Week 1: Intro to communication science and development psychology - HC
Why a course on youth, media, and technology?
Kids and youth entertainment landscape is changing rapidly
screentime is changing rapidly
As a result, the specific concerns related to kids/youth media continuously change.
Why a nuanced understanding of screentime?
Evidence for an absolute screen time limit (or ban) is weak.
Limited evidence for causal effect of screentime on variety of outcomes, where there aren’t
other factors at play.
Limited evidence for long term consequences both positive and negative.
Screentime effects are unlikely to be universal.
The term ‘screentime’ is too broad; covers multiple technologies and forms of use.
Our approach to youth and media questions
1) Three C’s
- Content (appropriate?)
- Context (social engagement etc)
- Child (age, temperament etc)
2) Differential Susceptibility to media effects model (the DSMM)
Individual differences not only affect the media use but can also change the media effect
individual differences also lead to different responses
Three types of individual differences:
1) Developmental: mostly age, predicts what media we are drawn to
2) Dispositional: trait characteristics big 5, levels in empathy and sensation seeking etc.
3) Social context: for example, parenting style and peers influence/social context
Development (domains) as a differential susceptibility:
- Language development
- Cognitive development (week 2 &3)
- Physical development (week 3)
- Socio-emotional development (week 2)
- Identity development (week 4)
,Language development
Important: 4 big stages
growth of words between age 0 till 6
Cognitive development
Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development
1) Sensorimotor stage (infants – 2yr):
senses are central, development of object permanence and goal directed behavior
object permanence = begrijpen dat objecten bestaan ook al zie je ze niet, of veranderen
van plek
2) Pre-operational stage (2yr – 6yr):
Development of memory/imagination/symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and centration.
Starting to develop theory of mind.
egocentrism = don’t see things from another perspective and talking without intending to
communicate
centration = focus on one specific visually feature and ignoring other less striking
attributes
Theory of mind: Theory of Mind is het vermogen van kinderen om te begrijpen
dat anderen andere gedachten, overtuigingen, wensen en perspectieven hebben dan zijzelf
3) Concrete operational stage (7yr-11yr)
Development logical reasoning, conservation, decentration, distinguishing fact/fiction,
classification [limited to concrete events/concepts]
rules and logic, oorzaak-gevolg en omgekeerd,
conservation = object hetzelfde maar uiterlijk veranderd (water glazen)
decentration = meer focus op details
4) Formal operational reasoning stage (12yr +)
Development of abstract/hypothetical thinking, deductive reasoning, understand abstract
relationships/concepts duim voorbeeld
introspection = ability to reflect on own thoughts
,Wrap-up
• Media preferences and effects are not universal (DSMM)
• Media preferences and effects will change from infancy to adolescence in ways that are in
line with their developmental stage
• When considering youth and media topics, we need to take multiple factors into account (3
Cs)
• When considering youth and media topics, we need a nuanced view of screentime
, Week 2 – educational outcomes related to media use - HC
Early childhood
- Infants <1 yr
- Toddlers 1-3 yr
- Preschoolers 4-5 ys
Middle Childhood
- Early middle childhood 5-7 yr
- “Tweens” 8-12 yr
Three key differences to keep in mind between early and middle childhood
Early childhood
1. Parents matter – a lot! What are their values/views on digital media? Can media
support learning?
2. Digital media is interesting, but not that interesting. Analogue also combined with
digital – is appealing too!
3. Educational media use is high
Middle childhood
1. Parents concerned about the increasing presence of technologies. And peers are
starting to matter.
2. Digital media becomes more popular overall; screentime soars (see
CommonSenseMedia)
3. Educational media use decreases spinach syndrome
Screentime changes from EC to MC
From 1:03 hours <2 yrs to 03:28 hours for 5–8-year-old
Educational media use becomes less popular
From 78% with 2-4 yrs to 27% with 8-10 yrs.
spinach syndrome reject anything that is supposed to be good for them.
Developmental characteristics as steppingstones for media creators
Moderate Discrepancy Hypothesis:
predicts that children will pay the most attention to media content that diverges only moderately
from their level of cognitive and social-emotional development.
If they encounter media content that is too discrepant (te afwijkend) from these schemata and
experiences, they will either avoid it or allocate less attention to it.
Why a course on youth, media, and technology?
Kids and youth entertainment landscape is changing rapidly
screentime is changing rapidly
As a result, the specific concerns related to kids/youth media continuously change.
Why a nuanced understanding of screentime?
Evidence for an absolute screen time limit (or ban) is weak.
Limited evidence for causal effect of screentime on variety of outcomes, where there aren’t
other factors at play.
Limited evidence for long term consequences both positive and negative.
Screentime effects are unlikely to be universal.
The term ‘screentime’ is too broad; covers multiple technologies and forms of use.
Our approach to youth and media questions
1) Three C’s
- Content (appropriate?)
- Context (social engagement etc)
- Child (age, temperament etc)
2) Differential Susceptibility to media effects model (the DSMM)
Individual differences not only affect the media use but can also change the media effect
individual differences also lead to different responses
Three types of individual differences:
1) Developmental: mostly age, predicts what media we are drawn to
2) Dispositional: trait characteristics big 5, levels in empathy and sensation seeking etc.
3) Social context: for example, parenting style and peers influence/social context
Development (domains) as a differential susceptibility:
- Language development
- Cognitive development (week 2 &3)
- Physical development (week 3)
- Socio-emotional development (week 2)
- Identity development (week 4)
,Language development
Important: 4 big stages
growth of words between age 0 till 6
Cognitive development
Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development
1) Sensorimotor stage (infants – 2yr):
senses are central, development of object permanence and goal directed behavior
object permanence = begrijpen dat objecten bestaan ook al zie je ze niet, of veranderen
van plek
2) Pre-operational stage (2yr – 6yr):
Development of memory/imagination/symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and centration.
Starting to develop theory of mind.
egocentrism = don’t see things from another perspective and talking without intending to
communicate
centration = focus on one specific visually feature and ignoring other less striking
attributes
Theory of mind: Theory of Mind is het vermogen van kinderen om te begrijpen
dat anderen andere gedachten, overtuigingen, wensen en perspectieven hebben dan zijzelf
3) Concrete operational stage (7yr-11yr)
Development logical reasoning, conservation, decentration, distinguishing fact/fiction,
classification [limited to concrete events/concepts]
rules and logic, oorzaak-gevolg en omgekeerd,
conservation = object hetzelfde maar uiterlijk veranderd (water glazen)
decentration = meer focus op details
4) Formal operational reasoning stage (12yr +)
Development of abstract/hypothetical thinking, deductive reasoning, understand abstract
relationships/concepts duim voorbeeld
introspection = ability to reflect on own thoughts
,Wrap-up
• Media preferences and effects are not universal (DSMM)
• Media preferences and effects will change from infancy to adolescence in ways that are in
line with their developmental stage
• When considering youth and media topics, we need to take multiple factors into account (3
Cs)
• When considering youth and media topics, we need a nuanced view of screentime
, Week 2 – educational outcomes related to media use - HC
Early childhood
- Infants <1 yr
- Toddlers 1-3 yr
- Preschoolers 4-5 ys
Middle Childhood
- Early middle childhood 5-7 yr
- “Tweens” 8-12 yr
Three key differences to keep in mind between early and middle childhood
Early childhood
1. Parents matter – a lot! What are their values/views on digital media? Can media
support learning?
2. Digital media is interesting, but not that interesting. Analogue also combined with
digital – is appealing too!
3. Educational media use is high
Middle childhood
1. Parents concerned about the increasing presence of technologies. And peers are
starting to matter.
2. Digital media becomes more popular overall; screentime soars (see
CommonSenseMedia)
3. Educational media use decreases spinach syndrome
Screentime changes from EC to MC
From 1:03 hours <2 yrs to 03:28 hours for 5–8-year-old
Educational media use becomes less popular
From 78% with 2-4 yrs to 27% with 8-10 yrs.
spinach syndrome reject anything that is supposed to be good for them.
Developmental characteristics as steppingstones for media creators
Moderate Discrepancy Hypothesis:
predicts that children will pay the most attention to media content that diverges only moderately
from their level of cognitive and social-emotional development.
If they encounter media content that is too discrepant (te afwijkend) from these schemata and
experiences, they will either avoid it or allocate less attention to it.
