Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
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Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#2I was thinking "attention" as in "attention deficit", but this test was "find a red apple amongst blue apples". They're not sure if finding red apples amongst blue apples is beneficial though:
>> “What we need to know next is whether this attention difference is advantageous or detrimental to their everyday life.”
Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#3This is just a press release and I haven't read the full paper, but from this top-level summary it seems like it could also be construed as "toddlers who have a higher exposure to touchscreens are better at using touchscreens later on." This feels like it could just be a function of practice, or perhaps familiarity with computers (not sure whether they controlled for computer use - did the "non-touchscreen" kids use computing devices in general as much as the "touchscreen" kids?), not attention necessarily.
Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#4For this little gain, at what cost to the future growth of the kid? Attention span? Ability to focus on anything other than small screens? Social ability? This research should really address the pro/con for the kid in the long run rather than just benefit of finding target using their fingers.
Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#5"12-month-old infants who had different levels of touchscreen usage"
Why the fuck would you have infants with 'levels of touchscreen usage' at 12 month?
Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#6This is a shamefully clickbatey title from the University press office!
To quote the article, "...We are currently unable to conclude that the touchscreen use caused the differences in attention".
Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#7I haven’t read the paper. But if the researchers were bringing in children regularly for testing involving eye tracking equipment, why not also test their ability to manipulate physical objects, recognize faces, and track faces? That all seems like low hanging fruit.
Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#8For this little gain, at what cost to the future growth of the kid? Attention span? Ability to focus on anything other than small screens? Social ability? This research should really address the pro/con for the kid in the long run rather than just benefit of finding target using their fingers.
The opposite can argued too.
That children who don't use tablets have shorter attention spans and worst social skills. The "natural is better" argument is not research based. Society has long preached that things like reading books is great for kids but it's entirely unnatural just like tablets.
Generally research in this area has been extremely biased against electronics. You also have to control for the type of activities they are doing on the tablet.
For example the mental stimulation when playing an educational Daniel Tiger game is completely different than watching a toy sales driven TV show like Transformers. Both can be done on a tablet though.
Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#9> "What we need to know next is whether this attention difference is advantageous or detrimental to their everyday life."
I think they should find this out and then give the public a ring. Until then, feels like clickbait.
Re: Toddlers who use touchscreens show attention differences
#10> There has been growing concern that toddler touchscreen use may negatively impact their developing attention but this fear is not based on empirical evidence.”
That isn’t surprising to me: there are no inherent properties attached to a touch screen that would affect attention. But there are plenty of fast paced games and videos that could, and those tend to be viewed through touch screens. So I still wonder about that (though it’s not all that different to watching too much TV, something people have discussed for decades now)