School of Psychology

Despite over 50 years of research there are still many gaps in our understanding of how watching television affects young children. In particular there is little scientific evidence about how the speed and intensity of programmes affect young children’s concentration and understanding.  Researchers at Keele are currently looking for interested parents and their young children to take part in research aiming to answer this question.

  We are looking for local children who are near to their third or fourth birthday.  Taking part in this research would involve our researcher visiting your house on two occasions, both for approximately 45 minutes. During each visit your child would watch an episode of Postman Pat, complete a short puzzle and answer some simple questions about what they had just watched. While your child is doing this we would ask you to fill in a questionnaire about your child’s  general behaviour and TV watching habits.

Overall we are looking for 60 young children and their parents to help with this research.  Findings of this study will provide greater insight into how different types of television affect the behaviour of young children.  These findings will be shared with parents, early years professionals, academics and the general public.  If you take part you will be sent a summary of the findings.

If you are interested in reading more about this research please follow this link:

Letter of invitation and full information sheet (opens as PDF)

If you are interested in taking part in this research please email us and we will get back to you.