Abstract:
Preadolescent Internet usage is prevalent today. This thesis examined how Canadian
preadolescents use the Internet, what they do when they are on the Internet, and why
preadolescents are fascinated with the Internet. Eight quahtative categories were derived
from the data. The categories are Downloading, Information Hunting, Consumerism,
Virtual Nurturing, Gaming, Expressions of Violence, Chatting, and Music. By critically
distilling and analyzing preadolescent Internet behaviour through the lens of behavioural
and cognitive psychology, and explicating the amount of psychological, cognitive, and
social learning that preadolescents may be exposed to on the Internet, and the attraction
that is cumulatively a profound draw for a preadolescent audience, an argument will be
made that Internet usage in preadolescents may impair their cognitive, social, and
psychological development because of the impulse seeking and gratification priming that
has been reinforced during the formative period of preadolescence.
