exhibityummy

Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Mar,R.
A.
,etal.
Exposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelop-mentinpreschoolers.
CognitiveDevelopment(2009),doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002ARTICLEINPRESSGModelCOGDEV-368;No.
ofPages10CognitiveDevelopmentxxx(2009)xxx–xxxContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectCognitiveDevelopmentExposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelopmentinpreschoolersRaymondA.
Mara,,JenniferL.
Tackettb,ChrisMoorecaYorkUniversity,DepartmentofPsychology,239BehaviouralSciencesBuilding,4700KeeleStreet,Toronto,ON,CanadaM3J1P3bUniversityofToronto,CanadacDalhousieUniversity,CanadaarticleinfoKeywords:Theory-of-mindReadingTelevisionMoviesMediaexposurePreschoolersabstractExposuretodifferentformsofnarrativemediamayinuencechil-dren'sdevelopmentoftheory-of-mind.
Becauseengagementwithctionalnarrativesprovidesonewithinformationaboutthesocialworld,andpossiblydrawsupontheory-of-mindprocessesdur-ingcomprehension,exposuretostorybooks,movies,andtelevisionmayinuencetheory-of-minddevelopment.
Weexamined4–6year-olds'inferredexposuretochildren'sliterature,television,andlm,usinganobjectivemeasurethatcontrolsforsociallydesirableresponding.
Theory-of-mindwasassessedusingabatteryofvetasks.
Controllingforage,gender,vocabulary,andparentalincome,inferredexposuretochildren'sstorybookspredictedtheory-of-mindabilities.
Inferredexposuretochildren'smoviesalsopredictedtheory-of-minddevelopment,butinferredexposuretochildren'stelevisiondidnot.
2009ElsevierInc.
Allrightsreserved.
1.
IntroductionThedevelopmentalbenetsofreadingtoone'schildfromanearlyage,andwithgreatfrequency,havebeenwidelyrecognized.
Languageskillsarethoughttobetheprimarybeneciaryofthispractice(e.
g.
,Sénéchal&LeFevre,2002;cf.
Scarborough&Dobrich,1994).
However,improvedlinguisticcom-Correspondingauthor.
Tel.
:+14167362100x20769;fax:+14167365814.
E-mailaddress:mar@yorku.
ca(R.
A.
Mar).
URL:http://www.
yorku.
ca/mar/(R.
A.
Mar).
0885-2014/$–seefrontmatter2009ElsevierInc.
Allrightsreserved.
doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Mar,R.
A.
,etal.
Exposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelop-mentinpreschoolers.
CognitiveDevelopment(2009),doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002ARTICLEINPRESSGModelCOGDEV-368;No.
ofPages102R.
A.
Maretal.
/CognitiveDevelopmentxxx(2009)xxx–xxxpetencemaynotbetheonlyadvantagethataccruesforpreschoolersasaresultofstorybookexposure.
Socialcognitivedevelopmentmayalsobenet.
1.
1.
Theory-of-mindandchildren'sstorybooksBytheageof4years,childrenhavebeguntodevelopanunderstandingofthementalstatesofothers,knownasatheory-of-mind(Astington,Harris,&Olson,1988).
Thisabilityisimportantforsocialfunctioning,asithelpschildrentocoordinaterelationshipswithothers(Watson,Linkie-Nixon,Wilson,&Capage,1999).
Thecontentofstoriescertainlyseemswell-suitedtopromotetheacquisitionoftheory-of-mindlanguageandperhapsfosterthedevelopmentofthiscapacity.
Cassidyetal.
(1998)foundthatofthebooksreadtopreschoolersbyagroupofparents,over75%containedsomelanguagerelatedtointernalstates,andathirddealtdirectlywiththeconceptoffalsebelief(akeycomponentoftheory-of-mind).
Inanin-depthcontentanalysisof90booksfor3–4and5–6year-olds,Dyer,Shatz,andWellman(2000)foundthattheincidenceofmental-statereferenceswasfrequent,occurringonceeverythreesentencesorso.
Children'sstoriesaresocialinnature,centeringoninteractionsbetweenindividualswhooftenhavecompetinggoalsandfrequentlydescribesituationsinwhichcharactersholddivergingbeliefs(Peskin&Astington,2004).
Situationalirony,forexample,occurredinroughlyathirdofthechildren'sbooksstudiedbyDyeretal.
(2000).
Empiricalresearchrelatedtothisidea,however,hasnotbeenextensiveandhasyieldedmixedresults.
Inonestudy,childrenexposedtostoriesembeddedwithmental-statetermsweremorelikelytospontaneouslyproducesuchwords,buttheyexhibitednogreaterunderstandingoftheirmeaning(Peskin&Astington,2004).
Anotherstudy(Adrian,Clemente,Villanueva,&Rieffe,2005)reportedthatparent–childbookreadingiscorrelatedwiththeory-of-mind,butthisinvestigationsuffersfromsomenotablelimitations,includingrelianceonself-reportedreadinghabits,asingletheory-of-mindmeasure,andlackofcontrolforimportantmediatorssuchasthechild'sage,gender,andparentalincome.
AlthoughAstington(1990)haspreviouslyarguedthattheacquisitionoftheory-of-mindmayaidstorycomprehension(particularlystoriesthatinvolvementalstates),itremainsunclearwhetherexposuretostorybooksaidsthedevelopmentoftheory-of-mind.
Thecurrentstudyexaminesthisquestion.
1.
2.
Theory-of-mindandmediaAlargelyneglectedissueiswhetherotherformsofnarrativeasidefromstorybooksmayalsoberelatedtotheory-of-minddevelopment.
Althoughtherehasbeensometheorizingthattelevisioncouldinuencethedevelopmentoftheory-of-mind(Feshbach&Feshbach,1997),littleempiricalresearchexistsregardingthispossibility.
Naigles(2000),however,didreportanexploratorystudyinwhichpreschoolerswhowatched10episodesof"BarneyandFriends"demonstratedweakcomprehensionofthedistinctionbetweenthewords"think,""guess,"and"know,"despitethefactthatthesepar-ticularepisodesfeaturedthesewords.
Naigleshypothesizedthatthisshowemployedthesewordsratherinterchangeably,resultingindecreaseddiscriminationamongthoseexposedtotheseepisodes.
Whetherthisndingcanbegeneralizedtoothertelevisionshows,orevenotherepisodesofthisshow,remainsunknown.
Thepresentstudyaimstoextendworkinthisareabyexaminingwhetherthereexistsarelationbetweenvariousformsofmedia(children'sstorybooks,television,andmovies)andtheory-of-minddevelopment.
Thisrelationisexaminedwhiletakingintoaccountimportantvariablessuchasage,gender,vocabularyandfamilyincome.
2.
Method2.
1.
ParticipantsParticipantswere55children(30female;ages4-1to6-11,M=63.
7months,SD=8.
3),andoneoftheirparents(5fathers;ages28–50,M=39.
7,SD=5.
2,with2notreportingage).
Englishwasspokeninallhomes,althoughotherlanguageswerealsospokenin40%ofhomes.
FamilyincomeaveragedPleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Mar,R.
A.
,etal.
Exposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelop-mentinpreschoolers.
CognitiveDevelopment(2009),doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002ARTICLEINPRESSGModelCOGDEV-368;No.
ofPages10R.
A.
Maretal.
/CognitiveDevelopmentxxx(2009)xxx–xxx3inthe$115,001to$135,000(Canadiandollars)category,witharangefrom$15,000to≥$255,001.
RecruitmentwasperformedthroughadatabasemaintainedbytheChildStudyCentre(UniversityofToronto,Canada),andthroughtheInstituteforChildStudy(Toronto,Canada).
2.
2.
MeasuresMeasurementofexposuretodifferentmediawasachievedusingrecognitiontestscompletedbyparents.
ThesemeasuresarebasedontheAuthorRecognitionTest(ART)developedbyStanovichandWest(1989),andtheycontrolforsociallydesirablerespondingthroughuseofasignaldetectionapproach.
Respondentsareaskedtoindicatefromalistofnamesthosethattheyrecognizeasbelongingtoanauthor,butguessingorindiscriminatecheckingisdiscouragedbyanexplicitwarningthatsomeofthenamesarefoils.
Thismethodprovidesanindirectmeasureofachild'sexposuretomedia,sinceitiscompletedbytheparentanddoesnotdirectlyaskaboutthatchild'smediahabits.
Thelatterapproachwasnotusedduetoconcernsthatparentswouldnotprovideobjectiveorvalidresponses.
Despitethelimitationsoftheindirectapproach,suchmeasureshavebeenshowntoformwell-validatedindicationsofthedegreetowhichsomeoneisexposedtoprintmaterialsandtendstobea'reader'(Stanovich&Cunningham,1993;West,Stanovich,&Mitchell,1993).
Thesetypesofmeasuresalsoexhibitbetterpredictivevaliditythanself-reportandequivalentvaliditytodailydiaryapproaches(Allen,Cipielewski,&Stanovich,1992).
2.
2.
1.
Children'sAuthorChecklist–ParentReport(CAC–PR)TheChildren'sAuthorChecklistbySénéchal,LeFevre,Hudson,andLawson(1996)wasupdatedtoincludecurrentlypopularchildren'sauthors.
Noexpositorynon-ctionauthorswereincluded.
Thenalversionincluded70authorsofchildren'snarrativection(e.
g.
,MauriceSendak,BeatrixPotter)and32foils(e.
g.
,MarkLepper).
Sénéchalandhercolleagueshavefoundthatchecklistmeasuresofinferredchildren'sstorybookexposurearevalid,unbiased,andabetterpredictorofchildvocabularythanself-reportmeasures(Sénéchal&LeFevre,2002;Sénéchaletal.
,1996;Sénéchal,LeFevre,Thomas,&Daley,1998).
Additionalvaliditydatacomefromdemonstrationsthatadultswhoareexposedtomorechildren'sliteraturescorehigheronthesetypesofmeasuresthanthosewhohavelessexposure(Sénéchaletal.
,1996;Stainthorp,1997).
2.
2.
2.
Children'sTitleChecklist–ParentReport(CTC–PR)Anadditionalmeasureofinferredexposuretochildren'sliteraturewascreatedusingtitlesinsteadofauthorsastargets,basedontheChildren'sTitleChecklistdevelopedbySénéchaletal.
(1996).
Thismeasurewasbroughtuptodate,andalltargetswerechildren'snarrativection.
Thismeasureincluded63actualtitles(e.
g.
,APocketforCorduroy,Thomas'sSnowsuit),and29foils(e.
g.
,TerryToad)2.
2.
3.
Children'sFilmRecognitionTest–ParentReport(CFLM–PR)AlmversionoftheCTC–PRwascreatedusingthetitlesofchildren'slms.
Newreleaseswereincludedalongwitholder,classiclms.
Thenalmeasureconsistedof87lms(e.
g.
,TheWiggles:YummyYummy,Fantasia)and12foils(e.
g.
,TheWiggles:PyjamaParty,DragonTales:School'sAllRight!
).
Notetheclosesimilarityforsomepairsoftargetsandfoils.
Itwasnotenoughforparentstoknowthat"TheWiggles"isthenameofaseriesofchildren'slms,butinordertogetcredittheyhadtoknowtheexactsubtitleaswell.
Checkingallofthe"Wiggles"itemsresultedinalsocheckingfoilitems.
2.
2.
4.
Children'sTelevisionRecognitionTest–ParentReport(CTV–PR)AmeasuresimilartotheCFLM–PRwasconstructedtoexamineinferredexposuretochildren'stelevision.
Thechecklistconsistedof68currenttelevisionshowsforchildren(e.
g.
,KimPossible,YvonoftheYukon)and15foils(e.
g.
,TheMagicHotpot).
2.
2.
5.
Theory-of-mindmeasuresTheory-of-minddevelopmentwasmeasuredusingascaledsetoftaskscreatedbyWellmanandLiu(2004).
Ave-itemversion(i.
e.
,DiverseDesires,DiverseBelief,KnowledgeAccess,ContentsFalse-Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Mar,R.
A.
,etal.
Exposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelop-mentinpreschoolers.
CognitiveDevelopment(2009),doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002ARTICLEINPRESSGModelCOGDEV-368;No.
ofPages104R.
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Maretal.
/CognitiveDevelopmentxxx(2009)xxx–xxxTable1Theory-of-mindbatteryprocedures.
TaskProcedureDiverseDesiresChildrenarepresentedwithatoygureofanadult,andapieceofpaperwithacookieandacarrotdrawnonit.
Theyaretoldthatthemanwantstohaveasnack,eitheracarrotoracookie,andthechildisaskedwhichsnackheorshewouldprefer.
Whateverthechildchooses,theexperimenterexplainsthatthemanpreferstheothersnack.
Thetargetquestionforthechildiswhatsnackthemanwillchoosetohave.
Topassthistask,thechildmustansweroppositefromhisorherowndesires.
DiverseBeliefThechildisintroducedtoatoygirlwhoislookingforhercat.
Apieceofpaperillustratesagarageandasetofbushes,anditisexplainedthatthecatcouldbehidingineitherplace.
Theexperimenterthenasksthechildwhereheorshethinksthatthecatishiding,ineitherthegarageorthebushes.
Itisthenexplainedthatthetoygirlthinksthecatishidingintheplacenotchosenbythechild.
Thetargetquestioniswherethegirlwilllookforhercat.
Inordertobescoredascorrect,thechildmustansweroppositetohisorherownbeliefs.
KnowledgeAccessChildrenarepresentedwithasmallplasticboxandaskedwhattheythinkisinside.
Theboxisthenopenedtorevealasmallplasticdog.
Afterclosingthebox,thechildisagainaskedwhatisinsidetoensurethattheyrecalltheobject.
Atoygirlisthenintroduced,anditisexplainedthatshehasneverseeninsidethebox.
Thetargetquestioniswhetherthegirlknowswhatisinsidethebox,andthememoryquestioniswhethershehasseeninsidethebox.
Tobescoredascorrect,thechildmustanswer"No"tobothquestions.
ContentsFalse-BeliefABand-Aidboxispresentedandthechildisaskedwhattheythinkisinside.
Theboxisthenopenedtorevealsmallplasticpig,ratherthantheexpectedbandages.
Onceclosed,thechildisagainaskedwhatisinsidethebox.
Atoyboyisthenintroduced,anditisexplainedthathehasneverseeninsidethebox.
ThetargetquestioniswhethertheboythinksthattheboxcontainsBand-Aidsorapig.
Thememoryquestioniswhethertheboysawinsidethebox.
Inordertopassthistask,thechildmustanswer"Band-Aids"tothetargetquestion,and"No"tothememoryquestion.
Real—ApparentEmotionThechildispresentedwithdrawingsofahappy,neutral,andsadfacethattheexperimenterusestoensurethechildunderstandseachoftheseemotionalexpressions.
Astoryisthentoldbytheexperimenter,describinghowaboyismockedbyanoldergirlontheplaygroundandhoweveryoneelselaughs.
Theexperimentergoesontoexplainthattheboydidn'twanttoshowhowsadthejokemadehimfeel,becausetheotherchildrenwouldteasehim,sohetriedtohidehisemotions.
Twomemoryquestionsarethenasked,regardingthereactionoftheotherchildrenwhenthejokewastoldandwhattheotherchildrenwoulddoiftheyknewhowhefelt.
Thestoryisre-tolduntilthechildcananswerthesememoryquestionscorrectly.
Nexttheexperimenterthenaskshowtheboyreallyfeltaftereverybodylaughed(target-feelquestion),andhowhelookedonhisfacewheneverybodylaughed(target-lookquestion).
Thehappy,sad,andneutralpicturesareusedtoasresponseitemsforthesequestions.
Inordertobecodedascorrect,thechild'sanswertothetarget-feelquestionmustbemorenegativethanhisorheranswertothetarget-lookquestion.
Belief,andReal—ApparentEmotion)wasadministered,asrecommendedbythecreators.
Briey,DiverseDesiresteststhechild'sabilitytocomprehendthatotherpeoplecanhavedifferingdesiresfromone'sownregardingthesameobjects;DiverseBeliefsissimilar,butexaminesdifferingbeliefsaboutthesameobjectwhenthetruthisnotknown;KnowledgeAccesstestscomprehensionofthefactthatothersdonotnecessarilyknowwhatoneknows;ContentsFalse-Beliefexamineswhetherthechildcancorrectlyjudgeanotherperson'sfalsebeliefbyovercomingtheirownknowledge;andReal—ApparentEmotiontestswhetherachildunderstandsthatapersoncanfeelonewayinside,butoutwardlydisplayanotheremotion.
Fulldescriptionsofallofthesetasksareavailableinthesourcearticle,andwepresentbriefdescriptionsinTable1.
Thesetasksarevariantsofwidelyusedtheory-of-mindtasksandvalidationofthebatteryhasbeendemonstrated(e.
g.
,infantsocialattentionpredictslaterperformance,Wellman,Phillips,Dunphy-Lelii,&LaLonde,2004).
2.
2.
6.
AuthorRecognitionTest–Revised(ART)Parentalrecognitionofadultauthorswasundertakeninordertoestablishdiscriminantvalid-ityforourapproach,inthatscoresonthismeasureshouldnotpredictchildtheory-of-mindPleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Mar,R.
A.
,etal.
Exposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelop-mentinpreschoolers.
CognitiveDevelopment(2009),doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002ARTICLEINPRESSGModelCOGDEV-368;No.
ofPages10R.
A.
Maretal.
/CognitiveDevelopmentxxx(2009)xxx–xxx5performance,unlikeCAC–PRandCTC–PRscores.
AnupdatedandrevisedversionoftheARTwasusedinthisstudy(Mar,Oatley,Hirsh,delaPaz,&Peterson,2006).
Itincludes50ctionauthors(e.
g.
,UmbertoEco),50non-ctionauthors(e.
g.
,MalcolmGladwell)alongwith40foils(e.
g.
,AimeeDorr).
2.
2.
7.
PeabodyPictureVocabularyTest-III(PPVT-III;Dunn&Dunn,1997)Vocabularywasmeasuredandincludedasacovariateinallanalysestoruleoutthepossibilitythatimprovementsintheory-of-mindaresimplyduetolinguisticcompetence,animportantinclusionconsideringtheknownassociationbetweenlanguageandtheory-of-minddevelopment(Astington&Jenkins,1999;Pyers&Senghas,2009).
Bycontrollingforvocabulary,wecanexaminethespecicpredictiveabilityofinferredmediaexposureontheory-of-mind,aboveandbeyonditsinuenceonmoregeneralabilitiessuchaslanguagedevelopment.
ThewidelyusedPPVT-III(Dunn&Dunn,1997),ameasureofreceptivelanguage,wasadministered.
Thismeasurerequireschildrentoindicatewhichpicturecorrespondstoatargetwordspokenbytheexperimenter.
2.
3.
ProcedureFollowingashortplaysessiondesignedtomakethechildcomfortablewiththetestingsituationandexperimenter,thetasksintheexperimentweredescribedandconsentsolicitedfrombothparentandchild.
Parentscompletedthesetofquestionnaires(i.
e.
,theART,CAC–PR,CTC–PR,CFLM–PR,andCTV–PR)whilethechildcompletedthetheory-of-mindbatteryandthePPVT-III.
Followingcompletionofthetasks,childrenweregivenasmalltoyandacerticateofappreciation.
Parentsandchildrenwerethenfullydebriefed,andasmallmonetaryremunerationprovidedtotheparent.
3.
Results3.
1.
ScalereliabilitiesandscoresForrecognitionmeasures,falsepositives(thecheckingoffoils)weresubtractedfromcorrecthitstocreateadjustedscores.
Theinternalreliabilities(Cronbach'salpha)oftherecognitionmea-suresforchildmediawereallhigh,CAC–PR:=.
92,M=12.
5,SD=8.
1;CTC–PR:=.
87,M=16.
9,SD=7.
2;CFLM–PR:=.
87,M=20.
5,SD=7.
2;CTV–PR:=.
92,M=21.
0,SD=7.
6.
Acompositevariableforinferredchildren'sstorybookexposure(CBOOK)wascreatedbyaveragingscoresontheCAC–PRandCTC–PR,whichwerehighlycorrelated(r=.
81,p.
05.
Itwasinvestigatedwhetherasubsetofthetheory-of-mindtaskswouldleadtoincreasedpredictionbyinferredadultbookexposure,butPleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Mar,R.
A.
,etal.
Exposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelop-mentinpreschoolers.
CognitiveDevelopment(2009),doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002ARTICLEINPRESSGModelCOGDEV-368;No.
ofPages10R.
A.
Maretal.
/CognitiveDevelopmentxxx(2009)xxx–xxx7innocasewasinferredadultbookexposureastatisticallysignicantpredictor.
Thislackofpredic-tionforinferredadultbookexposureisespeciallycompellinginlightofthesharedmethodvarianceforthetwomeasuresofprintexposure(CBOOKandABOOK).
Bothinvolvesimplytickingoffnamesrecognizedfromalist,andtheirinter-correlationwasnottrivial,r=.
55,p.
05.
Subsetsofthetheory-of-mindbatterywereinvestigatedbutinnocasedidanyresultininferredchildren'stelevisionexposurebecomingastatisticallysignicantpredictor.
4.
DiscussionThisstudyhasshownthatchildrenwhoseparentsarebetteratrecognizingchildren'sstorybookstendtoperformbetterontheory-of-mindtasks.
Thedegreeofpredictionappearstobesubstantial,resultingina26%increaseinthepredictionoftheory-of-mindscores(from27%to34%),abovekeyindicatorssuchasage,sex,parentalincomeandvocabulary.
Moreover,wedemonstratedthatthiseffectisspecictotheparentalrecognitionofchildren'sliterature,asanearlyidenticalmeasureofinferredadultbookexposuredoesnotpredicttheory-of-mindperformance.
Thisdissociationincreasescondencethatthendingisnotmerelyafunctionofhowwemeasuredexposuretoprint.
Thisstudyalsodemonstratedthatthepredictionoftheory-of-mindabilitiesextendstochildren'smovies,whichincreasedpredictionoftheory-of-mindscoresby33%beyondotherindicators.
Thesame,however,couldnotbesaidofchildren'stelevision.
Sincelittlepreviousresearchhasexaminedhowtheseformsofnarrativemediamightrelatetotheory-of-mindinchildren,thisisanimportantlaunchingpointforfutureresearch.
Thereareanumberofpossiblemechanismsthatcouldexplaintheobservedrelations.
Conversationaroundmentalstatesbetweenparentandchildmighthelpfostertheacquisitionofatheory-of-mind.
Discussionofmentalstateshasbeenfoundtooccurduringjointreadingofawordlessstorybook(Ruffman,Slade,&Crowe,2002;Sabbagh&Callanan,1998),andsuchconversationoccursinthiscontextatahigherfrequencythanduringeverydayconversation(Bartsch&Wellman,1995;Dyeretal.
,2000).
Othershavefoundthatthesetypesofconversationsinthecontextofjointreadingisassociatedwithsocialunderstanding(e.
g.
,understandingemotions;Garner,CarlsonJones,Gaddy,&Rennie,1997),particularlyifsuchconversationisinitiatedbytheparent(Symons,Peterson,Slaughter,Roche,&Doyle,2005).
Talkingaboutstorycharactersandtheirdesires,beliefs,andemotionsappearstoguideachild'sgrowingunderstandingthatpeoplepossessmentalstates.
Itmayalsobethatchildrenarementallysimulatingtheeventsdepicted(Mar&Oatley,2008;Oatley,1999),sincepreviousworkhasdemonstratedthatchildrenadoptthevisuospatialperspec-tiveofstoryprotagonists(Rall&Harris,2000)andexperiencephysiologicalreactionsindicativeofdeepimmersioninastory(Bar-Haim,Fox,VanMeenen,&Marshall,2004).
Thisdeepsimulationofthestoryevents(Gerrig,1993;Nell,1988;Tellegen&Atkinson,1974)mayberelatedtoimaginationandpretendplay(Carlson&Taylor,2005;Harris,2000),whichoftenrevealsasophisticatedunder-standingoffantasy(Skolnick&Bloom,2006).
Imaginationandpretensealsopredictsocialability,theory-of-mind,andsocialcompetenceinchildren,anddosoevenaftercontrollingforverbalintel-ligence(Seja&Russ,1999;Taylor&Carlson,1997)andsocioeconomicstatus(Garner,Curenton,&Taylor,2005).
Sincechildren'sstoriescontainsituationsrichwithsocialandmental-stateinforma-tion(Cassidyetal.
,1998;Dyeretal.
,2000),simulatingstoryexperiencesmayengagetheory-of-mindPleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Mar,R.
A.
,etal.
Exposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelop-mentinpreschoolers.
CognitiveDevelopment(2009),doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002ARTICLEINPRESSGModelCOGDEV-368;No.
ofPages108R.
A.
Maretal.
/CognitiveDevelopmentxxx(2009)xxx–xxxprocessesandfostertheirdevelopment.
Otherpossiblemechanismsnodoubtexist,anditwilltakeaprogramoffutureresearchtotestcompetingpredictionsanduncoverwhatdrivestheseobservedrelations.
Atpresent,itisunclearwhythephenomenonobservedextendstochildren'slmsbutnotchildren'stelevision.
Examiningthedifferencesbetweenthesetwomediacouldprovideuswithsomeclues.
Themostobviousdifferencebetweentelevisionshowsandlmsisthecontinuityandlengthoftheirpresentations.
Televisionshowsareinterruptedbycommercialsandtendtorun22mininlength.
Filmsarenotinterruptedinthisfashionandaremuchlonger.
Thesedifferencesinformatcouldprovokemoreparent–childconversationsaboutmentalstates,asperhapsparentsaremorelikelytoletchildrenwatchtelevisionalone,whereaslmsarewatchedtogether.
Anotherpossibilityisthatlmsallowformorementalsimulationofeventscomparedtotelevision.
Eitherpossibilitymighthelptoexplainwhyweseeanassociationbetweeninferredmediaexposureandtheory-of-minddevelopmentforlmbutnotfortelevision.
Anumberoflimitationstothisstudymustbeacknowledged.
Forone,thecorrelationalnatureofthisstudymeansthatcausalitycannotbeinferred.
However,exposuretonarrativemediaisnotlikelytobeself-selectedforchildrenatthisage,whocannotpurchaseorevenreadbooksontheirown(forthemostpart),orcontroltheiraccesstoothermedia.
Whatmediaaccessorexposurethatissoughtbythechildhimorherselfisnotnecessarilyreectedinourparent-basedmeasuresofmediaexposure.
Whileitispossiblethatchildrenwhohavemorehighlydevelopedtheoriesofmindmakemorerequestsfornarrativeproducts,thereisnoguaranteethattheserequestsaremetbytheircaregivers.
Moreover,eveniftheserequestsarelled,thereisevidencethatcertaincharac-teristicsoftheexperienceareimportantforfosteringtheory-of-minddevelopment(e.
g.
,mothers'mental-stateutterances;Ruffmanetal.
,2002)andthereislittlewaythatachildcouldcontrolthesefactors.
Ourmeasureofmediaexposurewasindirect,derivedentirelyfromparents,andchildrenmaybeexposedtostorybooks,television,andchildren'smoviesinotherenvironmentssuchasdaycareorpreschool.
Henceourstudymayhaveunderestimatedthemagnitudeoftherelationbetweenmediaandtheory-of-mind.
Althoughourchecklistrecognitionmeasuresensuredgreatervalidityinmea-suringourmediaconstructscomparedtoself-report(Sénéchaletal.
,1996),thesemeasurescannottellustowhatexactlychildrenarebeingexposed.
Parentalrecognitionofitemsisagoodproxyforoverallexposuretoacertainformorgenreofmedia,butitcannotspeaktotheexposure(orfre-quencyofexposure)toexactbooks,televisionshows,ormovies.
Futurestudiesshouldcombinetheuseofchecklistmeasureswithmoreexplicitself-report,tobalancethetrade-offsassociatedwitheach.
Thenatureofourmediaexposuremeasuresmakessomeofourinterpretationsnecessarilyspecula-tive.
Forexample,thewidevarietywithineachmediummakesconclusionsacrossmediadifcult,anditmightbesafesttoconcludethattheassociationweobservedwasvariableacrossdifferentmedia.
Ourparticipantsalsoperformedwellonthetheory-of-mindbattery,whichmeansthatthesescoreslikelysufferedfromsomerestrictionofrange.
Reducedvarianceinourdependentvariabledecreasedthelikelihoodofanyeffect;asaresultourcurrentresultsmayreectanunderestimationofthemagnitudeoftheobservedrelation.
Lastly,whilewehavecontrolledforparentalincome,therecouldbeotherparentalvariablesnottappedbytheseassessmentsthataremoredirectlyresponsiblefortheeffectsidentiedhere.
Futurestudiesdesignedtoaddresstheseissuesareclearlywarranted.
Althoughourstudycannotspeaktoanyspecicmechanismunderlyingtheobservedeffect,itdemonstratesanimportantphenomenon(Rozin,2009).
Thereappearstobegrowingevidenceoftheexistenceandgeneralityofarelationbetweeninferredmediaexposureandtheory-of-minddevel-opment(Adrianetal.
,2005).
ArecentstudyconductedinIsrael,forexample,foundthatexpertiseinchoosingchildren'sctiononthepartofmotherspredictedteacherratingsofempathyandsocioemo-tionaladjustmentoftheirchildren,evenaftermaternaleducationwasstatisticallycontrolled(Aram&Aviram,2009).
Althoughanumberofresearchershavesuggestedapossibleassociationbetweenstorybookreadingandtheory-of-minddevelopment,notenoughworkhasbeendonetodemonstratethisassociation,capitalizingonthevariationofstorybookknowledgeidentiedamongparents.
Ourstudyaddstothisgrowingbodyofwork,whilecontrollingforanumberofkeyvariablesandalsoextendingthisexaminationtoothermedia.
Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Mar,R.
A.
,etal.
Exposuretomediaandtheory-of-minddevelop-mentinpreschoolers.
CognitiveDevelopment(2009),doi:10.
1016/j.
cogdev.
2009.
11.
002ARTICLEINPRESSGModelCOGDEV-368;No.
ofPages10R.
A.
Maretal.
/CognitiveDevelopmentxxx(2009)xxx–xxx9AcknowledgementsThisresearchwassupportedinpartbyaCanadaResearchChairawardedtoCM,andaSSHRCpostdoctoralfellowshipawardedtoRAM.
ThankstoIngridGal,ToddHartley,RuchikaKnowles,YuliyaKotelnikova,AdrienneLee,andRashaSalibfordatacollection.
Aspecialthankstoallthechildrenandparentswhoparticipatedinthisstudy.
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