Tablet use affects preschoolers’ executive function: fNIRS evidence from the dimensional change card sort task

Hui LI; Dandan WU; Jinfeng YANG; Jiutong LUO; Sha XIE; Chunqi CHANG

doi:10.3390/brainsci11050567

Tablet use affects preschoolers’ executive function: fNIRS evidence from the dimensional change card sort task

Hui LI
, Dandan WU
, Jinfeng YANG
, Jiutong LUO
, Sha XIE
, Chunqi CHANG

Department of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Articles › peer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study aims to examine the impact of heavy use of tablets on preschoolers’ executive function during the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task using the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Altogether, 38 Chinese preschoolers (M_age = 5.0 years, SD = 0.69 years, 17 girls) completed the tasks before the COVID-19 lockdown. Eight children never used tablets, while 16 children were diagnosed as the ‘heavy-user’. The results indicated that: (1) the ‘non-user’ outperformed the ‘heavy-user’ with a significantly higher correct rate in the DCCS task; (2) the two groups differed significantly in the activation of the prefrontal cortex (BA 9): the ‘non-user’ pattern is normal and healthy, whereas the ‘heavy-user’ pattern is not normal and needs further exploration. Copyright © 2021 by the authors.

Original language	English
Article number	567
Journal	Brain Sciences
Volume	11
Issue number	5
Early online date	Apr 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11050567
Publication status	Published - May 2021

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Pad use
Executive function
fNIRS evidence
Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task
Preschoolers

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10.3390/brainsci11050567Licence: CC BY

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published version

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abstract = "This study aims to examine the impact of heavy use of tablets on preschoolers{\textquoteright} executive function during the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task using the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Altogether, 38 Chinese preschoolers (Mage = 5.0 years, SD = 0.69 years, 17 girls) completed the tasks before the COVID-19 lockdown. Eight children never used tablets, while 16 children were diagnosed as the {\textquoteleft}heavy-user{\textquoteright}. The results indicated that: (1) the {\textquoteleft}non-user{\textquoteright} outperformed the {\textquoteleft}heavy-user{\textquoteright} with a significantly higher correct rate in the DCCS task; (2) the two groups differed significantly in the activation of the prefrontal cortex (BA 9): the {\textquoteleft}non-user{\textquoteright} pattern is normal and healthy, whereas the {\textquoteleft}heavy-user{\textquoteright} pattern is not normal and needs further exploration. Copyright {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors.",

author = "Hui LI and Dandan WU and Jinfeng YANG and Jiutong LUO and Sha XIE and Chunqi CHANG",

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month = may,

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journal = "Brain Sciences",

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AU - XIE, Sha

AU - CHANG, Chunqi

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AB - This study aims to examine the impact of heavy use of tablets on preschoolers’ executive function during the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task using the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Altogether, 38 Chinese preschoolers (Mage = 5.0 years, SD = 0.69 years, 17 girls) completed the tasks before the COVID-19 lockdown. Eight children never used tablets, while 16 children were diagnosed as the ‘heavy-user’. The results indicated that: (1) the ‘non-user’ outperformed the ‘heavy-user’ with a significantly higher correct rate in the DCCS task; (2) the two groups differed significantly in the activation of the prefrontal cortex (BA 9): the ‘non-user’ pattern is normal and healthy, whereas the ‘heavy-user’ pattern is not normal and needs further exploration. Copyright © 2021 by the authors.

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Tablet use affects preschoolers’ executive function: fNIRS evidence from the dimensional change card sort task

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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