Blue's Clues - Influence

Influence

The show's extensive use of research in its development and production process inspired several studies that provided evidence for its efficacy as a learning tool. Field tests showed that the attention and comprehension of young viewers increased with each repeat viewing. Anderson and a team of researchers, some of which were his colleagues at Nickelodeon, studied in 1999 "the impact of episode repetition on visual attention, audience participation, and comprehension". The researchers wanted to test whether repeated viewings of the show resulted in mastery over the material presented, or if viewers would habituate or become bored. They discovered that audience participation was lower for the first few viewings, because children paid more attention to unfamiliar material, and that understanding and solving the problems presented were more cognitively demanding. After five viewings, more of the viewers' cognitive resources were available for interaction and participation, so they answered more questions. As the researchers stated, "...Episode repetition appears to foster empowerment, as revealed in children's enthusiastic efforts to 'help' solve problems". They also found that repetition, which they called "an inexpensive tool to maximize comprehension", improved comprehension, held children's attention, and increased audience participation. Children were not only tolerant of repetition, they were "positively enthusiastic" about it.

Another team of researchers, which also included Anderson and his Nickelodeon colleagues, studied in 2000 whether experienced Blue's Clues viewers interacted more with the show than less-frequent viewers, and whether regular viewers of the show interacted more with other shows than did children who were not. They found that when the content of a program children watched was new and challenging, they paid more attention, and when it was familiar, either from previous viewings or in a format they recognized, they interacted more. In short, they found that "interaction in Blue's Clues to some extent reflects mastery".

A similar study, also conducted in 2000 by many of the same researchers, found that experienced Blue's Clues viewers interacted more with other educational programs than did inexperienced viewers, which proved that watching Blue's Clues changed the way children watch television. Jennings Bryant conducted a longitudinal study of the effects of Blue's Clues at the University of Alabama in 2001, to ascertain whether or not the show's curriculum goals were achieved. He found that they were, and that the show's "episode repetition strategy" improved children's comprehension while holding their attention and increasing their participation, which suggested that children's learning and social interactions benefited from their watching of Blue's Clues. As Anderson stated, "Given the program's large audience, it appears that the program is not only doing well, but it is also doing good".

Erin Ryan and her colleagues performed a 2009 study on the effect of the use of American Sign Language (ASL) in Blue's Clues episodes. They analyzed 16 episodes over two weeks for the content and frequency of the signs used. This "revealed a high incidence of ASL usage by various characters", but little "consistent use of ASL". They found a "lack of consistency between the utilization of spoken words and the signs that represent them", and a lack of explanation for the purpose of signed communication and its connection with ASL and the Deaf community. The researchers speculated that hearing children with no previous ASL exposure would be familiarized with ASL and the deaf by these episodes, which would reduce the stigma attached to deafness and hard of hearing individuals. Based on other research about the positive effects of teaching ASL to hearing children, the researchers also speculated that it could lead to an increase of vocabulary skills and IQ, as well as improve interpersonal communication. They surmised that deaf children would feel more included and less isolated, and that they would have the opportunity to view positive models of ASL and deaf people.

David Gesler, a professor at Murray State University, used Blue's Clues to introduce research methods to undergraduate students and to engage them in the research process. He developed a "successful" exercise for students that helped them to become more comfortable with research and countered their negative conceptions of research.

Anderson and his colleagues reported the show's positive results, but found no evidence that watching Blue's Clues increased the expressive vocabularies of its viewers. Researcher Shalom M. Fisch stated that although the show attempted to be "participatory", it could not truly be so, because unlike interactive computer games, the viewers' responses could not change or influence what occurred on-screen.