Researchers found that digital storybooks that animate upon a child’s vocalization offer beneficial learning opportunities, especially for children with less developed attention regulation.

«Digital platforms have exploded in popularity, and a huge proportion of the top-selling apps are educational interfaces for children,» said Erik Thiessen, associate professor of Psychology at CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and senior author on the paper. «Many digital interfaces are poorly suited to children’s learning capacities, but if we can make them better, children can learn better.»

The results are available in in the December 19 issue of the journal Developmental Psychology.

Shared book reading is a quiet moment that provides a child with the fundamental foundation for developing reading and language skills. The rise of digital platforms, like electronic books, computers, smartphones and tablets, have raised concerns that children may be missing out on this key learning experience.

«Children learn best when they are more involved in the learning process,» Thiessen said. «It is really important for children to shape their environment through their behavior to help them learn.»

The researchers constructed the study in three parts that build on previous results. In the first experiment, an adult read to the child from either a traditional hardboard book or a digital book. In the digital platform, the pertinent noun/verb and a relevant image are animated upon the child’s first vocalization. They found the recall improved using the digital platform compared to the traditional book (60.20 percent to 47.35 percent, respectively).

Story Source: Materials provided by Carnegie Mellon University. Original written by Stacy Kish. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.