The Role Of Cellphones In Cognitive Development Of Children
When it comes to multitasking, most individuals feel that they can complete two or more tasks at once without defects occurring. Multitasking is an immense feature in our society with parenting because parents have to be constantly watching their kid while also completing personal tasks. Due to technology advancements communication is now able to happen at a push of a button. Cell phones not only allow people to send photos, update their loved ones and stay in touch with people but they also create a huge distraction with face to face interactions. Child development is dependent on the connectedness of parent-child interactions. The article I review in this paper discusses how cellphones disruptions may lead to issues with cognitive development in young children.
Reed, Hirsh-Pasek & Golinoff (2017) sought to test the effects by comparing interrupted and uninterrupted instances of the mother teaching novel words to their children. The study included forty-four mothers in the age range of 29 – 47 years old. The children in the study were around 22-27 months of age. The interrupted period included a phone call from the experimenter to the mothers. The mothers were told the purpose of the phone call was to receive instructions of when to move on to the next word. The phone called allowed for the experimenter to create a realistic conversation that would distract the mother. Both the interrupted and uninterrupted instances would last 60 seconds per word and during the interrupted sections the phone call took away time from being able to teach the child the word. After the teaching phase, children were tested on their knowledge of the two words. Reed et al. (2017) predicted the children would be aware of the interrupted interaction with their parent and that it would negatively affect the word learning.
Results found that the interrupted condition children did not learn the words while the uninterrupted children did. Results showed that children learning the words required responsive back and forth conversations that were both prompt and meaningful. Reed et al. (2017) interpreted that the quality of the conversation was shown to have more impact on the child learning the word instead of simply being taught the meaning for 60 seconds.
Finally, Reed et al. (2017) suggested that not only did the children become aware of the interruptions these interruptions have cognitive consequences for young learners and the consequences are not solely limited to word processing. I found this article interesting because everyone in society uses some form of technology and this study can apply to every type of parent in some way. While technology has improved to make lives easier technology still cannot replace parent-child relationships and the bond needed for development.
I have never thought about the negative consequences of using my cell phone around young kids. Three have been multiple times where I would be interacting with my little brothers and using my phone for various reasons. I never realized a simple 30-second conversation could have negative consequences with learning. This study could help parents understand the disconnect occurring from simple interruptions and could encourage limitations of electronics around children. Clearly, cell phones cannot be avoided completely but if parents could try to limit their use as much as possible it could benefit their child cognitively. This research also could be used to test the effect of other common technology’s children use such as iPad’s or computer’s on childhood development.
