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Given the central importance of asking questions in a child’s
development, Golinkoff and her research team purposely designed a
playful activity that would encourage the children in the study to ask
their parents questions. The research team designed a colorful cardboard
box with 10 hidden functions, such as opening a flap secured with
Velcro to reveal a mirror, turning on a concealed flashlight and
spinning a mini Wiffle ball on a pipe cleaner. This novel toy sparked
the children’s curiosity and motivated them to ask for help from their
parents.
The researchers then divided the participants into three groups to
study the effect that cell phone use might have on the participants’
question-asking behavior. While their children played with the box, the
parents in the first group were asked to complete a survey on reading
development using a cell phone. The parents in the second group were
asked to complete the same survey on paper, and the parents in the third
group did not receive a survey to complete.
As they hypothesized, Golinkoff and her team found that using a cell
phone was associated with the parents and their children asking fewer
questions. While the parents and children with a paper survey interacted
less than those without a survey, children and parents in this group
still asked more questions of each other than the group with the cell
phones. Parents and children without a survey asked the most questions
of each other while the children engaged in the hidden box activity.
Acknowledging that parents and caregivers must always grapple with
distractions—whether it’s a paper survey, a knock at the door or the
demands of another sibling—Golinkoff and her research team encourage
parents to be mindful of the time they spend in front of a screen when
playing with their children.
The presence of a cell phone or tablet may lead the parent to
interact less with the child, and it may communicate to the child that
the parent is less available for help or support. By contrast, a playful
activity without the competing presence of a digital screen may promote
the rich question-asking that advances children’s language development
and learning in general.
“Our cell phones are like candy to us,” Golinkoff said. “But it would
be great if we could be mindful of the fact that using our cell phones
when we are interacting with our kids may shortcut their talk with us,
talk that they use to learn from us.”