The role of fantasy–reality distinctions in preschoolers' learning from educational video

Abstract

The current study examined if preschoolers' understanding of fantasy and reality are related to their learning from educational videos. Forty‐nine 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children watched short clips of popular educational programs in which animated characters solved problems. Following video viewing, children attempted to solve real‐world problems analogous to the problems in the videos and were asked to describe similarities between the video problems and the problems they solved in the lab. Additionally, children were tested for their understanding of which aspects of the clips and characters were realistic and possible and which were fantastical and impossible in the real world. Children were most likely to transfer solutions from clips that had moderate elements of fantasy or incorporated fantastical elements at moments that were relevant to solving the problem. Additionally, children's understanding of which elements of the clips were fantastical was related to their transfer. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the role of the fantasy understanding in children's learning from media. Highlights Over the preschool years, children come to understand what aspects of animated programs are and are not possible in the real world. Preschoolers learn problem-solving skills from animated shows when they have a clear boundary between fantasy and reality. Engaging with moderate fantastical content in animated programs can support abstract thinking.

Viewing Fantastical Events in Animated Television Shows: Immediate Effects on Chinese Preschoolers’ Executive Function

“…Several studies have shown that engaging in active fantasy-oriented play or fantastical pretense may directly enhance preschool children's EF development (Thibodeau-Nielsen et al, 2016;Thibodeau-Nielsen et al, 2020). By turning toward EF, these studies extended earlier findings showing that magical or impossible events in film (Subbotsky et al, 2010;Richert and Schlesinger, 2016) and the exercise of imagination (Bunce et al, 2017) may facilitate preschoolers' creative thinking. With this acknowledgment, we turn to the relations between screen time and EF in preschoolers.…”

“…Although more than 70% of these studies found a negative association between television viewing and children's attention quality, such evidence may be inadequate without placing children in their social context and taking into account other factors that could affect attention (Kostyrka-Allchorne et al, 2017). Close-to-real-life fantastical contents or contextualized fantasy in a TV program can facilitate preschoolers' performance on cognitive tasks (Richert and Schlesinger, 2016).…”

“…Presumably, this knowledge also helps infants recognize violations of physical laws, as occur in fantastical events. By preschool, children can give correct reality judgments of fantastical events (Li et al, 2015;Richert and Schlesinger, 2016).…”

The Role of Book Features in Young Children's Transfer of Information from Picture Books to Real-World Contexts

“…Skill in fantasy-reality discrimination may support children in realizing that problem solutions in fantastical contexts may apply to real world problems. In support of this interpretation, Richert and Schlesinger ( 2016 ) found that 3- to 6-year-old children with a better understanding of the fantasy-reality distinction were better able to learn and transfer problem solutions from video stories when fantastical elements were present and relevant to the solution being presented. Fantastical elements that were incidental appeared to distract children and interfere with transfer.…”

Witches, fire, and fairies: Parent–child conversations during fantastic and real emotionally charged stories

“…The preschool years are filled with situations in which children must navigate between real and fantastic information through their play, imagination, and reading storybooks. Research shows that children can do this well and develop a sophisticated understanding of fantasy and reality (Richert & Schlesinger, ; Skolnick & Bloom, ; Woolley & Ghossainy, ). Yet when the information is emotionally charged, children can make fantasy–reality distinction errors (Gjersoe, Hall, & Hood, ; Harris, ; Samuels & Taylor, ), and specifically, children's reports of whether an event can happen in real life vary depending on the discrete emotion.…”