Infants' attention and responsiveness to television increases with prior exposure and parental interaction

This study examined the relation between early television exposure and parental interaction style during infant-directed television programs on 2 outcomes: infant looking time and infant responsiveness. By quasi-experimental design half of the 12- to 18-month-old infants had prior exposure to the program content and the other half did not. Cluster analysis based on parental verbalizations revealed 3 types of parental coviewing style: high, medium, and low scaffold. Looking time was significantly higher for infants previously exposed to these videos than for those who were not. Infant looking time was also significantly higher, and infants responded more, when parents provided high levels of scaffolding in the form of questions and labels or descriptions. The results suggest that both prior exposure and parental style are associated with infant attention and responsiveness to television and have important implications for both parents and television producers.