[1]A new study looks for the first time at the effect of background TV on interactions(交流) between parents and young children. Using an experimental design, researchers found that when a TV was on, both the quantity and the quality of interactions between parents and children dropped. This study challenges the common assumption that background TV doesn’t affect very young children if they aren’t looking at the screen.
[2]More than a third of American babies and kids live in homes where the television is on most of or all the time, even if no one’s watching. The new study finds that the effect is negative. The study, in the issue of the journal Child Development, was done by researchers at the University of Massachusetts.
[3]The researchers studied about 50 1-,2-, and 3-year-olds, each of whom was with one parent, at a university child-study center. For half of the one-hour session, parents and children were in a playroom without TV; for the other half hour, parents chose a program meant for adult audiences.
[4]The researchers observed how often the patents and children talked with each other, how actively involved the parents were in their children’s play, and whether the parents and children responded to each other’s questions and suggestions
[5]When the TV was on, the researchers found, both the quantity and the quality of interaction between parents and children dropped. Specifically, parents spend about 20 percent less time talking to their children, and the quality of the interactions declined, with the parents less active, attentive, and responsive to their youngsters.
[6]“Although previous research has found that background television affects young children’s independent play, this is the first study to demonstrate its impact on the quantity and quality of parent-child interactions,” say the researchers. “Given that high-quality parent-child interaction plays an important role in a child’s development,” they add, “we need to pay greater attention to children’s early exposure to TV.”
What is the main idea of the passage? (no more than 10 words)
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What did researchers find when the TV was on before parents and children according to Paragraph5? (no more than 10 words)
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What did parents respond when the TV was on in the research? (no more than 10 words)
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What is the result of the previous research? (no more than 7 words)
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What is the important element in a child’s development?(no more than 4 words）