Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Search Log

I met with Rita Moss in Davis library this week. She is the same reference librarian who provided the class with an informational tour on a day that I missed class. So, I took the opportunity to review the same things that she showed everyone else plus got some help on my specific topic. This meeting was extremely helpful for me. It opened new doors for my research that I didn’t know how to open on my own. Mrs. Moss took me through a variety of general search engines that I can use through the UNC network that return articles and books that are available online or in the library. It sounds really basic, but this is my first semester at UNC, so this introduction helped me a lot. The most helpful general advise was to search Psych Info for Psychology research on TV’s effects on children. That helped to narrow down the books and articles returned to a workable group of legitimate studies.

The interview basically proceeded like this: “What is your topic?” Mrs. Moss was excited about my topic, so that helped. The way I presented it was leaning more towards examining detrimental effects of TV on development. Mrs. Moss pointed out that some programming was actually beneficial to development, but I didn’t want to focus on programming… just the act of watching TV in general. I explained that this was a new topic for me so it wasn’t very developed and she helped me develop it a bit. We explored the possibilities of looking into how TV time was structured, how much exposure exists, TV in a daycare environment vs home, how age plays a role, does TV watching lend to the obesity problem, or ADD, etc… I expressed my interest in developmental psychology and especially in Jean Piaget’s developmental theories and she helped me find some books based on that. So, as a result of the interview and after reviewing the books I picked up I’ve narrowed the topic down some. I will be exploring Piaget’s Theory of Developmental Intelligence as it applies to children 0 – 7 years old (this encompasses two stages: Sensory motor, and Preoperational) and introducing the effects of TV watching on normal development in these stages including how it may hinder some natural development in certain areas and may actually lend to it in others.

I obtained the following four books from Davis library with the help of Mrs. Moss. Interestingly enough though, the book that she sent me after and that she thought would be most helpful is the only one that I doubt I will use! The others I found by just exploring the other selections around it and skimming the Table of Contents. The TOCs provided an easy, quick peak into the book and helped a lot in determining what might be useful vs. what wouldn’t. The ones that I left with referenced specific studies that spanned at least a year and also provided detailed input into how the studies were conducted. Although I am more interested in books that have been published recently, research on Piaget is an exception. Based on initial reading I’m pretty confident that I can use three of the four books as references for my project.

Simpson, B. (2004). Children and Television. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Singer, J. L. (1981). Television, Immagination, and Aggression. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
**Sturm, H. (1981). Information Processing by Young Children. Munchen; New York; London; Paris: KG Saur.Van Evra, J. (2004). Television and Child Development. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.