Drew P. Cingel

Parent–Child Joint Reading in Traditional and Electronic Formats

There is little question that parent–child joint reading is related to a number of positive childhood outcomes, such as vocabulary acquisition and school success. With the growth of tablet computers, parents are now able to read to their children using different platforms. This study used a repeated-measures design with parents and their preschool-aged children to test the difference between reading interactions and child comprehension on two platforms: traditional books and electronic iPad books. Results indicated that in the electronic reading condition, parents used more talk about the book format and environment than in the traditional book condition, where they used more evaluative comments about content. Children comprehended significantly more in the traditional book condition than in the electronic book condition. Additional analyses suggested that this finding was related to the increase in distraction talk by parents in the electronic book condition. Results suggest that it is important to consider the specific content of parent–child reading interactions and the increased cognitive load these interactions can place on children, as parent questions about the book format and the environment were related to decreases in child comprehension.

Texting, techspeak, and tweens: The relationship between text messaging and English grammar skills:

The perpetual use of mobile devices by adolescents has fueled a culture of text messaging, with abbreviations and grammatical shortcuts, thus raising the following question in the minds of parents and teachers: Does increased use of text messaging engender greater reliance on such ‘textual adaptations’ to the point of altering one’s sense of written grammar? A survey (N = 228) was conducted to test the association between text message usage of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students and their scores on an offline, age-appropriate grammar assessment test. Results show broad support for a general negative relationship between the use of techspeak in text messages and scores on a grammar assessment, with implications for Social Cognitive Theory and Low-Road/High-Road Theory of Transfer of Learning. These results indicate that adolescents may learn through observation in communication technologies, and that these learned adaptations may be transferred to standard English through Low-Road transfer of learning. Further mediation analyses suggest that not all forms of textual adaptation are related to grammar assessment score in the same way. ‘Word adaptations’ were found to be negatively related to grammar scores, while ‘structural adaptations’ were found to be non-significant.

The Mobile Generation: Youth and Adolescent Ownership and Use of New Media

The relatively recent invention of mobile tablets has changed the way children and adolescents use media technologies. Given that children and adolescents differ developmentally, we use Uses and Gratifications theory to explore ownership of mobile devices by young people and how children and adolescents use newer media technologies, including the Internet and mobile devices. Results from a national study of 909 children and adolescents, 8 to 17 years old, demonstrate that even younger children are avid users of new mobile devices, although ownership and use of mobile phones and tablets increases with age. Further, Internet use varies as a function of age, suggesting that children and adolescents may have different interests in and motivations to use new media technology, which play a role in their media use behavior.

Predicting Media Use in Very Young Children: The Role of Demographics and Parent Attitudes

This study used a survey design (N = 168) to examine how parent and child demographics, parental media-use motives, parental subjective norms, and parental attitudes toward preschool media use (PMU) are all related to actual media exposure among children 6 months to 5 years in age. Results indicate that, in accordance with the theory of reasoned action, parents’ perceived subjective norms regarding various categories of media were significantly related to actual child consumption. Further, positive attitudes toward media were significantly related to higher rates of child consumption. Interestingly, parental worries about media were only negatively related to television consumption and unrelated to child exposure to other kinds of media.

What kind of adults will our children become? The impact of growing up in a media-saturated world

Abstract This article urges children and media scholars to consider the broader consequences of the ubiquitous media environment in which children live today. We consider, within a broader sociocultural context, the ways in which media and interactive technology serve as more knowledgeable others, scaffolding childrens learning and development. Given this context, it is imperative for researchers to consider the consequences of living in the digital age and how broader developmental trajectories may be influenced. We call upon children and media researchers to contemplate more thoughtful research agendas that begin to assess the larger impact of media on children’s learning and developmental trajectories.

Understanding the Experience of Imaginary Audience in a Social Media Environment

Adolescent use of social networking sites has grown quickly over the past decade. Despite this high level of use, less research has examined the interaction between adolescent development and use of social networking sites. Thus, the present study seeks to understand the relationship between adolescents’ Facebook use and their experience of a developmental construct, Imaginary Audience. Using survey data collected from 260 participants between the ages of 9 and 26, results suggested a positive relationship between Facebook use and Imaginary Audience ideation. Furthermore, to better understand this relationship, behavioral rehearsal was tested as a mediating variable. Results were supportive of this mediator. The present study was limited in two main ways: First, given the cross-sectional survey design, we were unable to make causal claims from our data. Second, the sample was predominantly homogenous in nature. Despite these limitations, however, the implications of these findings are twofold: First, this...

Moral Foundations Theory and Moral Reasoning in Video Game Play: Using Real-Life Morality in a Game Context

Although research has indicated that moral decisions are made during video game play, less research has examined moral reasoning during play. Using a think-aloud protocol, participants’ decisions and reasoning were recorded during game play and coded as either strategic or moral. Players’ reasoning was also coded using Moral Foundations Theory. Results indicated an almost equal percentage of strategic and moral reasoning; the salience of several individual moral foundations predicted moral reasoning during play. Video game experience was positively related to the use of moral reasoning, which can be explained by relating reasoning to rational and experiential processing during game play.

Development as an Explanation for and Predictor of Online Self-Disclosure Among Dutch Adolescents

The goal of the present study was to investigate whether adolescent online self-disclosure is primarily related to the developmental variable of egocentrism or related to the personality trait, narcissism. Egocentrism was measured as Imaginary Audience ideation and Personal Fable ideation, two distinct concepts of adolescent egocentrism. We also examined whether age moderates the aforementioned relationship. A total of 381 participants completed the survey instrument. The sample consisted of adolescents from two high schools and college students in the Netherlands. Results indicated a positive relationship between Imaginary Audience ideation and Facebook self-disclosure. Also, more narcissistic adolescents disclosed more on Facebook than less narcissistic adolescents. However, this effect became weaker when controlling for Imaginary Audience ideation. Finally, Imaginary Audience was related to Facebook self-disclosure for all age groups except the 19–22 age group. Thus, adolescent egocentrism is a somewhat stronger a predictor of online self-disclosure than narcissism.

Augmenting children's tablet-based reading experiences with variable friction haptic feedback

This paper explores the integration of tactile feedback into childrens electronic books (e-books) through variable friction surface haptics enabled by the TPaD Tablet technology. Through a user study with 10 pairs of children and their parents, we examine how children and parents conceive of and add haptics to a popular e-book. We report conceptual and practical differences in the ways in which children of various ages (3-8 years old) and adults envision haptic feedback within an e-book and conclude with a discussion of design considerations for creating haptic e-books.

Prosocial Television, Preschool Children’s Moral Judgments, and Moral Reasoning: The Role of Social Moral Intuitions and Perspective-Taking:

Children’s prosocial television shows include moral lessons in their narratives, but research suggests that children struggle to comprehend and transfer these lessons to other situations. The social intuitionist model of moral judgment, however, argues that dimensions of morality can be made more salient through environmental exposure. Using data collected from 101 parent-child dyads (children ages 4.5-6.5), we explore if children’s existing moral intuitions about fairness and care may be made salient following exposure to moral lessons in a children’s television show, and if parent presence and mediation aid this process. Results demonstrate that, compared with children in the control group, children who viewed the moral message either alone or with a parent experienced improvements in perspective-taking, which in turn influenced their moral judgments and moral reasoning. Thus, children’s morality can be positively influenced by prosocial television exposure via promoting perspective-taking, fairness, and care.