How Academic Research Informs Kids’ TV Production

Daniel R. AndersonUniversity of Massachusetts at Amherst

Academic TV Research is Intended to be Generalizable

Academic research is not tied to one TV program. The goal is to develop general principles through

empirical replication and the development and testing of theory.

Most academic research is directed at the effects of television: aggression, prosocial behavior, educational achievement, health behavior, etc.

Some research is directed at television viewing itself: attention, comprehension, audience participation, etc.

The latter is most useful for production.

Watching Children Watch Television

Attention

Attention is variable Comprehensibility is a major driver of attention Preschoolers listen when they look (mostly) Dialogue and action must be linked Formal features elicit looking and influence the

decision to continue looking Attentional inertia

Comprehension

TV story understanding parallels storybook understanding.

Dialogue is understood in relation to action – general principles of cognitive development must be respected.

Editing must be done with an understanding of kids’ limited knowledge and information processsing ability.

Audience participation

The audience is cognitively active; if invited, they will readily participate by answering questions, pointing, dancing, etc.

If the program is interesting, preschoolers have a great tolerance for repetition; participation increases with repetition.

Participation reflects learning. High attention occurs during learning.

These principles are useful

Shows that have incorporated many of these principles are Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer, Bear in the Big Blue House, and the redesigned Sesame Street.

A case study is given in– Anderson, D.R. (2004). Watching children watch television and the

creation of Blue’s Clues. In H. Hendershot (Ed.), Nickelodeon nation: The history, politics, and economics of America’s onlyTV channel for kids (pp. 241-268). New York: New York University Press.