Interrupted interactions: parental smartphone technoference and language development in early childhood

Children are born into a world where digital technology is intertwined into our daily lives. The growing reliance on digital technology has the potential to interrupt social interactions, i.e. technoference, including parent-child interactions, which are important in shaping child development. Feasibly, repeated technoference during parenting could affect developmental outcomes, including language development. Whilst studies testing the impact of technoference during parenting are emerging, few have focused specifically on smartphones and child language development. This thesis therefore explores the impact of parent smartphone technoference on the mechanisms which shape language development and child language outcomes, drawing on four studies. Study 1 gathered survey data from parents of children under 2 years (N=68) on smartphone use. Study 2a observed parents and their 9–11-month-olds (N=59) across four play conditions. Study 2b surveyed parents of 12–18-month-olds (N=134) on technoference, responsiveness and child language outcomes. Study 3 experimentally tested whether caregiver phone use influences word learning in 24–36-month-olds (N=69). Finally, Study 4 used neuroimaging to measure neural activity in 6.5–7.5-month-olds (N=48) viewing an adult model avert their gaze to a smartphone or book. Across studies, samples were predominantly White and of medium socioeconomic status. Findings showed that parents reduce phone use when engaged with their infant and that the most responsive parents put their phones away most frequently. Smartphone technoference disrupted social gaze, infant positive spontaneous expression, parent talk and responsiveness. Technoference was negatively associated with child language, specifically gesture use. Type of phone use mattered: calls were more disruptive than taking photos. However, phone type did not affect novel word learning. Finally, neural activity did not differ depending on whether the interruption was digital or not. Together, findings suggest technoference is one form of interruption, but may not be unique in its ability to disrupt social interactions. Furthermore, technoference is nuanced, and how the phone is used may moderate its effects on child language outcomes. This suggests parental guidance should focus less on phone use per se, and more on the nature and context of that use.