The impact of a cultural children's program and adult mediation on children's knowledge of and attitudes towards opera

Abstract
In this experiment, we investigated whether adult mediation during a cultural children's program stimulates children's knowledge of and attitudes towards opera. One hundred twenty four children were randomly assigned to one of two viewing conditions. In the mediation condition a coviewing adult provided children with additional comments and showed a positive attitude towards opera. In the non‐mediation condition a coviewing adult did not give comments and showed a neutral attitude towards the program watched. Children in the mediation condition recalled significantly more opera information. In both the mediation and the non‐mediation condition children's attitude towards opera was stimulated by the cultural children's program.