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Viewing Fantastical Events Versus Touching Fantastical Events: Short‐Term Effects on Children's Inhibitory Control
Author(s) -
Li Hui,
Subrahmanyam Kaveri,
Bai Xuejun,
Xie Xiaochun,
Liu Tao
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12820
Subject(s) - psychology , inhibitory control , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , control (management) , short term memory , cognitive psychology , cognition , working memory , neuroscience , computer science , artificial intelligence
Three pretest–posttest experiments were conducted to compare the effects of viewing versus interacting with either fantastical or real events on 4‐ and 6‐year‐old children's inhibitory control. Experiment 1 ( N = 72) suggested that although viewing fantastical events had a negative effect on inhibitory control, interacting with them produced no such disruption. Experiment 2 ( N = 17) also found that children's inhibitory control decreased after viewing fantastical events but not after interacting with them. In addition, functional near‐infrared spectroscopy ( fNIRS ) data showed that viewing fantastical events resulted in greater activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Experiment 3 ( N = 72) showed that children's inhibitory control increased after viewing and interacting with real events. The implications for studying the effects of mobile devices are discussed.