Representational Flexibility: How Toddlers use Representations from Books and TV

观看电视和阅读绘本是幼儿时期普遍存在的活动（Rideout, Vandewater & Wartella, 2003）。家长和老师认为，幼儿可以很容易地从这些象征性媒体中学习，将书本或电视上的新信息转移到他们日常生活中遇到的相应现实世界的物体上。例如，一个孩子在书中或电视上看到犰狳，他可能会在以后的动物园里认出它。然而，对于蹒跚学步的孩子来说，建立这种联系可能相当困难。根据Hayne（2004）的表征灵活性假设，符号表征的感知属性的退化可能会使幼儿从这些媒体中学习成为一项具有挑战性的任务，特别是当他们在困难的条件下进行测试时（即没有叙述，长时间延迟，新奇的提醒）。然而，迄今为止，很少有实证研究探索幼儿从媒体接触中学习的方式。最近的研究表明，在某些情况下，幼儿可以将书本和电视上呈现的材料与相应的现实世界中的物体联系起来（Barr & Hayne, 1999; Meltzoff, 1988; Simcock & DeLoache, 2006）。然而，从媒体中了解到的信息被回忆的条件范围尚未得到系统的探索。在本研究中，我们将使用模仿范式来探索幼儿从媒体展示中学习的生态有效条件。模仿评估的是更高的认知技能，它涉及到一个成年人给蹒跚学步的孩子做一系列目标动作的模型，然后让孩子有机会复制这些动作。首先，我们将研究电视和书籍中叙述对模仿的影响。其次，我们将检查从电视和书本上学到的信息的保留时间。第三，我们将检查提醒对从电视和书本上学到的信息的保留的影响。本研究将对我们理解在一系列具有挑战性的条件下从符号媒介中学习和记忆的发展具有重要的理论意义。这将有助于告知家长、教师和政策制定者关于早期接触书籍对认知发展有积极影响而早期接触电视有消极影响的说法的有效性（APA, 1999）。最后，这项研究将对人们如何最好地设计和使用媒体作为有效的教学工具有重要的实际意义。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project Summary Television viewing and picture-book reading are prevalent activities during toddlerhood (Rideout, Vandewater & Wartella, 2003). Parents and teachers assume that toddlers' can easily learn from these symbolic media by transferring new information from books or television to the corresponding real-world objects they encounter in their daily lives. For example, one would expect that a child who is shown an armadillo in a book or on television would recognize it at the zoo sometime later. However, making this connection may be quite difficult for toddlers. Based on Hayne's (2004) representational flexibility hypothesis the degraded perceptual attributes of the symbolic representation may make learning from these media a challenging task for toddlers', especially when they are tested under difficult conditions (i.e., no narration, long delays, novel reminders). To date, however, very few empirical studies have explored the way in which toddlers learn from media exposure. Recent research shows that under some conditions toddlers' can relate the material presented from books and television to the corresponding real-world objects (Barr & Hayne, 1999; Meltzoff, 1988; Simcock & DeLoache, 2006). However, the range of conditions under which information learned from media is recalled has yet to be systematically explored. In the proposed research we will use an imitation paradigm to explore ecologically valid conditions under which toddlers' exhibit learning from media presentations. Imitation assesses higher cognitive skills and involves an adult modeling a series of target actions to the toddler who is later given an opportunity to reproduce them. First, we will examine the effect of narration on imitation from television and books. Second, we will examine the duration of retention for information learned from television and books. Third, we will examine the effect of reminders on the retention of information learned from television and books. The proposed research will have important theoretical implications for our understanding of the development of learning and memory from symbolic media in a range of challenging conditions. It will help inform parents, teachers and policy makers about the validity of claims that early exposure to books has positive effects on cognitive development whereas early television exposure has negative effects (APA, 1999). Finally, the research will have important practical implications for people working with toddlers as how to best design and use media as effective teaching tools. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There is an increasing awareness of the public health implications of early exposure to television and books. Studies have demonstrated both positive and negative associations between media exposure and attention, sleep, and emotion regulation and school readiness. Direct investigation of the cognitive processing of symbolic content during toddlerhood warrants further investigation.