Children and television: The visual superiority effect reconsidered

Abstract

Through a review of the literature, it was demonstrated that the visual superiority effect is confounded with comprehensibility of auditory‐verbal information, and that comprehensibility, rather than modality of presentation, is the critical element in children's television processing. Four issues were examined: (a) evidence for a visual superiority effect, (b) comprehensibility of program content as a determinant of visual attention, (c) centrality of information presented in the auditory and visual modalities, and (d) the need for age‐appropriate linguistic forms in the language of television. Such a discussion has implications for how best to present educational information to young children through television. Suggestions for future research are offered.