CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study In the late 90s, the media industry began to target children as young as 6 months as prime viewers for television programs, such as Teletubbies, and video series, such as Baby Einstein. Many producers claimed these programs have educational or cognitive benefits for young children despite a lack of research to substantiate these claims (Garrison & Christakis, 2005). With the rise in popularity of infant-directed media among families, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 1999, 2001) made recommendations against early screen media use for children less than 2 years of age based on the assumption that media use would displace important social interactions necessary for healthy development. The AAP (2016) recently amended their recommendation to no screen media for children aged 18 months and younger. For 18- to 24-month-old children, they recommend using high-quality media with caregiver supervision. Despite the AAP’s recommendations, infants and toddlers spend significant amounts of time with screen media. In a typical day, children under 2 years of age watch about 1 hour of television per day (Common Sense Media, 2013). In comparison, infants and toddlers only spend about 19 minutes with books each day (Common Sense Media, 2013). Moreover, 36% of young children live in households where the television is on most or all of the time (Common Sense Media, 2013). What are the consequences of television exposure during infancy? Despite the marketing claims of the ‘educational’ value of infant-directed video programs, there are no documented studies that show any substantial benefits from viewing them (Garrison & Christakis, 2005). In fact, research to date suggests the contrary. Infants and toddlers have difficulty learning from television (Anderson & Hanson, 2010; Anderson & Pempek, 2005), and only show rudimentary signs of comprehension around 18 to 24 months of age (Pempek, Kirkorian, Richards, Anderson, Lund, & Stevens, 2010). In addition, a number of correlation-based studies suggest that the amount of early media exposure is negatively related to developmental outcomes, namely poorer attention and language skills (see Anderson & Pempek, 2005 for a review). Recent experimental studies corroborate these findings, demonstrating that the presence of television directly reduces the quality of children’s play behaviors and attention (Courage, Murphy, Goulding, & Setliff, 2010; Schmidt, Pempek, Kirkorian, Lund, & Anderson, 2008; Setliff & Courage, 2011), and parent language (Lavigne, Hanson, Pempek, Kirkorian, & Anderson, 2015; Pempek, Kirkorian, & Anderson, 2009; Zimmerman et al., 2009). Over time, television’s constant presence in the home could lead to potentially serious developmental issues for infants and toddlers. However, hypotheses attributing long-term negative outcomes to the direct effects of television on children are limited. There are no definitive mechanisms to explain how these effects are instantiated within children over time. Furthermore, what remains entirely unexplored are the indirect influences of television on children. Television’s impact can have a potentially greater indirect effect on young children by directly influencing parents’ behaviors, which in turn, disrupt the quality of their interactions with their children. During the first few years of a child’s life, parents are crucial in supporting the development of key cognitive outcomes, such as attention, executive functioning skills, and language development (Vygotsky, 1978). Parents can offset some of the potential harmful effects of media exposure on their children, but they can only do so if media do not compromise their own behavior. For example, parents have the potential to buffer some of television’s disruptive consequences by supporting their children’s attentional focus during play. However, the quality and quantity of parents’ interactions with their children tend to be reduced by the presence of television (Courage et al., 2010; Kirkorian, Pempek, Murphy, Schmidt, & Anderson, 2009; Pempek, Demers, Hanson, Kirkorian, & Anderson, 2011). That is, when the television is on, parents tend to be less responsive, attentive, and engaged with their children. Thus, as media presence in infants’ and toddlers’ lives continues to grow, it is ever more important to understand effects on both children and parents.