Study finds children as young as 2-years-old can use touchscreen devices
The study showed 91% of parents with a touchscreen device said their children were able to swipe it, half of the children were able to unlock it, and 64% said their child actively searched for touchscreen features.
The small-scale study was led by Dr Deirdre Murray of the INFANT Research Centre and Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at University College Cork.
According to the study, the average age at which the children are able to perform such actions was 24 months, while the average age for identifying and using specific touchscreen features was 25 months.
Almost three out of four parents felt their child was able to perform the skills.
The findings are based on answers provided for 82 questionnaires on touchscreen access and use, completed by the parents of children aged between 12 months and three years.
The findings have been published in the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal), but Dr Murray said there was a need for further research and guidance for parents regarding whether touchscreen technology is actually good for children.
The study was undertaken by the INFANT Research Centre to investigate whether devices such as iPads might work as a quick screening tool for assessing the level of cognitive function in children, particularly those deemed at ‘high risk’ because of issues such as a difficult birth.
The team at UCC has already developed an app for assessing levels of memory and attention in children, but Dr Murray said the “displacement” of other activities, like sport, was a concern.
She said there was potential for children to benefit from touchscreen technology, but difficulties arose where children were handed the devices “all the time” or as a “surrogate babysitter”.
She also said that, unlike television, the mobile nature and interactive nature of the devices might mean children were slower to leave them aside, resulting in a lack of downtime.
“We can have educational tools but they are not going to learn as much as they would from real toys and real people,” she said.
Some 82% of the parents questioned for the study owned a touchscreen device such as a smartphone.
