Interactional quality depicted in infant and toddler videos: where are the interactions?

Abstract

Abstract This study examined the social–emotional content and the quality of social interactions depicted in a sample of 58 DVDs marketed towards infants and toddlers. Infant‐directed videos rarely used social interactions between caregiver and child or between peers to present content. Even when videos explicitly targeted social–emotional content, correlations between educational claims and the actual content of the videos were modest at best. Similarly, other domain content (e.g. language skills) that is best learned through high‐quality social interactions was typically depicted without social interactions. The results suggest that producers of infant‐directed media are not applying developmental principles or research evidence in ways that take full advantage of developmentally appropriate interaction strategies to present their content. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.