Abstract
This study examined whether children’s learning from “Sesame Street” could be improved by having adults ask the children questions and provide them with feedback while they watched the show. Subjects were 23 three- and four-year-old, white, middle-class children who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Children in both conditions watched three specially edited versions of “Sesame Street” with an adult. While they did so, children in the experimental condition were asked to name the letters and numbers shown on the programs. Results indicated that 3 days after watching the last program, children in the experimental condition were better able to name and identify the letters and numbers they had seen (p < .01). Three features of the experimental treatment that may have contributed to these results are discussed, as are the implications of the findings.
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Reiser, R.A., Tessmer, M.A. & Phelps, P.C. Adult-child interaction in children’s learning from “Sesame Street”. ECTJ 32, 217–223 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02768893
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02768893