Parental Involvement in Young Children's Computer Use and Cognitive Development

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Abstract
Increasingly, young children are using computers; however, the role of the parent in facilitating this type of learning is not yet clear. This study investigates the relationship between parental involvement in computer use and cognitive development in their children. Parents of Head Start children who owned a computer (n = 136) reported on the frequency and type of involvement with their children while at the computer. Children of parents who reported active involvement with them on the computer had higher scores on cognitive measures than children with nonactive parental involvement. Additionally, a linear relationship was found between the number of active interactions and many of the subscales. Children of parents reporting all 4 types of active interactions scored higher on subscales of cognitive assessment (verbal, quantitative, general cognitive, and memory) than children with less parental involvement. This study shows that active parental involvement in young children's computer use is related to children's cognitive development. These results are discussed within a Vygotskian framework of socially mediated learning.

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