Further Examination of the Immediate Impact of Television on Children’s Executive Function

Lillard, Angeline S.
Drell, Marissa B.
Richey, Eve M.
Boguszewski, Katherine
Smith, Eric D.

Department of Psychology, University of Virginia

Eric D. Smith is now at the Department of Psychology at Murray State University.

Preparation of this article was supported by NSF Grant 1024293, a Brady Education Foundation grant, a Contemplative Sciences Center grant, and a University of Virginia Sesqui Award to Angeline S. Lillard, and by an NSF Graduate Fellowship to Eric D. Smith. We thank the parents and children who participated, and Leilani Brower, Lauren Gianforte, Rekesha Greenwood, Taylor Harbin, Naureen Mehdi, Jen Peterson, Emma Petkofsky, and other members of the Early Development Laboratory who provided assistance and support.

Earlier versions of this work were presented at the meetings of the Association for Psychological Science and the Society for Research in Child Development in 2011, and at the Australasian Human Developmental Conference in 2013.

Angeline S. Lillard, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA 22904 [email protected]

Received April 8, 2014

revised February 16, 2015

Accepted February 23, 2015

Developmental Psychology 51(6):p 792-805, June 2015. | DOI: 10.1037/a0039097

Three studies examined the short-term impact of television (TV) on children’s executive function (EF). Study 1 (N = 160) showed that 4- and 6-year-olds’ EF is impaired after watching 2 different fast and fantastical shows, relative to that of children who watched a slow, realistic show or played. In Study 2 (N = 60), 4-year-olds’ EF was as depleted after watching a fast and fantastical educational show as it was after a fast and fantastical entertainment 1, relative to that of children who read a book based on the educational show. Study 3 (N = 80) examined whether show pacing or fantasy was more influential, and found that only fantastical shows, regardless of their pacing, disrupted 4-year-olds’ EF. Taken together, these studies show that 10–20 min watching televised fantastical events, relative to other experiences, results in lower EF in young children.