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.