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

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.