Educational DVDs make infants dumber.

[ajblaise]

Infants Do Not Appear to Learn Words from Educational DVDs

Among 12- to 24-month old children who view educational baby videos, there does not appear to be evidence that overall general language learning improves or that words featured in the programming are learned, according to a report posted online that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Children age 2 and younger spend an estimated two hours per day exposed to media on a screen, and the average age at which infants begin watching programming designed for their age group is five months, according to background information in the article. Manufacturers' claims that these infant-directed media can teach children specific vocabulary words have not been substantiated.

Rebekah A. Richert, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of California, Riverside, studied vocabulary acquisition among 96 children age 12 to 24 months. Participants were tested on measures of vocabulary and general development, and their primary caregivers (77 mothers, seven fathers and four others) answered a series of questions about their children's development and previous exposure to educational media. Half of the children were then given an educational DVD to watch in their homes.

When additional tests were conducted after six weeks, there was no evidence children learned the words specifically highlighted in the DVDs, and watching the DVDs was unrelated to measures of general language learning. However, children whose parents reported that they began watching infant DVDs at an early age scored lower on a test of vocabulary knowledge.

The association between early DVD viewing and delays in language development could have several explanations, the authors note: "Parents who are concerned about their children's poor language abilities may use baby DVDs to try to teach their children, parents who use baby DVDs early may be less likely to engage in behaviors that promote language development or early viewing of baby DVDs may actually impair language development," they write.

"We conclude by encouraging researchers, parents, practitioners and programmers to consider the variety of cognitive factors related to whether very young viewers should be expected to learn from a DVD, regardless of DVD intent. Many cognitive factors play a role in learning from screens at this age, including children's developing perceptual systems, their understanding of symbols and analogy and their developing abilities to discriminate how much they should trust different sources of information," the authors continue. "Given that infant-directed media have become nearly ubiquitous aspects of many infants' lives, future research should continue to examine whether and how parents can use these DVDs effectively to teach their young children."

This research was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Maybe it's because only stupid parents buy those dumb "Your Baby Can Read!" DVDs, and intelligence is at least partially hereditary.

 

[kiddykat]

Leap Frog got sued for their 'educational' videos showing little or no significant improvement in childrens' learning.

I think this goes to show that we simply cannot get rid of the human-to-human contact in early childhood development. I think it boils down to quality attention.

 

[Andy]

Perhaps the fact that those videos are so repetitive doesn't help.Kids will watch the same ones over and over again. Being repeatedly exposed to the same material probably wouldn't help broaden development.

 

[sculpting]

We dont watch TV at home, so I am significantly behind when the toddler comes home and says "baby einsteins rocket" and " be whetrrrguahhnn momma, he say purrrrrtttttt". Internally I'm like, what the hell are you talking about? I try and pretend and just follow commands.

I have watched cars at least 80 times however and can faithfully mimic the sound of a tractor farting.

 

[BlueScreen]

Leap Frog got sued for their 'educational' videos showing little or no significant improvement in childrens' learning.

I think this goes to show that we simply cannot get rid of the human-to-human contact in early childhood development. I think it boils down to quality attention.

Yep. And DVDs don't adapt and know when your child doesn't get them. It's a bit like university lectures. They just distribute information and call it teaching.

 

[Spamtar]

Where can I get an adult version of them DVDs and do they come on VHS?

 

[ObeyBunny]

Awesomeness

Where can I get an adult version of them DVDs and do they come on VHS?

Standard Deviance (I don't know how it's spelled.)
You should check out a free video, they're not boring at all.

/)_/)
('.-')
/(")(")
ObeyBunny made a song about armed robbery to the tune of "Old McDonnald had a farm E.I.E.I.O"

 

[yvonne]

how could a dvd ever replace human interaction? it's beyond my comprehension that anyone would even think that... real human interaction is much more interesting, proper, and complex than watching tv... and very important to babies.

 

[disregard]

It makes sense, because those parents most likely think that a DVD is enough to teach their child and do not sit with their child and have them read and write. So the DVD's don't make the children dumber, but the DVDs taking the place of much more helpful teaching certainly would.

 

[MiasmaResonance]

I never remember watching any DVDs. I do, however, remember my mother giving me books to read. She also went over shapes and colours with me daily.

 

[Little_Sticks]

Yep. And DVDs don't adapt and know when your child doesn't get them. It's a bit like university lectures. They just distribute information and call it teaching.

Holy shit. You're a kindred spirit. Few have I found that see this.

 

[Lark]

I think reading with a child, reading to a child and stimulating an interest in books and reading early in life, like the infant stage, makes children into geniuses. I've got a friend who every time I visit his youngest runs and gets books out of the toy chest, he's really advanced.