Online Video Research

A Child's World

Ep 1- Life and Times

Synopsis

Documentary series which charts the key developments that mark the way on every human being’s incredible journey to becoming a fully-fledged independent person.

The series opens up the secret world that children inhabit, capturing remarkable behavioural moments, and using simple but revealing experiments. The first programme looks at children’s concepts of life and mortality.

Enhanced Description

Includes contributions from Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith (Institute of Child Health). the documentary features children who believe that a doll is a living thing, but a plant isn’t, a three year old who refuses to believe that she was ever a baby and some four year olds who see death for the first time. It also looks at how children appreciate and understand the concept of time. Executive producers: Alex Graham and Leanne Klein. Series producer: Louise Rota. Directed by Mary Crisp.

A Child’s World, Life and Times, 20:30 10/09/2001, Channel 4, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/00142BC9 (Accessed 30 Jul 2018)

Notes on episode:

- At 18 months a child cannot separate what is living vs what isn't 

- There are 2 basic types of 'things' they see by the way they play (hopping a toy bird but swooshing a toy airplane)

-They cannot really spot the difference between biological and mechanical 

- At the age of 3 they begin to grasp an understanding between living and none living

- They were given a task to examine and separate 8 objects from living to none living

- Most of the three year olds failed as they could not tell the difference

- They found it difficult to understand representation vs the real thing, for example the toy baby doll

- Children have no concept of time, they only understand 'now', not past or future

- They may begin to understand a sequence of events that form a routine