The Effects of Fantastical Characters and Prosocial Message Duration on Children’s Narrative, Emotional, and Moral Lesson Comprehension of a Cartoon

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ABSTRACT The goal of the present study was to test how two design features common in young children’s prosocial media content, particularly inclusion lessons, affect children’s emotional, narrative, and moral lesson comprehension. Specifically, we tested if children’s comprehension differed based on whether characters were humans or dogs, and whether inclusion was modeled for approximately 80% of the show or 20% of the show. We also examined if experimental effects differed based on the type of comprehension measured. Using data collected from 98 children in the United States (ages 3–8 years), we found that, generally, children comprehended better when characters were humans, compared with dogs, and when inclusion was modeled for 80% of the show, relative to only 20% of the show, although these findings were less consistent. We also noted age effects where, in general, older children comprehended better than younger children, and were aided through the use of human characters. We discuss the practical implications of this work in terms of how to best design prosocial media to support children’s comprehension, as well as the theoretical implications in terms of thinking about children’s cognitive capacities and when to measure different forms of comprehension.