Watching TV movies: attention level in 3 and 5 year old children

The aim of the study was to analyze the level of attention and content comprehension of some movies concerning educational television programmes for children. The sample was composed by 75 children: 56 aged 5 years old (M = 4,6 years) and 19 aged 3 years old (M = 3,11 years). According to children age, the first group was shown three different movies of 60 minutes, while the second one was shown three movies of 40 minutes. At the end of each movie, the children were interviewed on what they remembered about the characters, the situations and the environment. Furthermore, in order to check their recollection, they were asked to relate orally what they had seen. During the movie showing, children’s behaviour was observed with the support of a coding scheme, which was expressly drawn to evaluate the attention level (self-reflection, concentration and partecipation, distraction, activity and movement, adequate emotions, socialization). Results showed that both groups had a good level of attention as well as a good comprehension. In particular, 3 years old children showed more interest and attention for the “redundant” movies, with clear and simple images and a coloured and bright context, referring to regressive-oriented contents (childish voices, relaxed and joyful atmosphere, stressed chromatisms). On the contrary, the elements, which caught more attention in children aged 5 years old, were connected to formal qualities of images and sounds and to the narrative events.