How Academic Research Informs Kids’ TV Production
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Transcript of How Academic Research Informs Kids’ TV Production
How Academic Research Informs Kids’ TV Production
Daniel R. AndersonUniversity of Massachusetts at Amherst
Academic TV Research is Intended to be Generalizable
Academic research is not tied to one TV program. The goal is to develop general principles through
empirical replication and the development and testing of theory.
Most academic research is directed at the effects of television: aggression, prosocial behavior, educational achievement, health behavior, etc.
Some research is directed at television viewing itself: attention, comprehension, audience participation, etc.
The latter is most useful for production.
Watching Children Watch Television
Attention
Attention is variable Comprehensibility is a major driver of attention Preschoolers listen when they look (mostly) Dialogue and action must be linked Formal features elicit looking and influence the
decision to continue looking Attentional inertia
Comprehension
TV story understanding parallels storybook understanding.
Dialogue is understood in relation to action – general principles of cognitive development must be respected.
Editing must be done with an understanding of kids’ limited knowledge and information processsing ability.
Audience participation
The audience is cognitively active; if invited, they will readily participate by answering questions, pointing, dancing, etc.
If the program is interesting, preschoolers have a great tolerance for repetition; participation increases with repetition.
Participation reflects learning. High attention occurs during learning.
These principles are useful
Shows that have incorporated many of these principles are Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer, Bear in the Big Blue House, and the redesigned Sesame Street.
A case study is given in– Anderson, D.R. (2004). Watching children watch television and the
creation of Blue’s Clues. In H. Hendershot (Ed.), Nickelodeon nation: The history, politics, and economics of America’s onlyTV channel for kids (pp. 241-268). New York: New York University Press.