The aim of this article is to systematically review the literature studying the association between television viewing and children's executive function, academic performance, attention, language and play. Using keywords: television, children, infants, attention, language, education and cognition, five online databases were searched. Seventy-six studies that met all the inclusion criteria were reviewed. The findings suggest the relationship between television viewing and children's development is complex. First, the likely effects of television may depend on children's individual characteristics, family and social context. Second, the features of television, such as content and editing pace, and the type of exposure (foreground or background) may affect outcomes. Specifically, watching high-quality educational content during preschool years improves children's basic academic skills and predicts subsequent positive academic performance. Conversely, television viewing in infancy is disruptive to play; it reduces the quality and quantity of child-parent interactions and is associated with inattentive/hyperactive behaviours, lower executive functions, and language delay, at least in the short-term. It remains unclear whether these interactions between television and cognition are long lasting. Future research should focus on the systematic investigation of the pathways that link particular components of television and the type of exposure with individual and contextual factors, to investigate their potential unique and combined effects on development. Researchers must also address the challenge of investigating the diverse and rapidly changing technologies to which the current generation of children are exposed.

Background Identifying low‐cost and easy to implement measures of infant markers of later psychopathology may improve targeting of early intervention for prevention. Because of their early manifestation, relative stability and overlap with constructs central to affect‐based dimensions of child and adolescent psychopathology, negative emotionality and self‐regulation have been the focus of this research. We conducted a meta‐analysis of longitudinal studies examining the prospective association between infant temperament measured with parent ratings and child/adolescent psychopathology. Methods A systematic literature search for prospective longitudinal studies, which included measures of questionnaire‐assessed infant temperament (negative emotionality, self‐regulation, behavioural inhibition, surgency/extraversion, activity level) and symptoms of child or adolescent mental health (externalising, internalising) and neurodevelopmental problems (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], autism spectrum disorder [ASD]), was conducted. Standardised estimates of association were calculated and pooled in meta‐analyses. Results Twenty‐five studies (n = 28,425) met inclusion criteria. Small associations were seen between psychopathology aggregated across all domains and infant negative emotionality (r = .15; p < .001) and self‐regulation (r = −.19; p = .007). Effects were also significant but weaker for behavioural inhibition (r = .10; p = .027) and activity level (r = .08; p = .016). Surgency/extraversion was not significantly associated with psychopathology in general (r = −.04; p = .094); however, it was negatively associated with ASD (r = −.10, p = .015). Significant correlations were observed with some outcomes isomorphic with predictors, internalising problems and behavioural inhibition (r = .10; p = .013), ADHD symptoms and activity level (r = .19; p = .009). Conclusion Questionnaire‐based assessments of infant negative emotionality may have transdiagnostic potential to contribute to a risk index of later childhood psychopathology. Behavioural inhibition, surgency/extraversion and activity ratings may provide more specific predictive power. More data from prospective studies are required before the potential of self‐regulation and surgency/extraversion can be properly gauged.

Aim: To explore media preferences and use among young children, as well as to obtain information about parental supervision methods and beliefs about media.Method: Ninety parents of three-to six-year-olds, recruited from a relatively economically advantaged area in the United Kingdom, completed a media opinion survey.Results: Although traditional television remains the favourite type of media platform among young children, touchscreen devices are gaining in popularity, and may promote simultaneous multi-screen use. Moreover, parents believe that the effects of media on developmental outcomes are generally positive. However, they do monitor the content of traditional and new media their children are exposed to. Conclusion:This study shows an emerging evidence of concurrent multi-screen use among very young children. More detailed examination of early media multitasking, and its relationship to cognitive and behavioural outcomes, is necessary. INTRODUCTIONThere is no doubt that the rapid development of digital technology has changed how we communicate, work and spend our free time. Although many would agree that easy access to multifunction digital devices, such as smartphones or tablets, and high-speed Internet has improved our lives, brought about more freedom, and saved the time needed to complete many daily tasks, very little is known about the impact that modern technology has on adult cognitive and psychosocial functioning. Even less is known about how digital environment will influence developmental outcomes.In 'Western' culture, today's older children and adolescents are undoubtedly digital natives -children, for whom digital technology is fundamental to daily routine (1). Their environment is saturated with electronic devices (2) and children appear to fully embrace opportunities provided by new technology to reduce boredom and to allow efficient use of their leisure time (3). However, there is a paucity of research that addresses the extent of new media use among younger children (younger than six) and the effects of the digital environment on how they play, learn and interact with others. Traditionally, research has focused on the effects of television on the developmental outcomes, with a particular interest in how television viewing relates to learning, attention and behaviour. Many researchers and clinicians have expressed concern about the potentially deleterious effects of heavy television exposure or viewing inappropriate content (4-6). However, over 40 years of research has failed to provide consistent conclusions about the long-lasting impact of viewing on children's behaviour and cognition.

This study examined the influence of the realism (realistic vs. unrealistic) and pace (slow vs. fast), in a video of an actor reading a story, on 4-year-old children's attention and response inhibition. After establishing baseline cognitive performance, 187 children watched novel videos that manipulated realism and pace, while keeping other programme features constant. Irrespective of the pace, watching the videos which presented unrealistic stories improved children's response inhibition. For attention, there was an interaction between pace and realism. Exposure to the fast-paced video resulted in faster responding, but only when the story was realistic. Together the results suggest that a story's realism, rather than the video's pace, affects the inhibitory component of children's executive function; whereas both pace and realism interact to affect attention. We propose that certain types of feature, embedded in a video, can provide a buffer against the negative effects of exposure to fast pace.

Aim: Evidence on how the pace of television and film editing affects children's behaviour and attention is inconclusive. We examined whether a fast-paced film affected how preschool-aged children interacted with toys. Methods:The study comprised 70 children (36 girls) aged 2-4.5 years who attended preschools in Essex, United Kingdom. The children were paired up and tested with either a fast-or a slow-paced film of a narrator reading a children's story. The fast-paced version had 102 camera cuts and 16 still images and the slow-paced version had 22 camera cuts and four still images. Each dyad took part in two video-recorded free-play sessions, before and after they watched one of the specially edited four-minute films. The number of toys the children played with before and and after the film sessions was recorded.Results: Before they watched the films, the children's behaviour did not differ between the groups. However, after watching the film, the children in the fast-paced group shifted their attention between toys more frequently than the children who watched the slow-paced film. Conclusion:Even a brief exposure to differently paced films had an immediate effect on how the children interacted with their toys.Keywords: attention, film editing, play, preschool children, television. Key notes• Evidence on how the pace of television and film editing affects children's behaviour and attention is inconclusive.• We examined how watching a fast-paced or slow-paced film of a narrator reading a story affected how 70 children aged 2-4.5 years interacted with their toys. 3• This showed that the children who watched the fast-paced film shifted their attention between toys more frequently than the children who watched the slow-paced film.