CAN TODDLERS LEARN NOVEL WORDS FROM EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS?

The current study employed a mixed design to assess word learning in infants under the age of two. Four conditions were used to see if babies who watched an infant-directed DVD at least six times over two weeks, or who watched an infant-directed DVD with parental mediation at least six times over two weeks, learned more novel words from the DVD than infants in the control condition. The current study was unique in three ways. The present study used a DVD very similar to an actual Baby Einstein DVD and the study used repeat exposure to explore whether showing the same DVD to a child multiple times could increase word learning. Finally, this study sought to determine if parent mediation could enhance children's viewing experiences. Results suggested that repeated exposure to the DVD did have a significant impact on word learning for infants aged four months to twenty-four months compared to children who had not seen the DVD. Results also showed that while the interaction between age and condition was not significant, the means were in the predicted direction and thus infants aged eighteen to twenty-four months did learn more novel words than the younger infants. Lastly, results showed that children in the treatment group with mediation did learn more novel words than children whose parents did not provide mediation of the DVD for them; however, the effect for word learning was not significant.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Rush, Amy Elizabeth

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/33469

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/33469