Lessons from television: Children's word learning when viewing (1988)

Rice, M.L., & L. Woodsmall. (1988). Lessons from television: Children's word learning when viewing. Child Development, 59, 420 – 429.

ABSTRACT

This study investigated whether or not preschoolers can learn novel words when viewing television. A total of 61 preschool children, ages 3 and 5, were assigned to either an experimental or control group. A 15-minute television program was prepared with two different voice-over narrations. The experimental version featured 20 different novel words, five each in the four categories of object, action, attribute, and affective state words. The control version was the same except that familiar words were substituted for the novel words. Subjects viewed the program on two occasions. Comprehension was tested before and after viewing. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised (PPVT-R) was administered prior to viewing as an index of general vocabulary learning ability. Results indicated that, when pre-test comprehension and PPVT-R scores were controlled, the experimental group performed better than the controls on the total post-viewing comprehension score. Group differences were apparent for object, action, and attribute words. The 5 year olds were more accurate than the 3 year olds on the total score and object and attribute words. The easiest words to learn were object and attribute words. Generally, findings confirm the everyday observation that preschoolers can "pick up" new words with a minimum of exposure and a minimum of tutorial assistance.