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There has been little empirical study of many aspects of the negative and positive effects of information and communications technologies. Therefore, the answer from the academic community to most questions about the effects of emerging media technologies is "We don't know." While Dr. Calvert believes that the issue of violence and television may actually have been over-researched, at least during the 1980s, many related areas have been neglected or not yet addressed. Dr. Calvert is working with Dr. Ellen Wartella and the American Psychological Association to coordinate efforts to encourage funding and research in this area. The main reason behind the lack of research is a lack of consistent funding.
Research in the area of negative effects of information and communications technologies has been significantly underfunded. This lack of funding stretched back until at least the mid 1980s. This dearth of financial support has hampered comprehensive research, caused the loss of senior people doing work in the field, and prevented new scholars from entering the study of the problematic physical, social, and psychological aspects of new technologies. A strong commitment from government and foundations is needed to answer the many pressing questions about the negative effects of technologies, particularly on children, that have not yet been addressed empirically.
The biggest impact of media seems to come from the content, not the medium. New media emerge and converge, but research has found that "if somebody likes sports, they read sports articles, play sports, they watch sports, they get on the Internet and look up sports information, so it is the interest in the actual content that seems to be the driving force." With individuals immersing themselves in multiple media, it is more likely what they are getting regarding content, rather than the specific media by which they get it, that has the largest impact on them.
New media technologies can have at least indirect physical effects. While the literature is modest thus far, cross-cultural studies suggest that young women, exposed for the first time to American media images of the ideal woman as very thin, are increasingly developing eating disorders. The sedentary nature of most media use, along with the frequent images and advertisement of foods with little nutritional value, can lead to less physical activity and poor eating habits, which, in turn, can lead to problems of obesity.
There is no evidence to show that watching television or using other forms of media lessens attention span. Dr Calvert noted that this is one of the most frequently cited "facts" in the popular literature, but it has never been borne out by empirical research. Dr. Calvert has even heard it stated in hearing, but when she asked for the source of the data behind it, the speaker could not cite it or present it.
Heavy television watching can lead to decreases in children's imagination and creativity, while more moderate use has been shown to have beneficial effects. This is particularly the case when the children are watching shows, such as Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, that are educational and encourage children's use of imagination. Such activity early in life has been correlated with later academic success as far in the future as high school.
New media technologies have mixed social effects. Children, especially of high school age, are using new media forms — email, instant messaging, etc. — to communicate with their peers. Individuals with specific ailments can find networks of like individuals for support. But these new technologies may be disrupting the social dynamic of the home. If use of these media takes away from family time, if the interaction is more with machines than with other people, then this could lead to loneliness and depression. Still, early study results that suggested this effect may in fact have uncovered only a novelty effect. It is possible that once the technology was more full integrated into individuals' lives, the disruption was minimized. The research thus far leaves us with a mixed picture. The technology is a tool that makes it easier to connect, but it is the content of this connection, for example with racial hate groups (negative) or cancer support groups (positive), that ultimately determines the quality of the effect.
It is very important to careful match how children think at different developmental stages with how information is communicated to them. For example, for very young children, images have an important impact on the child's ability to remember and understand language. Still, they have not yet developed the faculties to fully understand people's motivations and feelings and they have difficulty understanding consequences of actions and temporal flow when interrupted, by commercials, for example. While these are general cognitive issues that are present regardless of media, they must be taken into account when deciding what media and content is appropriate for children at different developmental stages.
Having admitted that little good research has been done into many of the questions raised during the interview, Dr. Calvert felt that there are a tremendous number of areas where further research can and should be done. While some studies have suggested that heavy television watching can retard creativity in children, Dr. Calvert suggests that new media can provide ample opportunity for imaginative role-play and a very rich fantasy life. Unfortunately, she adds, few researchers have looked at this.
Dr. Calvert states that we know very little about sexual content in the media, because of the difficult ethical issues that would be involved in such studies, but the lack of analysis means we don't truly understand the impact of exposure to sexual materials at a young age. Virtually no research has been done on the potential presence of dominant gender or racial stereotypes; while a modicum of research is being done on gender issues and the media, no research has been done on how they affect minority children. Girls are finally catching up to boys in their computer and media use, but little has been done to understand the uses girls have for this technology, which differ significantly from those of boys. "They [girls] are doing different things. Boys play more games. Girls like things that fit in with more traditional interest patterns; they like to communicate, email, instant message (IM), and use chat rooms. But they can be preyed upon by adults because there is no way to tell who you are interacting with. These are big dangers that are hard to research, but they are crying out for some sort of intervention."
Commercialization is another major issue of concern for Dr. Calvert. With technologies converging, all media is becoming both more integrated and more interactive. While commercial interests are figuring out how to exploit this, the trend towards an indistinct blending of advertisement and content, along with the potential ease of tracking consumer behavior and facilitating purchases through technology, has Dr. Calvert concerned, particularly because no research is being done to sort these issues out.
Calvert, Sandra L., and Amy B. Jordan. "Children in the Digital Age." Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 22, no. 1 (2001): 3-5.
Calvert, Sandra L., Jennifer A. Kotler, William F. Murray, Edward Gonzales, Kristin Savoye, Phillip Hammack, Susan Weigert, Erin Shockey, Christine Paces, Melissa Friedman, and Matthew Hammar. "Children's Online Reports About Educational and Informational Television Programs." Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 22, no. 1 (2001): 103-17.
Calvert, Sandra L. Children's Journeys through the Information Age. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill College, 1999.
Calvert, Sandra L. and R.L. Billingsley. "Young children's recitation and comprehension of information presented by songs." Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 19, no. 1 (1998) 97-108.
Calvert, Sandra L. and S.L. Tan. "Impact of virtual reality on young adults' physiological arousal and aggressive thoughts: Interaction versus observation." Interacting with Video, P.M. Greenfield and R.R. Cocking (Eds). Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1996.
Calvert, Sandra L. "Developmental differences in children's production and recall of information as a function of computer presentational features." Journal of Educational Computing Research 10, (1994) 131-143.
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