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The Dimensional Divide: Learning from TV and Touchscreens During Early Childhood

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Media Exposure During Infancy and Early Childhood

Abstract

As children’s exposure to touchscreen technology and other digital media increases, so does the need to understand the conditions under which children are able to learn from this technology. The prevalence of screen media in the lives of young children has increased significantly over the last two decades. The use of touchscreen devices among 2–4-year-olds in the USA increased from 39 to 80 % from 2011 to 2013 (Rideout, 2013). Despite frequent engagement with these devices, it is widely recognized that children exhibit a transfer deficit, a term coined to denote children’s consistently poorer learning from television and touchscreens relative to face-to-face interaction (see Barr, Developmental review 30(2):128–154, 2010; Barr, Child Development Perspectives 7(4):205–210, 2013). In this chapter, we focus on understanding the transfer deficit when children engage in imitative learning from touchscreens and television (e.g., Dickerson et al., Developmental Psychobiology 55(7):719–732, 2013, Moser et al., Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 137:137–155, 2015; Zack et al., British Journal of Developmental Psychology 27(Pt 1):13–26, 2009, Zack et al., Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 54(1):20–25, 2013; Zimmermann et al., Child Development, in press). Specifically, we discuss the role of child experience, perceptual and cognitive constraints, transfer distance, and social scaffolding in the transfer deficit. We conclude with lessons for parents and early educators regarding the strategies that may enhance learning across the dimensional divide.

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Acknowledgements

Support for this chapter was provided by NSF BCS grant 1023772 to Peter Gerhardstein and Rachel Barr.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA

    Daniel Hipp, Peter Gerhardstein & Alecia Moser

  2. Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    Laura Zimmermann & Rachel Barr

  3. Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Gemma Taylor

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  1. Daniel Hipp
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  2. Peter Gerhardstein
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  3. Laura Zimmermann
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  4. Alecia Moser
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  5. Gemma Taylor
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  6. Rachel Barr
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Correspondence to Peter Gerhardstein .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Rachel Barr

  2. Department of Human Development, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Deborah Nichols Linebarger

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Hipp, D., Gerhardstein, P., Zimmermann, L., Moser, A., Taylor, G., Barr, R. (2017). The Dimensional Divide: Learning from TV and Touchscreens During Early Childhood. In: Barr, R., Linebarger, D. (eds) Media Exposure During Infancy and Early Childhood. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45102-2_3

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