Is seeing believing? The effects of virtual reality on young children’s understanding of possibility and impossibility

Bibliographic Data

ID21190840
AuthorsAnastasia Schmitz (0000-0001-6293-8609, Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives), Richard Joiner (0000-0002-9252-1940, Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, corresponding author), Paul Golds (BBC Research and Development, Salford, UK)
Year2020
Volume14
Issue2
Pages158-172
Publication date2020-04-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Children and Media (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-2798 • E-ISSN: 1748-2801
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17482798.2019.1684964
OpenAlexW2983341617
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited29

This study explored the effects of virtual reality on young children’s understanding of possibility and impossibility. It involved four-year-old children (30 boys and 30 girls) who were randomly allocated to a virtual reality group, a video group, or a picture book group. Each child was individually presented with three impossible and three matched possible events using their assigned medium. After each event, children were asked whether it was possible in real life and why/why not. Children in the VR group were more likely to correctly judge the possibility of possible events than children in the video group and they were more likely to incorrectly judge the possibility of impossible events than children in the video group. Furthermore, they were more likely to correctly judge the possibility of possible events than impossible events. The results suggest that virtual reality affects four-year-old children’s understanding of possibility and impossibility. Practical implications of these findings are discussed

Human–computer interaction · Impossibility · Virtual reality · Child and Animal Learning Development · Computer Science · Psychology · Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts · Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes

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