Chapter 1 - Screen Media and the Youngest Viewers: Implications for Attention and Learning

Abstract

Infants and toddlers spend 1–2h a day engaged in screen media. Although most of them view television, their access to newer mobile technologies such as tablets and smartphones is increasing. They are also exposed to over 5h daily of background television intended for adults. This amount of screen time has prompted a debate about the positive and negative potentials of those media to affect the development of attention and learning in these very young viewers. Research shows that age and cognitive maturity, the content of the material viewed, and the availability of a co-viewing adult are more critical to developmental outcomes than the amount of viewing per se. Importantly, research shows that children under 2 years have a transfer deficit whereby they have difficulty relating video material to the real world and therefore learn more effectively from an interactive adult than from any video medium. Another concern is that too much screen time is detrimental to developing attention processes. Although there is no evidence that media causes attention deficits, there is a relation between exposure to media and poorer executive functions and self-regulation. Also, background television distracts infants and toddlers during play and diminishes parent-child verbal and social interactions. There is an expectation that newer interactive devices might be more effective in promoting learning and focussed attention, but this remains an empirical question.