Infants and Toddlers, Developmental Needs of

Sensorimotor Experience

According to developmental theories, the baby-toddler passes through the sensorimotor stage during the first 2 years, in which mental schemas are shaped by the infant's senses and actions. For example, a baby may learn about the unique world of television by such actions as touching the screen when a favorite puppet appears, clapping hands to the music, or playing with the power button. These sensorimotor experiences are gradually integrated into the child's developing understanding of television and social reality. Thus, the child comes to understand that touching a puppet on a television screen feels very different from touching a favorite stuffed animal in the crib, and that, although television can be turned on and off at will, an absent caregiver does not return at the press of a button.

Attention and Comprehension

Attention to television develops from birth. In describing attention, researchers distinguish between foreground television, or television content to which young viewers attend closely, and background television, which may operate as background noise in a room where the young child is engaged in other activities. Newborns of a few weeks have been observed to react to sounds coming from the television set by stopping their feeding and turning their heads toward it. During the first few months of their lives, babies [Page 408]depend mostly on audio cues that direct their attention to background television for few seconds at a time. As they mature, young viewers engage in more foreground viewing, especially viewing of television programs and videotapes designed especially for younger audiences and clearly more comprehensible to them. Such programs, as well as commercials, can hold babies' attention for much longer stretches of time. Entrepreneurs have recognized this fact; consequently, there has been a recent growth in the number of programs and videotapes designed for viewing by this very, very young audience.

Particularly attractive television features are peppy music, sound effects, animation, lively pacing that is not overwhelming, laughter, and pleasing colors and shapes. Babies seem to react to content that makes sense to them: short verbal outputs, smiling faces, lovable animals, and female and children's voices. Studies of home observations of babies, as well as reports from caregivers, suggest that, from the age of a few months, babies will often stop their activities, move to the music, clap their hands, make happy gurgling sounds, and toddle toward the television set to point at objects and characters on the screen. Preference for familiar contents viewed with pleasure over and over again intensifies during the second year of life. Observations have documented high levels of attention and active viewing on the part of toddlers, which included singing and dancing along, pointing to the screen, imitating behaviors, speaking back to the television, and generally reacting enthusiastically and with great joy.

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