Neuroscience
How much do young children understand about the internet? Zheng Yan at the University of Albany recruited 83 children, aged from 5 to 12 years, to find out how much they used and understood the internet.
Children aged from five to eight years tended to have little online experience, and to be naïve about both the technical and social side of the internet. One five-year-old-boy said “Um, it has two computers on it. It is ten square feet large. It wouldn’t hurt you”.
The children aged between nine and ten appeared to be in a transition phase. They had limited online experience but showed greater awareness of the internet’s uses and dangers. “It’s somewhere for finding stuff”, and is made “of a thousand computers”, one nine-year-old explained. But the internet “can give us bad ideas” a 10-year-old girl warned.
By 11 to 12 years of age, the children reported having extensive online experience and showed a mature understanding of the web. “The internet is in a lot of places and thus no one can point out exactly where it is”, one 12-year-old explained. You can go to “inappropriate sites” or “get addicted”, warned another.
Zheng Yan said that direct online experience was not the only predictor of children’s understanding – experience derived from films, TV, and watching other people was also relevant. “Filtering out harmful online content is not the only strategy to protect children”, Yan advised. “Other strategies such as offering age-appropriate educational programmes via TV and Internet and considering developmental differences to guide online activities can help to increase immunity to internet dangers”, he said.
__________________________________
Yan, Z. (2005). Age differences in children’s understanding of the complexity of the Internet. Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 385-396.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- What Kind Of Internet User Are You?
There used to be an advert on British television that showed people eating Cadbury's cream-eggs in a number of odd and inventive ways. The tag-line was 'How do you eat yours?' Now a pair of researchers based in Turkey, Leman Tosun and Timo...
- Mothers' Reading Style Affects Children's Later Understanding Of Other People's Minds
The use of cognitive verbs like 'think', 'know', 'remember' and 'believe' by mothers when reading picture books to their children has a beneficial effect on their children's later ability to understand other people's...
- Save Internet Radio
Lots of chatter on the online radio waves about dramatically increased royalty rates for webcasters, due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!) Of course, this would mean certain closure for many Internet radio web sites. The good...
- Interview With Tim O’reilly
The October 2005 issue of Wired magazine features an interview with O’Reilly publishing founder Tim O’Reilly and offers some nice synergy between computer science & library science (or at least publishing). My favorite story: Tim O’Reilly gave copies...
- Readng More Or Less?
Fascinating podcast (!) about reading in the age of the Internet. On his "Open Source Radio" show, Christopher Lydon asks his "literary blogger" guests (and the audience) if they are reading more or less since the advent of the Internet ~10 years ago....
Neuroscience
Children's understanding of the internet
How much do young children understand about the internet? Zheng Yan at the University of Albany recruited 83 children, aged from 5 to 12 years, to find out how much they used and understood the internet.
Children aged from five to eight years tended to have little online experience, and to be naïve about both the technical and social side of the internet. One five-year-old-boy said “Um, it has two computers on it. It is ten square feet large. It wouldn’t hurt you”.
The children aged between nine and ten appeared to be in a transition phase. They had limited online experience but showed greater awareness of the internet’s uses and dangers. “It’s somewhere for finding stuff”, and is made “of a thousand computers”, one nine-year-old explained. But the internet “can give us bad ideas” a 10-year-old girl warned.
By 11 to 12 years of age, the children reported having extensive online experience and showed a mature understanding of the web. “The internet is in a lot of places and thus no one can point out exactly where it is”, one 12-year-old explained. You can go to “inappropriate sites” or “get addicted”, warned another.
Zheng Yan said that direct online experience was not the only predictor of children’s understanding – experience derived from films, TV, and watching other people was also relevant. “Filtering out harmful online content is not the only strategy to protect children”, Yan advised. “Other strategies such as offering age-appropriate educational programmes via TV and Internet and considering developmental differences to guide online activities can help to increase immunity to internet dangers”, he said.
__________________________________
Yan, Z. (2005). Age differences in children’s understanding of the complexity of the Internet. Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 385-396.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- What Kind Of Internet User Are You?
There used to be an advert on British television that showed people eating Cadbury's cream-eggs in a number of odd and inventive ways. The tag-line was 'How do you eat yours?' Now a pair of researchers based in Turkey, Leman Tosun and Timo...
- Mothers' Reading Style Affects Children's Later Understanding Of Other People's Minds
The use of cognitive verbs like 'think', 'know', 'remember' and 'believe' by mothers when reading picture books to their children has a beneficial effect on their children's later ability to understand other people's...
- Save Internet Radio
Lots of chatter on the online radio waves about dramatically increased royalty rates for webcasters, due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!) Of course, this would mean certain closure for many Internet radio web sites. The good...
- Interview With Tim O’reilly
The October 2005 issue of Wired magazine features an interview with O’Reilly publishing founder Tim O’Reilly and offers some nice synergy between computer science & library science (or at least publishing). My favorite story: Tim O’Reilly gave copies...
- Readng More Or Less?
Fascinating podcast (!) about reading in the age of the Internet. On his "Open Source Radio" show, Christopher Lydon asks his "literary blogger" guests (and the audience) if they are reading more or less since the advent of the Internet ~10 years ago....