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ERIC Number: EJ1324936
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Jan
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
What's in a Distraction? The Effect of Parental Cell Phone Use on Parents' and Children's Question-Asking
Gaudreau, Caroline; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick
Developmental Psychology, v58 n1 p55-68 Jan 2022
Although questions fuel children's learning, adult "cell phone use" may preoccupy parents, affecting the frequency of questions parents and children ask and answer. We ask whether parental cell phone use will lead to a decrease in the number of questions children and parents ask one another while playing with a novel toy. Fifty-seven parent-child dyads (M[subscript age] = 48.72 months, SD = 6.53, 28 girls; 84.2% White) were randomly assigned to a cell phone, paper, or control condition. As children played with a novel toy with hidden functions, parents in the cell phone condition completed a survey about reading on their cell phone, while parents in the paper condition did it on paper. Parents in the control condition did not complete the survey. Results suggest that children asked fewer questions in the cell phone than in the control condition. However, no other condition differences emerged. Parents' information-seeking questioning, however, differed in all three conditions: they asked more in the control than in the cell phone and paper conditions and, critically, asked more in the paper than cell phone condition. Possible explanations and implications for parents' cell phone use are discussed.
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A