Parents hear conflicting advice regarding screen time for young children, and while there are strong opinions on both sides, there is little scientific evidence to support either position. This I-Corps team has developed an iPad game that has potential to change the debate.
The proposed app teaches toddlers (15-24 months old) the shape bias -- the fact that objects that have the same name tend to have the same shape, while other features such as size, color, and texture are less important for the purposes of learning a new word. The shape bias is an example of ?learning-to-learn? words: acquiring cues or higher-level principles that make learning new words easier. While children will eventually acquire the shape bias on their own, it can also be taught to them early.
Young children from households with low socioeconomic status are at a disadvantage when learning language, in part because of less rich linguistic environments, and learning the shape bias early may help these children put their language experience to better use. Furthermore, the lack of a shape bias has been shown to correlate with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in children. The proposed app could lead to effective new treatments for children afflicted with this impairment.
Using the iPad will also open up the opportunity for researchers to reach children that are not in university towns. The iPad platform will also give psychologists the exciting opportunity to collect large-scale data on how children learn as well as conduct new research, so that we can iteratively research and develop iPad games that give children a developmental edge.
