TEL T 205 1st Edition Lecture 12 The One With All The Kids 1 Why treat children as a special audience a Children are a fundamentally different audience then adults i Idea that children are more vulnerable true but there is more to it than that 1 People at different ages are consuming the content in different ways b Time spent with the media the amount of time spent with the media for kids is increasing i Children are catching up with adults with time spent with the media c Cognitive maturation fundamental differences Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development i Sensorimotor Stage 0 2 Thinks in what they see and how they move 1 Thought does not go beyond this 2 Trying out different types of movements to learn their environment 3 Drawn to unique sounds ii Preoperational Stage 2 7 1 Thought is dominated by perception start to reason a little bit based on their perception a here is what my sense tell me why is this happening SOLEY BASED ON PERCEPTION i Leads to common perceptual errors since they have not mastered all the skills yet b Child in preoperational stage will not understand narrative i Will notice and remember only striking features 1 Ex Little girl summarizing star wars iii Operational Stage 7 12 Start to engage in abstract thought are able to keep up with narrative 1 Master all of the skills so they do not make perceptual errors iv Formal Operational Stage 12 engage in even further abstract thinking 1 Can think ahead anticipation and predictions a Critical in order to achieve suspense requires expectation of what will happen d Emotional Maturation i Born with some emotional intelligence ability to read some facial reactions ii Some faces are harder to read iii Appropriateness of reaction what should someone be feeling These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute iv Empathy and these emotions are necessary to understand narrative as well as connect with characters e Experience Develops over time i Related to media content is necessary ii Formal features that we would only understand by experience with the media 1 Ex Flashbacks or dreams commercial breaks camera cuts laugh tracks 2 All of which are difficult for children to understand and makes sense of f Natural Abilities i Even amongst adults still vary quite a bit ii Field Dependence independence 1 Ability to pick an object out of a crowded field important for media 2 As we age we are more capable to pick out of salient crowd Field Independence iii Fluid Intelligence 1 Ability to pick out a pattern which is important for media as well 2 Huge variation among adults 2 The Impact of developmental differences a Increased Vulneability b The Case of The Day After made in the 80 s and at the time was a very realistic portrayl of nuclear holocaust i CBS running it it was about a small group of survivors and how they dealt with the aftermath ii Before it came out people claimed inappropriate for children and worried it would frighten them and give trauma iii Moved airtime back so children would be asleep and issued a warning before it aired to let parents know it was about to be aired 1 Some children still watched and scientists studied children who watched the movie a Results Not effected in the least No trauma most forgot they watched the movie i Not perceptually scary nothing looked scary it was just dusty and desolate 2 Teenagers were incredibly scared and had trauma from watching the show a Because they could engage in abstract thinking and follow the narrative b They could worry about the USSR and US reaching this level and apply it to a realistic occurrence that may happen and were so frightened c For teenagers scariest content is the news c The Case of Baby Einstein i Educational TV can be beneficial Sesame Street and Blues Clues ii However studies indicated it cannot be beneficial before the age of 2 iii Baby Einstein is created for infants infants are paying attention to the screen for the first time 1 All perceptual cues Bright colors shininess music movement 2 No story line or characters just images iv Sucks babies attention in which is very unusual their attention is held for oddly long v EFFECTS FOR LESS THAN 2 Their pitch was that it allowed babies to develop faster 1 Truth there is not benefit it impedes on development holds development back 2 When they are watching the screen they are not moving and engaging in the environment which is what they are supposed to be doing in the sensorimotor stage in order to learn 3 Babies do not learn through observation vi Problem marketed as selling content through preschool and door to door to aid child development