Children's Theory Of Mind And Cognitive Development

Since many scientists have differing views on the overall effect of television on children, it is simpler to look at how it affects the cognitive development, such as its impact on brain function and specific psychological developments of children. Scientists have already conducted research about television affects a children's physical, cognitive, and emotional development. However, a research group from Tohoku University decided to look further and see how it affected the brain's structural development. The experiment exposed 133 boys and 143 girls to different amounts of television ranging from 0-4 hours. After exposed the regional gray/white matter volume in the brain was measured. These structures are located in the frontal pole and are

Most of these scientific terms and ideas might only be understandable to a neurologist, but the main results of this study showed that the more television that a child watches the more likely it is to affect their frontal pole and intelligence. Although looking at how the brain develops is important, it is also crucial that we look at the psychological effects of media.

The psychological effect of children's television is much harder to study because it is not something that can physically be seen, however, there is a study that was conducted to determine the effects of media on children, paying specific attention to the theory of mind (ToM). The theory of mind is “the understanding of the mental states of others.” Children start to develop this at age four and use it to help gain relationships and social skills. Along with completing ToM assessments, this study had parents and preschoolers provided information about how much background television/regular television they were exposed to. 107 preschoolers were tested and the results showed that children who scored poorly on their ToM assessments were exposed to more

A great example of a show that was created to help improve the literacy gap between children in low-income households is Between the Lions. This PBS children's television show aimed to improve the literacy skills of its viewers and showcasing the joy of reading. This program helped teach 3-7-year-olds by featuring characters of similar age and using teaching techniques such as repetition. Studies from such places as University of Kansas and Mississippi State University were conducted to test the effectiveness of this show. Mississippi State University performed a study that examined the effect the show had on early literacy skills in preschool, kindergarten, and first graders from either low-income households or with children who did not speak English as their primary language. The children in the study took three literary test prior to the testing. Each subsequent week after the children were shown at least two episodes of Between the Lions, read books and completed activities related to the material taught in the episode. When the children received the tests again it showed that the program helped improve letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and researchers better test results with kindergarteners. The University of Kansas performed a similar study in which they had kindergarten and first-grade students watch 17 episodes of Between the