Poster #240 - Young Children’s Learning From Video: A Meta-analysis of the Video Deficit in Children 0 to 6

• In Event: 3-106 - Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Section - Technology, Media & Child Development

Integrative Statement

Across a variety of domains, young children often learn less from video presentations than from face-to-face presentations of the same information. This pattern has been referred to as the video deficit (Anderson & Pempek, 2005; Krcmar, 2010). Potential explanations for the effect include perceptual and contextual differences between the presentation formats, differences in social cues and contingencies (people on screen are not responsive to children), and children’s conceptual understanding of video as a medium (Barr, 2013; Kuhl, 2007; Troseth, 2010). While exact estimates for the ages at which the video deficit occurs can vary somewhat, most researchers agree it is present between 12 and 21 months, and is resolved or dramatically reduced by 36 months (e.g., Barr et al., 2010; Krcmar, 2014; Schmidt at al., 2007; Uhls et al., 2014).

The current study uses meta-analytic techniques to examine the average size of the video deficit across the literature, and investigate the moderating role of age and learning domain (i.e., language, skill, or other) in the size of the video deficit being reported. A systematic literature search identified 117 independent effect sizes from 55 studies with children ages 0 to 6 years, in which learning from presentations delivered via video was compared with those delivered face-to-face. Preliminary meta-regression analyses revealed an overall weighted average effect size of g ̅ = -0.56 (95% CI [-0.68, -0.43]), suggesting that children performed over half a standard deviation worse learning from video than learning from a live actor (i.e. exhibited a video deficit). Age was a significant continuous predictor of the size of the deficit (b = 0.01, p < .05), such that differences between video and live learning lessened with age. To determine if the video deficit disappeared after the age of 36 months, the sample was split by age of participants. The average video deficit was significantly less (b = 0.37, p < .001), but still present, for studies involving older children (average sample age between 36 months and 6 years, g ̅ = -0.30, 95% CI [-0.54, -0.05]) than for those with younger children (younger than 36 months, g ̅ = -0.65, 95% CI [-0.79, -0.51])). Finally, studies where children were learning a skill (e.g. solving a puzzle) reported a larger video deficit, on average, than those where children were learning language-related content (e.g. vocabulary, b = -0.35, p < .05).

Video deficit research is used as justification for policy decisions, including the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations for parents about children’s media use (AAP Council on Communications and Media, 2016). These guidelines provide recommendations specific to particular ages and media content; thus, it is crucial to understand how and when the video deficit is present. The current study suggests that the video deficit is significant in magnitude, and may be present across a wider range of ages than often considered.

Authors

• Gabrielle Strouse, University of South Dakota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer E. Samson, Queens University of Charlotte
  Presenting Author