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The effect of background television on 6-and 12-month-olds' attention during 20 min of toy play was examined. During the first or second half of the session, a clip from a variety of commonly available television programs was presented. The duration and frequency of infants' looks to the toys and to the television indicated that regardless of age or program content, background television frequently got, but did not hold the infants' attention. An order effect indicated that infants looked longer at the television when it was available in the second half of the session. Examination of infants' focused attention to the toys showed a reduction in the mean length of focused episodes when the television was on. A follow-up of the infants at 24 months indicated greater resistance to distraction by the television during play. Data from the three ages showed that individual differences in the amount of viewing were moderately stable across age and across home and lab contexts.

ABSTRACT— The debate about the potential of television and video material to enhance or diminish cognitive development in infants and toddlers has been complicated by speculation regarding the relation between early exposure to these media and the developing brain. Those on both sides of the debate draw on findings from developmental and neuroscience literatures to make explicit or implicit arguments that video experience during the first 2 or 3 years can have a unique and powerful impact on learning that cannot be readily duplicated or undone outside this sensitive period of development. This article tries to put such speculation into perspective by considering it within the framework of W. T. Greenough, J. T. Black, and C. S. Wallace’s (1987) distinction between experience‐expectant and experience‐dependent plasticity. Data from infant‐learning and attention research are used to illustrate how this distinction illuminates both sides of the debate.