Representational Flexibility: How Toddlers use Representations from Books and TV

描述(由申请者提供)：项目摘要看电视和阅读图画书是幼儿时期的普遍活动(Rideout，Vandewater&Warella，2003)。家长和老师认为，通过将书本或电视上的新信息转移到他们在日常生活中遇到的相应现实世界中的物品，幼儿可以很容易地从这些象征性媒体中学习。例如，如果一个孩子在书中或电视上看到一只知更鸟，他会在以后的某个时候在动物园认出它。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)的表征灵活性假说，符号表征的认知属性退化可能会使幼儿从这些媒介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、新的提醒)。然而，到目前为止，很少有实证研究探索幼儿从媒体曝光中学习的方式。最近的研究表明，在某些条件下，幼儿能够将书本和电视上呈现的材料与相应的现实世界物体联系起来(Barr&Hayne，1999；Meltzoff，1988；Simcock&DeLoache，2006)。然而，从媒体了解到的信息被召回的条件范围尚未得到系统的探索。在拟议的研究中，我们将使用模仿范式来探索幼儿从媒体演示中展示学习的生态有效条件。模仿评估较高的认知技能，需要成年人为幼儿模拟一系列目标动作，然后幼儿有机会重现这些动作。首先，我们将考察电视和书籍中的叙事对模仿的影响。其次，我们将考察从电视和书籍中学习到的信息的保留时间。第三，我们将研究提醒对保留从电视和书籍中学到的信息的影响。这项研究将对我们理解在一系列挑战条件下从符号媒体学习和记忆的发展具有重要的理论意义。它将帮助家长、教师和政策制定者了解早期接触书籍对认知发展有积极影响，而早期接触电视对认知发展有负面影响的说法的正确性(APA，1999)。最后，这项研究将对从事幼儿工作的人们如何最好地设计和使用媒体作为有效的教学工具具有重要的实践意义。 与公共健康相关：人们越来越意识到早期接触电视和书籍对公共健康的影响。研究表明，媒体曝光与注意力、睡眠、情绪调节和上学准备之间既有积极的联系，也有消极的联系。对幼儿时期象征性内容认知加工的直接研究值得进一步研究。

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.