The effect of interactive media on children's story memory.

Abstract

The authors examined the influence of interactive media on children’s story memory. First-grade children (6 –7-year-olds) experienced a computer-based story in 1 of 4 presentation modes: One group heard only the narration, analogous to radio. A 2nd group saw an audiovisual presentation, analogous to television. A 3rd group viewed the story and interacted with animated areas of the screen. A 4th group was yoked to the interaction group such that they observed but did not control the interaction. The audio-only group consistently recalled and comprehended poorly, but there were no differences among the other media groups. In the interaction groups, there was also no relation between the amount of interaction with the story and subsequent memory. Overall, the results for interactive media were similar to the findings for the television-like presentation. Children today have the opportunity to learn through a range of different media, including audiotapes and radio, television and videotapes, and computer-based activities. In particular, computer access and use by children is becoming increasingly important, both at home and in school settings (Calvert, 1999; Jennings, 2001). As computers become more integrated into the classroom, new questions arise about the potential impact of interactive media on children’s ability to comprehend and remember information. Specifically, most computer programs allow children to control the activity and to interact with the content in a way that is quite different from other forms of presentation, such as radio and television. It is important to investigate whether interactivity might influence children’s learning and memory. The question of whether children’s learning might be shaped by the type of media through which the information is presented is not new. For example, researchers compared the impact of radio and television presentations. One theory had it that the highly salient visual information available through a televised presentation would interfere with children’s processing of the auditory information and thus reduce learning or at least shift children’s attention away from the narration toward the visually depicted information. Support for this “visual superiority” hypothesis was found when children who viewed television recalled more actions than children who heard an audio-only presentation. The latter were more likely to remember dialogue and to make inferences about