ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at information bombardment and children; the influence of television (TV), computers and computer games; and whether children are getting smarter. The first programme to seize on the educational potential of television was the American Sesame Street. Sesame Street was produced by the Educational TV Workshop based in New York, which was always keen on research. Conservative psychologists argue that children shouldn't be exposed to advertising because they don't really understand what the aim of the advertising is – to make them buy. Glen Smith, when he was Director of the Children's Research Unit which worked for the advertising industry, among other clients, argued that children who are much younger understand the nature of advertising. Developmental psychologists need to tread a fine line – seeking to understand both the basics of cognitive development and looking at how the changes we're living through affect the way children think.
