Understanding why some children enjoy TV more than others

Date:
August 5, 2020
Source:
University of East Anglia
Summary:
New research shows that children's own temperament could be driving
the amount of TV they watch. The research shows how the brain
responses of 10-month-old babies watching a clip from Disney's
Fantasia on repeat could predict whether they would enjoy watching
fast-paced TV shows six months later. The findings are important
for the ongoing debate around early TV exposure.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Children's own temperament could be driving the amount of TV they watch
- - according to new research from the University of East Anglia and
Birkbeck, University of London.


==========================================================================
New findings published today show that the brain responses of 10-month-old babies could predict whether they would enjoy watching fast-paced TV
shows six months later.

The research team says that the findings are important for the ongoing
debate around early TV exposure.

Lead researcher Dr Teodora Gliga, from UEA's School of Psychology, said:
"The sensory environment surrounding babies and young children is really complex and cluttered, but the ability to pay attention to something is
one of the first developmental milestones in babies.

"Even before they can ask questions, children vary greatly in how
driven they are to explore their surroundings and engage with new sights
or sounds.

"We wanted to find out why babies appear to be so different in the
way that they seek out new visual sensory stimulation -- such as being attracted to shiny objects, bright colours or moving images on TV.



========================================================================== "There have been various theories to explain these differences, with
some suggesting that infants who are less sensitive will seek less
stimulation, others suggesting that some infants are simply faster at processing information -- an ability which could drive them to seek out
new stimulation more frequently.

"In this study we bring support for a third theory by showing that a
preference for novelty makes some infants seek more varied stimulation."
Using a brain imaging method known as electroencephalography (EEG),
the research team studied brain activity in 48 10-month old babies while
they watched a 40-second clip from the Disney movie Fantasia on repeat.

They studied how the children's brain waves responded to random
interruptions to the movie -- in the form of a black and white
chequerboard suddenly flashing on screen.

Dr Gliga said: "As the babies watched the repeated video clip, EEG
responses told us that they learned its content. We expected that, as
the video became less novel and therefore engaged their attention less,
they would start noticing the checkerboard.



==========================================================================
"But some of the babies started responding to the checkerboard earlier
on while still learning about the video -- suggesting that these children
had had enough of the old information.

"Conversely, others remained engaged with the video even when there was
not much to learn from it," she added.

Parents and carers were also asked to fill in a questionnaire about their babies' sensory behaviours -- including whether they enjoyed watching
fast- paced brightly-coloured TV shows. This was followed up with a
second similar questionnaire six months later.

Dr Gliga said: "It was very interesting to find that brain responses at
10 months, indicating how quickly infants switched their attention from
the repeated video to the checkerboard, predicted whether they would
enjoy watching fast-paced TV shows six months later.

"These findings are important for the ongoing debate on early TV exposure
since they suggest that children's temperament may drive differences in
TV exposure.

"It is unlikely that our findings are explained by early TV exposure
since parents reported that only a small proportion of 10-month-olds
were watching TV shows," she added.

Elena Serena Piccardi, from Birkbeck, University of London, said: "The
next part of our research will aim to understand exactly what drives
these individual differences in attention to novelty, including the role
that early environments may have.

"Exploration and discovery are essential for children's learning
and cognitive development. Yet, different children may benefit from
different environments for their learning. As such, this research will
help us understand how individualized environments may nurture children's learning, promote their cognitive development and, ultimately, support achievement of their full potential.

The research was led by UEA in collaboration with Birkbeck, University
of London and Cambridge University. It was funded by the Medical Research Council.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_East_Anglia. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Elena Serena Piccardi, Mark H. Johnson, Teodora Gliga. Explaining
individual differences in infant visual sensory seeking. Infancy,
2020; DOI: 10.1111/infa.12356 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200805091832.htm

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