Virtual Reality in Early and Preschool Childhood

Russian and foreign studies suggest that there is a significant increase in the use of computer programmes by preschool children, and that children are generally introduced to computers at a much younger age, practically in their first months of life. Even though the majority of sociological studies show that computer technologies are in high demand by small children and their parents, psychological exploration into this phenomenon is both insufficient and contradictory. Some researchers argue that computer games have a destructive effect upon the child’s development, while others present data proving their positive impacts. We suggest that sociological quantitative methods may not be appropriate in this case and that comparative analysis of the child’s activity with virtual and real material would provide a better understanding. The main part of our paper focuses on this very analysis. We describe outcomes of a study showing that children’s interactions with electronic gadgets differ substantially from the more traditional forms of child activity and cannot compensate for the lack of the latter. In the final part of the paper we provide some recommendations on how to choose computer programmes for children of late preschool age.