Word Learning From Baby Videos

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether children between 12 and 25 months of age learn words from an infant-directed DVD designed for that purpose. DESIGN: Half of the children received a DVD to watch in their home over the course of 6 weeks. SETTING: All participants returned to a laboratory for testing on vocabulary acquisition every 2 weeks. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-six 12- to 24-month-old children. MAIN EXPOSURE: Baby videos. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Parent report and observational measures of vocabulary acquisition related to words highlighted in the DVD; parent report of general language development; and parent report of children's media use. RESULTS: The age at first viewing of baby DVDs was related to children's general language development. There was no evidence of learning words highlighted in the infant-directed DVD independent of parental intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Researchers should continue to examine whether infant-directed media are effective in teaching infants and toddlers content and consider the cognitive factors related to whether very young viewers should be expected to learn from a DVD.