Screen‐time influences children's mental imagery performance

Mental imagery is a foundational human faculty that depends on active image construction and sensorimotor experiences. However, children now spend a significant proportion of their day engaged with screen‐media, which (a) provide them with ready‐made mental images, and (b) constitute a sensory narro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental science Vol. 23; no. 6; pp. e12978 - n/a
Main Authors: Suggate, Sebastian P., Martzog, Philipp
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2020
Subjects:
Child
Child & adolescent mental health
Children
Children & youth
cognitive development
Demography
electronic media
Humans
Imagination
Infant
Memory, Short-Term
mental imagery
mental simulation
Screen time
screen‐media
Sensorimotor system
Sensory integration
Short term memory
Statistical analysis
Vocabulary
screen-time
cognitive development
screen-media
mental simulation
electronic media
mental imagery
ISSN:1363-755X, 1467-7687, 1467-7687
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Mental imagery is a foundational human faculty that depends on active image construction and sensorimotor experiences. However, children now spend a significant proportion of their day engaged with screen‐media, which (a) provide them with ready‐made mental images, and (b) constitute a sensory narrowing whereby input is typically focused on the visual and auditory modalities. Accordingly, we test the idea that screen‐time influences the development of children's mental imagery with a focus on mental image generation and inspection from the visual and haptic domains. In a longitudinal cross‐lagged panel design, children (n = 266) aged between 3 and 9 years were tested at two points in time, 10 months apart. Measures of screen‐time and mental imagery were employed, alongside a host of control variables including working memory, vocabulary, demographics, device ownership, and age of exposure to screen‐media. Findings indicate a statistically significant path from screen‐time at time 1 to mental imagery at time 2, above and beyond the influence of the control variables. These unique findings are discussed in terms of the influence of screen‐time on mental imagery. Mental imagery involves the inner assembly of external experiences and events, to then behold these in front of our ‘inner eye’. Screen‐media do much of this work for us by providing us with ready‐made images. Accordlingy, children who spend more time with screens show reduced mental imagery performance.
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ISSN:1363-755X
1467-7687
1467-7687
DOI:10.1111/desc.12978