Driven to Distraction: Media Use, Attention and Cognition (
Digital media and technology are able to both fully captivate children’s attention as well as suddenly distract them during a focused task. The powerful effects of these devices on children’s attention raise concerns about impacts to children and adolescents’ short-term focus and long-term cognitive development. In this #AskTheExperts webinar, a group of panelists discussed the effects of media on children’s brains, digital media overuse and media multitasking and their implications for child development across ages and stages.
[0:00] Introduction
Kris Perry, MSW, Executive Director of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, introduces the webinar and panel moderator, Nicholas Carr, acclaimed author and thought leader who examines the human consequences of technology. Carr briefly discusses the modern attention crisis, and how children and adults struggle with the distractions brought about by screens.
[05:56] Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, PhD
Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, PhD, Associate Professor of Education in Science and Technology at Technion Israel Institute of Technology, discusses the development of the “attention network” in early childhood and impacts from exposure to media. She shares recent research detailing differential impacts of in-person versus screen reading to children’s attention networks, and a new study demonstrating the impact of a nearby smartphone to task-based attention. Horowitz-Kraus concludes with a review of the importance of early childhood experiences on long-term development and shares tips for families to protect and promote optimal attention network development.
[19:57] Tracy Markle, MA, LPC
Tracy Markle, MA, LPC, Founder and Co-director of Digital Media Treatment and Education Center and its affiliate company Collegiate Coaching Services, explores the relationship between digital media use and brain development during adolescence. She discusses 5 types of digital media overuse, how media use interacts with different regions of the brain, and how excessive device use can structurally and functionally change the brain. She also provides concrete recommendations to support healthy adolescent development with activities beyond screens that promote cognitive and mental health.
[32:47] Taina Coleman, MA, MEd
Taina Coleman, MA, MEd, Educational Specialist in the Learning and Development Center at the Child Mind Institute, discusses considerations for children with ADHD. She describes key executive functions impacted by ADHD and the visible effects on daily functioning. She discusses the research on screen time and ADHD, including general considerations and concerns for media use, including the exacerbation of existing symptoms and the possible roles of developmental task displacement and sleep hygiene in development of mental health issues . She recommends a Family Media Plan, and reviews the process for creating one. To conclude, Coleman discusses the importance of balanced technology-use and media literacy in schools.
[50:20] Dr. Susanne Baumgartner, PhD
Susanne Baumgartner, PhD, Associate Professor at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research at the University of Amsterdam, shares her research on media multitasking and its long term effects on adolescents’ attention. She explores both short- and long-term effects of media multitasking and when digital distractions may be most problematic. She describes the results of a longitudinal study exploring the link between media multitasking and attention problems, academic distractibility, and academic performance across adolescence.
[01:02:37] Q&A
Dr. Carr brings the panelists back together to answer a series of questions from the live audience. The panelists discuss school technology policies that ban phone use, parental monitoring of technology across development, and what exactly is meant by “excessive” when it comes to children’s digital media use. The panelists also discuss the challenge of using longitudinal studies to study something that is changing so quickly.
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