Tablet use affects preschoolers’ executive function: fNIRS evidence from the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task

Philip Li*, Dandan Wu, Jinfeng Yang, Jiutong Luo, Sha Xie, Chunqi Chang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)
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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 (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.
Original languageEnglish
Article number567
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalBrain Sciences
Volume11
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2021

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • pad use
  • executive function
  • fNIRS evidence
  • Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task
  • preschoolers

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