Contingent Responsivity in E-books Modeled from Quality Adult-Child Interactions: Effects on Young Children’s Learning and Attention

Experiences of contingent responsivity during shared book reading predict better learning outcomes. However, it is unclear whether contingent responsivity from a digital book could provide similar support for children. The effects on story recall and engagement interacting with a digital book that responded contingently on children’s vocalizations (contingent book) were investigated, with a focus on the role of individual differences in attention. The study used a within-subject design with 3 experiments from ninety 3- to 5-year-old children. Children were presented with a contingent book and three noncontingent control conditions: a board book (Experiment 1), a static digital book (Experiment 2), and an animated book (Experiment 3). The use of the contingent book significantly increased children’s story recall, and was also found to be especially useful for children with less developed attention regulation.