Learning From the “Blue Monster”: Children’s Reality Judgments and Transfer From TV to Real Life

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session III
  In Interactive Paper Session: Children, Adolescents, and the Media Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

For preschoolers, transfer of educational material from TV to life is complicated by the blend of factual and fantasy content present in many shows. In this study, 70 3-5 year-olds watched an episode of Sesame Street about Hispanic culture (i.e., fiestas). Their reality judgments and comprehension of both factual and fantastical content were assessed after viewing. One week later, children helped plan a fiesta (assessing their transfer of learning), and were re-assessed on their reality judgments and content memory of the show. Results revealed a moderated indirect effect of age on transfer: older children remembered the content better than younger children, but were only more likely to transfer it if they gave it high reality ratings. Additionally, children’s fantasy orientation was negatively related to transfer. Generally, children gave low reality ratings to fantasy content and tended not to transfer it. Results are interpreted within Fisch’s capacity model.

Authors

• James Alex Bonus, U of Wisconsin-Madison

• Marie-Louise Mares, U of Wisconsin-Madison