Growing up multitasking: The costs and benefits for cognitive development

Courage, Mary L.; Bakhtiar, Aishah; Fitzpatrick, Cheryll L.; Kenny, Sophie; Brandeau, Katie

doi:10.1016/j.dr.2014.12.002

Cited by 108 publications

(70 citation statements)

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“…Whatever the exact nature of the interference of music and sounds may be, an important message of the study is that adding these to stories might diminish rather than enhance the learning potential of multimedia storybooks for children who have problems with verbal processing (Courage, Bakhtiar, Fitzpatrick, Kenny, & Brandeau, 2014). In those cases, it might often be best to present oral text alone, without any music or sound effects.…”

Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, there are more studies indicating that switching among divergent tasks within a window places the younger user at risk for cognitive overload. Rather than enhancing learning outcomes as intended, carrying out game-like activities during the story reading session interrupts the processing of the story line and results in interference, distraction, and ultimately errors and diminished performance (Courage et al, 2014).…”

Section: Effects Of Games or "Hotspots" That Are Incidental To Story mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These negative outcomes -distortions and less detailed retellings -may be the result of immature executive functions such as working memory, attention shifting, and inhibition . They may also reflect a "switch cost" (Courage et al, 2014): When attention is divided or switched among two or more tasks, some degree of dual-task inference or switch cost may result in poorer performance. However, not all studies show negative effects of children's access to irrelevant interactive hotspots and games on story memory (Homer et al, 2014;Ricci & Beal, 2002;Robb, 2010).…”

Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for young children's emergent literacy

Bus

Takács

Kegel

2015

Developmental Review

270

161

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A B S T R A C TStories presented on phones, tablets and e-readers now offer an alternative to print books. The fundamental challenge has become to specify when and for whom the manner in which children retain information from stories has been changed by electronic storybooks, for better and for worse. We review the effects of digitized presentations of narratives that include oral text as well as multimedia information sources (e.g., animations and other visual and sound effects, background music, hotspots, games, dictionaries) on children's emergent literacy. Research on preschool and kindergarten children has revealed both positive and negative effects of electronic stories conditional upon whether materials are consistent with the way that the human information processing system works. Adding certain information to electronic storybooks can facilitate multimedia learning, especially in children at-risk for language or reading difficulty. Animated pictures, sometimes enriched with music and sound, that match the simultaneously presented story text, can help integrate nonverbal information and language and thus promote storage of those in memory. On the other hand, stories enhanced with hypermedia interactive features like games and "hotspots" may lead to poor performance on tests of vocabulary and story comprehension. Using those features necessitates task switching, and like multitasking in general, seems to cause cognitive overload. However, in accordance with differential susceptibility theory, well-designed technology-enhanced books may be particularly suited Developmental Review j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / d r to improve learning conditions for vulnerable children and turn putative risk groups into successful learners. This new line of research may have far-reaching consequences for the use of technology-enhanced materials in education.

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Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Effects Of Games or "Hotspots" That Are Incidental To Story mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for young children's emergent literacy

Bus

Takács

Kegel

2015

Developmental Review

270

161

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Previous literature suggests that adolescents and young adults are extensive media multitaskers, who constantly access single or multiple digital platforms to engage with parallel media activities (3,(7)(8)(9). At the centre of young people's multitasking activity is a computer, a meta-medium that allows the simultaneous use of several media streams (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Touchscreen generation: children's current media use, parental supervision methods and attitudes towards contemporary media

2017

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Aim: To explore media preferences and use among young children, as well as to obtain information about parental supervision methods and beliefs about media.Method: Ninety parents of three-to six-year-olds, recruited from a relatively economically advantaged area in the United Kingdom, completed a media opinion survey.Results: Although traditional television remains the favourite type of media platform among young children, touchscreen devices are gaining in popularity, and may promote simultaneous multi-screen use. Moreover, parents believe that the effects of media on developmental outcomes are generally positive. However, they do monitor the content of traditional and new media their children are exposed to. Conclusion:This study shows an emerging evidence of concurrent multi-screen use among very young children. More detailed examination of early media multitasking, and its relationship to cognitive and behavioural outcomes, is necessary. INTRODUCTIONThere is no doubt that the rapid development of digital technology has changed how we communicate, work and spend our free time. Although many would agree that easy access to multifunction digital devices, such as smartphones or tablets, and high-speed Internet has improved our lives, brought about more freedom, and saved the time needed to complete many daily tasks, very little is known about the impact that modern technology has on adult cognitive and psychosocial functioning. Even less is known about how digital environment will influence developmental outcomes.In 'Western' culture, today's older children and adolescents are undoubtedly digital natives -children, for whom digital technology is fundamental to daily routine (1). Their environment is saturated with electronic devices (2) and children appear to fully embrace opportunities provided by new technology to reduce boredom and to allow efficient use of their leisure time (3). However, there is a paucity of research that addresses the extent of new media use among younger children (younger than six) and the effects of the digital environment on how they play, learn and interact with others. Traditionally, research has focused on the effects of television on the developmental outcomes, with a particular interest in how television viewing relates to learning, attention and behaviour. Many researchers and clinicians have expressed concern about the potentially deleterious effects of heavy television exposure or viewing inappropriate content (4-6). However, over 40 years of research has failed to provide consistent conclusions about the long-lasting impact of viewing on children's behaviour and cognition.

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“…Second, important attentional control processes are not yet fully developed in children (Huizinga, Dolan, & van der Molen, 2006;Passow et al, 2013). Because these attentional control processes still need to develop, children may be more vulnerable to media distractions than adults (Courage, Bakhtiar, Fitzpatrick, Kenny, & Brandeau, 2015;Klimkeit, Mattingley, Sheppard, Farrow, & Bradshaw, 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dealing with media distractions: an observational study of computer-based multitasking among children and adults in the Netherlands

Baumgartner

Sumter

2017

Journal of Children and Media

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Growing up multitasking: The costs and benefits for cognitive development

Cited by 108 publications

References 298 publications

Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for young children's emergent literacy

Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for young children's emergent literacy

Touchscreen generation: children's current media use, parental supervision methods and attitudes towards contemporary media

Dealing with media distractions: an observational study of computer-based multitasking among children and adults in the Netherlands

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