Reinforcement matters: Animated reinforcements disrupt young children’s word learning from a digital book

Abstract

Ninety-seven 19- to 23-month-olds (53 boys, 44 girls; White (56%), multi-racial (25%), Asian (12%), Black (3%), other (3%)) listened to a digital book with a narration that labeled and requested the child touch an on-screen object. Conditions differed in how the book proceeded: no contingency/no reinforcement – the page turned regardless of the child’s actions, contingency/no reinforcement – any response triggered a page turn, contingency/verbal reinforcement – a correct response triggered a “good job!” and page turn, and contingency/animated reinforcement – a correct response triggered a sound, animation, and page turn. Contingency supported learning and children displayed more learning with verbal than animated reinforcement. Findings highlight the importance of attention to the design of contingent features, as simple animations may overload processing demands.