Charlton (Criminal)
Charlton et al (2000) Children’s Playground Behaviour Across Five Years of Broadcast Television: A Naturalistic Study in a Remote Community (textbook pg.184-185) “Understand the aims, procedures and findings (results and conclusions), strengths and weaknesses of”
Background: This study took place on the island of St Helena – a British colony in the South Atlantic Ocean. The research method used was a natural experiment. This means that the study took place in the participants’ natural environment and the independent variable was naturally occurring (the researchers didn’t force them to introduce satellite TV – they were doing this anyway).
| A | Charlton aimed to investigate the effects of TV on children’s behaviour. In particular, they wanted to see if TV would make children more aggressive. |
| P | The research took place on the St Helena Island, when they were introducing TV for the first time to the island in 1994. Researchers arrived at the island in 1994 and recorded children’s behaviour, 4 months before TV was introduced. They set up video cameras in two primary schools to observe playground behaviour during playtimes over a 2-week period. The children were aged 3-8 years old. They ended up with 256 minutes of video footage which they analysed to make a note of both prosocial (helpful) and antisocial (harmful) acts. Five years later (five years after the introduction of TV) the researchers returned to the island and filmed similar-age children at the two primary schools (not the same children) over a 2-week period. They ended up with 344 minutes of video footage which they analysed to make a note of both prosocial and antisocial acts. Multiple researchers noted prosocial acts such as “sharing” and “affection” and anti-social acts such as “kicking” and “pushing.” They averaged the mean number of acts displayed by children in every 30-minute period of film. They also made a note of whether the children were playing alone, in pairs or in groups and the gender of the children. |
| R | Only 9 comparisons were statistically significant: 5 comparisons found a decrease in pro-social behaviour. 2 comparisons found a decrease in anti-social behaviour. 2 comparisons found an increase in pro-social behaviour. Both before and after TV, prosocial behaviour was twice as common as antisocial behaviour. Boys engaged in nearly four times as many antisocial acts than girls. |
| C | Charlton concluded that TV only caused a small change in the prosocial and antisocial behaviour of children, over the 5 year study. Therefore, TV did not appear to increase aggression and antisocial behaviour. |
| G | (-) The sample only consisted of two primary schools. Therefore, other children on the island may have responded to the introduction of television in different ways. (-) The TV viewing on the island didn’t reflect mainland TV and may have contained less violence. For example, the children’s show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (containing violence) was not broadcast on the island. |
| R | (-) The results do not seem to be consistent with other studies. A different researcher did a similar study within three communities in Canada and found TV did increase aggression in children. |
| A | (+) The results indicate that TV is not a direct cause of aggression and anti-social behaviour in children. Reviewing the impact of TV on children is useful for parents and education professionals to make decisions about their children’s TV exposure. |
| V | (+) The children were observed at their own primary schools, meaning their pro- and anti social behaviour would have been natural and high in validity. (+) It was a natural experiment as the IV (introduction of TV) occurred naturally and wasn’t controlled by Charlton. |
| E | The study doesn’t have any ethical issues – the researchers did not manipulate any variables – they were just using a situation (introduction of TV) that was already occurring on the island. |
Charlton’s Study Key Term Glossary
| Independent variable | Variable the researcher manipulates to see if there is an impact on the DV. |
| Dependent variable | Variable the researcher measures to see if the IV has had an impact. |
| Natural experiment | IV naturally occurs (no manipulation from the researcher). The setting is also natural to the participants. |
| Pro-social behaviour | Behaviour that helps other people. |
| Anti-social behaviour | Behaviour that harms other people. |
| Need more help? Want to stretch your understanding? Need a video example? |
| https://psychologyrevisionblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/charlton-et-al-2000/ https://gcse-psychology.fandom.com/wiki/Charlton_et_al_(2000)_St_Helena_study |
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