iParent
26th June 2019
By Oscar Johnson (Psychology Student)
Technology has exploded in recent years. The first iPhone was released only 11 years ago and we are already on the tenth model of IPhone with pads and pods to join them. This raises many questions about technologies psychological effect on us. Whilst sitting in a restaurant, I saw a family enjoying a conversation and a meal out together as the young child with them sat gazing silently at a screen. This raised the questions “Can this technology assist this child’s development?” and “Is this child missing out on anything by missing the conversation and interactions happening behind its screen?”
Early childhood especially between birth and the age of three is a vital time of learning where young children programme what they experience as a foundation for the future. During this period of development certain stimuli are required from the outside environment and these can’t be obtained from a screen. Interaction is also a vital part of learning non-verbal communication. The frontal lobes are a part of the brain responsible for understanding and decoding social interactions. The frontal lobes also develop in this early stage of life. This means if a child lacks the opportunity to interact then their frontal lobes will develop at a much slower rate. This could mean the child may struggle to pick up on facial expressions and tone that may communicate a deeper emotion or underlying feeling and therefore present as a less socially able child.
The effect of technology on language development is fascinating. Two deaf parents utilised the television when trying to raise their hearing son. However, his language development was still slower than average. Psychologists believed that the cause of this delay was that, although the screen time was for education and a way of exposing their child to much more oral language than in their home, the child wasn’t an interacting party. The act of interaction comes to the forefront again as being able to contribute and receive a reaction is incredibly important in language development and technology cannot yet provide this level of interaction.
However, modern technology can also be used to aid learning. With YouTube and “How to” sites learning any task, from fixing a car to playing the piano, is now possible in a way it never was before. With Google, Siri and Alexa around to answer any question, the world of information has never been closer. Research is easier and everyone has access to knowledge and information that would previously be stored away. Technology is a new world that has brought with it all kinds of new ways to learn but maybe social interaction plays an even more important role in developmental learning.