Pempekl, T.A., Kirkorian, H.L, Stevens. M., Lundl, A.F., Richards, J.E., & Anderson, D.R.(2008).
Video comprehensibility and attention in very young children.
Infants have increasingly become a target audience of digital media products. Yet, little is know about the extent to which very young children understand video. This study sought to determine the youngest ages at which infants discriminate between comprehensible and incomprehensible television content. Analysis of look length revealed that by 24 months of age, infants make this discrimination, looking longer at comprehensible video. Measures of heart rate support this finding insofar as heart rate deceleration (indicicative of engagement) was associated with look length. Thus, very young infants appear to be insensitive to language and even sequences presented via video.