Poster #238 - Preschoolers’ Causal Learning from Print and Electronic Books

• In Event: 1-169 - Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Section - Technology, Media & Child Development

Integrative Statement

Preschoolers are more likely to learn causal information when they read it in a realistic than in a fantastical book (Walker, Gopnik, & Ganea, 2015). Nonetheless, we do not know if and how children’s causal knowledge acquisition from fictional electronic books differentiates from print books. Differently from print books, e-books offer enhancements of story components, such as animations. In fact, it was shown that such multimedia features of e-books enhance children’s vocabulary and story comprehension (Takacs, Swart, & Bus, 2015). However, the effects of multimedia features on causal learning had not been studied. This study investigates whether (i) book medium, (ii) probability of the story events, and (iii) animations affect children’s learning of a novel causal information. We predicted that children learn equally well from both book mediums yet animations may facilitate their learning by drawing their attention to the new piece of information.

Two picture books were created with the same theme (protagonist getting ready for school) with either possible or impossible events, the latter involving supernatural entities and physical law violations. Both included five events and one novel causal event, which was the target event (protagonist drinking a fictitious juice and sneezing as a consequence). The experimenter read preschoolers (N=193) with a mean age of 53.39 months (SD=9.61) one of the two books either on print or on tablet. Among those who were read the e-book, half saw moving animations for the five events and the target event, whereas for the other half, the book was the exact digital copy of the print version. To assess children’s causal learning, their generalization of the target event to real life was measured: children were shown a photo of a juice of the same color of the fictitious juice in the book and asked if a person who drank it sneezed or not. As a control, they were asked the same question for a photo of a juice of a different color.

A logistic regression revealed that controlling for children’s age and answers to the control question, not the book medium but the probability of events was a significant predictor of children’s generalization of a causal event, χ2(4)=12.423, p=.014. The odds of children’s generalization of the target event decreased when the book included impossible events, yet whether the book was presented in print or on tablet did not affect their generalization. For children in the e-book condition, the probability of events did not predict children’s generalization whereas the presence of animations did, χ2(4)=10.036, p=.04. The odds of children’s generalization increased when the story was animated.

Our results indicate that the medium on which a story is presented does not affect children’s causal learning from books. Children are more likely to generalize a causal event when the story is plausible. Nonetheless, when they read the story on an e-book, the effect of the story content on their learning diminishes and the role of animations come into prominence: children are more likely to learn causal information from an e-book with animations.

Authors

• Cansu Oranc, Koc University
  Presenting Author

• Cigdem Irem Ileri, Koc University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Aylin Küntay, Koc University
  Non-Presenting Author