Faculty Mentor(s)

Dr. Kelly Brown

Dr. Darcel Brady

Project Type

EdD Colloquium - ONU

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Presentation Type

Presentation

Abstract

Technology use by preschoolers aged three to five is prevalent today. Parents and educators find conflicting benefits and concerns about the use of technology by preschoolers. By looking at three particular preschool skills of pincer grasp, wrist strength, and receptive vocabulary, this researcher hoped to provide some answers for parents and educators. This non-experimental multiple regression research analyzed two fine motor skills of 53 preschoolers and their receptive vocabulary and compared them to minutes of screen time use each day. Preschoolers were from two middle class, Midwestern private preschools. Parents completed a ten-question survey that provided a measure of the child’s screen time in minutes per day. A physical therapist recorded each child’s pincer and wrist strength by using a hydraulic pinch gauge and an analog hydraulic wrist dynamometer. A teacher gave each child the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Results showed significant correlations between age and screen time and the pincer grasp for the right hand, weight and screen time and wrist strength for the left wrist, height and screen time and wrist strength for the right hand, and age and hand dominance and screen time for receptive vocabulary. The receptive vocabulary of the preschoolers dropped as the number of devices in the home increased.

Permission Type

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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Apr 18th, 11:10 AM Apr 18th, 11:25 AM

Associations of Preschoolers' Screen Time, Vocabulary, and Fine Motor

Other

Technology use by preschoolers aged three to five is prevalent today. Parents and educators find conflicting benefits and concerns about the use of technology by preschoolers. By looking at three particular preschool skills of pincer grasp, wrist strength, and receptive vocabulary, this researcher hoped to provide some answers for parents and educators. This non-experimental multiple regression research analyzed two fine motor skills of 53 preschoolers and their receptive vocabulary and compared them to minutes of screen time use each day. Preschoolers were from two middle class, Midwestern private preschools. Parents completed a ten-question survey that provided a measure of the child’s screen time in minutes per day. A physical therapist recorded each child’s pincer and wrist strength by using a hydraulic pinch gauge and an analog hydraulic wrist dynamometer. A teacher gave each child the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Results showed significant correlations between age and screen time and the pincer grasp for the right hand, weight and screen time and wrist strength for the left wrist, height and screen time and wrist strength for the right hand, and age and hand dominance and screen time for receptive vocabulary. The receptive vocabulary of the preschoolers dropped as the number of devices in the home increased.