Sandra L. Calvert

Gender, Identity, and Language Use in Teenage Blogs

This study examines issues of online identity and language use among male and female teenagers who created and maintained weblogs, personal journals made publicly accessible on the World Wide Web. Online identity and language use were examined in terms of the disclosure of personal information, sexual identity, emotive features, and semantic themes. Male and female teenagers presented themselves similarly in their blogs, often revealing personal information such as their real names, ages, and locations. Males more so than females used emoticons, employed an active and resolute style of language, and were more likely to present themselves as gay. The results suggest that teenagers stay closer to reality in their online expressions of self than has previously been suggested, and that these explorations involve issues, such as learning about their sexuality, that commonly occur during the adolescent years.

Brief Report: Vocabulary Acquisition for Children with Autism: Teacher or Computer Instruction

This study examined the impact of computers on the vocabulary acquisition of young children with autism. Childrens attention, motivation, and learning of words was compared in a behavioral program and an educational software program. The educational software program was designed to parallel the behavioral program, but it added perceptually salient qualities such as interesting sounds and object movement. Children with autism were more attentive, more motivated, and learned more vocabulary in the computer than in the behavioral program. Implications are considered for the development of computer software to teach vocabulary to children who have autism.

Age, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Patterns in Early Computer Use A National Survey

Parents were interviewed about the media habits of their 6-month to 6-year-old children. For children who had used computers, linear increases in computer usage occurred across this age range with a shift from using a computer on a parent’s lapat aboutage 21/2 to autonomous computer and mouse use at about age 31/2. There were almost no gender differences in early computer patterns. Families with higher incomes and higher education levels were more likely to own computers and to have Internet access from home. Latino families were least likely to own a computer; Latino and African American families were less likely than Caucasian families to have Internet access at home. Parents perceived computers favorably for children’s learning. No relationship was found between the frequency with which children play computer games and the likelihood that they can read, but increased nongame computer use was associated with increased likelihood of reading.

Tipping the balance: use of advergames to promote consumption of nutritious foods and beverages by low-income African American children.

OBJECTIVE To examine how advergames, which are online computer games developed to market a product, affect consumption of healthier and less healthy snacks by low-income African American children. DESIGN Cross-sectional, between-subjects examination of an advergame in which children were rewarded for having their computer character consume healthier or less healthy foods and beverages. Children were randomly assigned to 1 of the following 3 conditions: (1) the healthier advergame condition, (2) the less healthy advergame condition, or (3) the control condition. SETTING Urban public elementary schools. PARTICIPANTS Thirty low-income, African American children aged 9 to 10 years. Main Exposure Children in the treatment conditions played a less healthy or a healthier version of an advergame 2 times before choosing and eating a snack and completing the experimental measures. Children in the control group chose and ate a snack before playing the game and completing the measures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The number of healthier snack items children selected and ate and how much children liked the game. RESULTS Children who played the healthier version of the advergame selected and ate significantly more healthy snacks than did those who played the less healthy version. Children reported liking the advergame. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that concerns about online advergames that market unhealthy foods are justified. However, advergames may also be used to promote healthier foods and beverages. This kind of social marketing approach could tip the scales toward the selection of higher-quality snacks, thereby helping to curb the obesity epidemic.

Competitive versus cooperative exergame play for African American adolescents' executive function skills: short-term effects in a long-term training intervention.

Exergames are videogames that require gross motor activity, thereby combining gaming with physical activity. This study examined the role of competitive versus cooperative exergame play on short-term changes in executive function skills, following a 10-week exergame training intervention. Fifty-four low-income overweight and obese African American adolescents were randomly assigned to a competitive exergame condition, a cooperative exergame condition, or a no-play control group. Youths in the competitive exergame condition improved in executive function skills more than did those in the cooperative exergame condition and the no-play control group. Weight loss during the intervention was also significantly positively correlated with improved executive function skills. The findings link competitive exergame play to beneficial cognitive outcomes for at-risk ethnic minority adolescents.

The handbook of children, media, and development

Notes on Editors and Contributors. Foreword (Aletha C. Huston). Acknowledgments. Introduction: Media and Children s Development (Sandra L. Calvert and Barbara J. Wilson). Part I: Historical, Conceptual, and Financial Underpinnings of Media. 1 Historical and Recurring Concerns about Childrens Use of the Mass Media (Ellen Wartella and Michael Robb). 2 Business Models for Children s Media (Alice Cahn, Terry Kalagian, and Catherine Lyon). Part II: Media Access and Differential Use Patterns. 3 Media Use Across Childhood: Access, Time, and Content (Ronda Scantlin). 4 Children, Race, Ethnicity, and Media (Bradley S. Greenberg and Dana E. Mastro). 5 Gender, Media Use, and Effects (Stacey J. T. Hust and Jane D. Brown). 6 Media and the Family (Alison Alexander). Part III: Cognitive Effects of Media: How and What Children Learn. 7 Attention and Learning from Media during Infancy and Early Childhood (Rachel Barr). 8 Media Symbol Systems and Cognitive Processes (Kaveri Subrahmanyam and Patricia Greenfield). 9 Learning from Educational Media (Heather L. Kirkorian and Daniel R. Anderson). 10 News, Reality Shows, and Childrens Fears: Examining Content Patterns, Theories, and Negative Effects (Stacy L. Smith, Katherine M. Pieper, and Emily J. Moyer-Guse). Part IV: Social Effects of Media. 11 Media Violence and Aggression in Youth (Barbara J. Wilson). 12 Prosocial Effects of Media Exposure (Marie-Louise Mares, Edward Palmer, and Tia Sullivan). 13 Make-Believe Play, Imagination, and Creativity: Links to Childrens Media Exposure (Dorothy G. Singer and Jerome L. Singer). 14 Parasocial and Online Social Relationships (Cynthia Hoffner). 15 Fear Responses to Media Entertainment (Patti M. Valkenburg and Moniek Buijzen). Part V: Health Effects of Media. 16 Media Use and Childhood Obesity (Elizabeth A. Vandewater and Hope M. Cummings). 17 Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders (Kristen Harrison and Veronica Hefner). 18 Media and Advertising Effects (Brian Young). 19 Adolescents and Media Messages about Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs (Dina L. G. Borzekowski and Victor C. Strasburger). Part VI: Media Policy and Interventions. 20 The Children s Television Act (Sandra L. Calvert). 21 Regulating the Media: Sexually Explicit Content (Joah G. Iannotta). 22 Media-Related Policies of Professional Health Organizations (Marie Evans Schmidt, David S. Bickham, Amy Branner, and Michael Rich). 23 The Rating Systems for Media Products (Douglas A. Gentile0. 24 Parent and School Interventions: Mediation and Media Literacy (Jennifer L. Chakroff and Amy I. Nathanson). Author Index. Subject Index.

Children's recall of television material: Effects of presentation mode and adult labeling.

Children from preschool, kindergarten, and Grades 3 and 4 viewed an edited prosocial cartoon in one of four viewing conditions that changed program features and introduced viewing information to aid subjects in recognizing and structuring central plot information. Childrens recall of central and incidental program content was assessed. Older children recalled more total information; participants who had viewed with an adult experimenter recalled more material than did children in other viewing conditions. Visual presentation enhanced central recall.

Adolescent exergame play for weight loss and psychosocial improvement: A controlled physical activity intervention: Adolescent Exergame Play for Weight Loss

Overweight and obese youth, who face increased risk of medical complications including heart disease and type II diabetes, can benefit from sustainable physical activity interventions that result in weight loss.

Infant and Early Childhood Exposure to Adult-Directed and Child-Directed Television Programming: Relations with Cognitive Skills at Age Four

This study described the relations among the amount of child-directed versus adult-directed television exposure at ages 1 and 4 with cognitive outcomes at age 4. Sixty parents completed 24-hour television diaries when their children were 1 and 4 years of age. At age 4, their children also completed a series of cognitive measures and parents completed an assessment of their childrens executive functioning skills. High levels of exposure to programs designed for adults during both infancy and at age 4, and high levels of household television use at age 4, were all associated with poorer executive functioning at age 4. High exposure to television programs designed for adults during the preschool years was also associated with poorer cognitive outcomes at age 4. In contrast, exposure to television programs designed for young children at either time point was not associated with any outcome measure at age 4. These results suggest that exposure to child-directed versus adult-directed television content is an important factor in understanding the relation between media exposure and developmental outcomes.

The New Science of Learning: Active Learning, Metacognition, and Transfer of Knowledge in E-Learning Applications

This article examines the key concepts of active learning, metacognition, and transfer of knowledge, as put forth by the National Research Councils approach to the new science of learning, in relation to ways that E-Learning applications might improve learning both inside and outside the classroom. Several initiatives are highlighted to illustrate innovative ways to improve E-Learning by linking these three concepts to four fundamental characteristics: 1) using engaging production features to motivate children to learn; 2) teaching children to construct their own learning paths with information; 3) encouraging collaborations that facilitate both cognitive and social aspects of learning; and 4) using story-telling and entertainment features to foster learning outside the classroom. Stealth education, in which children are actively engaged in a seamless entertaining learning application, is considered as a viable way for E-Learning to improve childrens academic and social successes.