Eye movements were recorded as 12-month-olds (n = 15), 4-year-olds (n = 17), and adults (n = 19) watched a 15-min video with sequences of shots conveying continuous motion. The central question was whether, and at what age, viewers anticipate the reappearance of objects following cuts to new shots. Adults were more likely than younger viewers to make anticipatory eye movements. Four-year-olds responded to transitions more slowly and tended to fixate the center of the screen. Infants' eye movement patterns reflected a tendency to react rather than anticipate. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that adults integrate content across shots and understand how space is represented in edited video. Results are interpreted with respect to a developing understanding of film editing due to experience and cognitive maturation.

Media Exposure During Infancy and Early Childhood, 2016

Screen media can indirectly shape children’s developmental outcomes by affecting the nature of ev... more Screen media can indirectly shape children’s developmental outcomes by affecting the nature of everyday parent–child interactions. We highlight research conducted at the University of Massachusetts Amherst that has focused on how coviewing television influences both parent and child behaviors. This influence is largely in the direction of reducing parent–child interactions and parent language directed at young children compared to no media use. The impact, however, differs depending on whether TV program content is adult- or child-directed. Additionally, parent–child interactions differ when coviewing television relative to shared reading. In general, parent–child interactions are substantially different depending on context and media content. These findings readily extend to recent research on the impact of mobile screen technology on family interactions. Our working conclusion is that, in addition to media’s direct effects on children through both its form and content, there are likely important indirect effects of media on parent–child interactions as well.

This paper summarizes a series of studies investigating the nature of children's attention to tel... more This paper summarizes a series of studies investigating the nature of children's attention to television. In a study of distraction, children's visual attention was found to be affected by distractions in the environment, by the nature of tLe program and by the viewer's own patterns of attending. A study of the general patterns of attention to television revealed that children have an inertial tendency such that they can become "locked in" to TV viewing. The longer a child had been visually attentive, the greater the probability s/he would continue that attention. This phenomenon was labeled "attentional inertia." Another study investigated the conditional probability of looking back at the television as a function of time since the end of the last look. Again, results indicated the operation of attentional inertia. This phenomenon was also present in a study done with college student subjects. The possibility of generalizing attentional inertia beyond television watching is discussed. (SB) * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDES is not * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by BURS are the best that can be made from the original.

Journal of Communication, 1976

The purpose of this review is to determine the scientific status of the proposition that viewing ... more The purpose of this review is to determine the scientific status of the proposition that viewing television in general or viewing "Sesame Street" in particular affects children's attentional skills, abilities, or behaviors. It has been frequently claimed that television viewing negatively affects children's attentional abilities. The most common complaint is that rapid scene changes and movements on many television programs foster short attention spans. On these grounds, "Sesame Street" is sometimes cited as negatively affecting attentional abilities in its young viewers because the program uses short segments and varied pacing. Research li4-eratures in communication, education, medicine, and psychology were extensively searched. A total of 10 relevant studies were found, four of which dealt with "Sesame Street." The research indicates that television may affect attentional abilities in children. Contrary to claims by journalists and educators, the effects appear to be positive as well as negative. Viewing of "Sesame Street" in particular is associated with an increase in desirable attentional skills and behaviors. Because relatively few studies have examined the effects of television viewing on attention and because many of the studies have methodological shortcomings, conclusions should be considered tentative. (RH)

Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 2004

... For example, when preschool children watch television in a setting that affords other activit... more ... For example, when preschool children watch television in a setting that affords other activities, such as toy play, they look at and away from the screen many times in the course of an hour, averaging about 150 looks (Anderson & Levin, 1976). ...

Foundations of Neuropsychology, 1991

Television viewing has been popularly hypothesized to shorten attention spans, increase frantic b... more Television viewing has been popularly hypothesized to shorten attention spans, increase frantic behavior, and cause brain damage. A review of the scientific literature reveals no support for these claims. In fact, contrary to popular conceptions, it appears that television viewing is a cognitively active behavior, sharing many characteristics of other leisure-time activities such as reading. Although there is some evidence of subtle cognitive effects, such findings require further study to verify the link and the direction of causality. In the same vein, though different patterns of EEG have been reported when comparing television viewing with other activities, these findings indicate only that television viewing differs in some respects from other activities. Like the research on cognitive effects, nothing in this research supports the commonly hypothesized devastating effects of television viewing.

Studies investigating selected asFectf ct children's television viewing are described and the fin... more Studies investigating selected asFectf ct children's television viewing are described and the findings are used as the basis of a theoretical formulation in chich young children's television viewing is seen as a transactional process similar to cther normal information Processing activities. According to this formulation, the child's motivation to understand what he or she is viewing' is a primary driving force of a ttenti cn to television. Children develop a sophisticated strategy which allows them to effectively divide their visual attention between television and cther activities, such as toy play. This strategy depends heavily on the children's use of program attributes as cues to whether the current content is or is not informative. If the attribute signals informative content, the child pays full atterticn to the television and actively attempts to understand the program. Attributes such as children's voices, peculiar voices, women's voices, sound effects, auditory changes, applause, and laughter have been shorn to elicit and maintain looking at the television. It is argued that the effects of these attributes stem from the information which they Provide the child about the likely comprehensibility cf the content: For example, peculiar voices on television almost always mean content meant for children. It is suggested that with time, the child comes to learn these characteristics of the televisict medium and emFloy them to direct attention. (JIB)

Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 2001

Page 1. X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS This study evaluated adolescents who had been in either of two... more Page 1. X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS This study evaluated adolescents who had been in either of two com-parable studies as 5-year-olds during the early 1980s and who were aged 15 to 18 when we recontacted them ...