Learning from a screen: can interactive devices improve children?s memory for symbolic media representations?

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2014-09-22

Department

Towson University. Department of Psychology

Program

Citation of Original Publication

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There are no restrictions on access to this document. An internet release form signed by the author to display this document online is on file with Towson University Special Collections and Archives.

Subjects

Abstract

This study measured 30- (n = 16) and 36-month-olds' (n = 29) recall for events viewed live with toys and on a computer tablet. During the presentation session, children viewed four stories - two with toys and two on a tablet. In addition, children actively participated or passively watched the stories during the presentation session. One week later, children were asked to imitate the targets from each of the stories, first in the same dimension as the original presentation and then in a different dimension. We found that children recalled more information when the presentation sessions and imitation tests occurred in the same dimensions than in different dimensions. We found age and gender differences with older children and girls recalling more information than younger children and boys. Finally, we found that children showed a preference for action information over object or location information.