CHAPTER 4
Human Development
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Introduction
This chapter examines some of the basics of human development to help you better know and
understand your audience. The audience for animation seems to be constantly increasing
in many demographics, with a growing acceptance of animation by adults, but the primary
audience is still children.Advertisers prefer to target children from ages six to eleven or twelve.
Consequently most television cartoon shows have been aimed at these ages as well.
Television programmers look for cartoons that are kid-relatable, with characters and sit-
uations that provide an immediate connection for the children who watch. Programmers and
advertisers expect a large audience of their target age group. Governments and child devel-
opment specialists expect media for kids to meet children’s developmental needs. Creators
and writers want to provide entertainment that kids enjoy. Do you remember what it was
like to be a kid?
There are several areas of development to consider:
- Physical development
- Emotional development
- Social development
- Cognitive development (using the brain to acquire information about the world and
learning to get through daily life) - Metacognitive development (thinking about thinking, problem solving)
- Creative and artistic development
- Moral, spiritual, and ethical development.
Get to know children personally to find out what they like and dislike at different ages.
Volunteer at Scouts, Little League, soccer, or other children’s activities. Watch children at