TV guide: two-year-old children learn to use video as a source of information.
Learning to use symbols is a challenge for young children even when the symbol in question (e.g., a live video image) is iconic and seems transparent to adults. This research examined the effect of experience on children's use of video-presented information. Two-year-old children saw themselves "live" on their family television for 2 weeks and then participated in an object-retrieval task. The children reliably used a live video presentation of an adult hiding a toy in an adjoining room to find the toy. Most also transferred what they learned to a task involving another symbol (pictures) that typically is very difficult for this age group. The results reveal flexibility in 2-year-olds' symbol use that follows from successful representation of a symbolic relation.
Troseth
Georgene L
GL
Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, USA. georgene.troseth@vanderbilt.edu
D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D013690:Television