We found that at both 18 months and 3.5 years the high touchscreen users were faster than the low users to find the red apple when it stood out amongst blue apples. There was no difference between the user groups when the apple was harder to find.
Co-investigator Dr Rachael Bedford from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London
10 August 2020
Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
Toddlers with high daily touchscreen use are faster to find targets that stood out during visual search compared to toddlers with no or low touchscreen use – according to new research from Birkbeck, University of London and King’s College London.
The research team say the findings are important for the growing debate around the impact of screen time on toddlers and their development.
The TABLET Project, at Birkbeck’s Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, recruited 12-month-old infants who had different levels of touchscreen usage. Published in JAMA Pediatrics the study followed them over the next 2.5 years, bringing them into the lab at 18 months and 3.5 years. At the 18-month and 3.5-year visits, toddlers took part in a computer task in which they were trained to search for a red apple amongst a varying number of either blue apples (easy search), or blue apples and red apple slices (difficult search). An eye tracker monitored their gaze and visually rewarded the child when they found the red apple, allowing them to perform the task even though they were too young to verbally describe what they were doing.
She added, “What we need to know next is whether this attention difference is advantageous or detrimental to their everyday life. It is important we understand how to use this modern technology in a way that maximizes benefits and minimizes any negative consequences.”
Lead researcher Professor Tim Smith, from Birkbeck’s Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, said: “The use of smartphones and tablets by babies and toddlers has accelerated rapidly in recent years. The first few years of life are critical for children to develop the ability to focus their attention on relevant information and ignore distraction, early skills that are known to be important for later academic achievement. There has been growing concern that toddler touchscreen use may negatively impact their developing attention but this fear is not based on empirical evidence.”
Dr Ana Maria Portugal, first researcher on the project points out “We are currently unable to conclude that the touchscreen use caused the differences in attention as it may also be that children who are generally more attracted to bright, colourful features seek out touchscreen devices more than those who are not.”
This research was funded by Leverhulme Trust, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and Wellcome Trust.
Founded in 1998, the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development is one of the world’s leading centres for studying the way in which babies and young children’s brains develop.
Based on a press release issued by Birkbeck, University of London.
Reference: Portugal, A. et al. ‘Saliency-driven visual search performance in toddlers with low – vs high- touch screen use’ (2020) Journal of the American Medical Association-Pediatrics
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