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Clinical Study: Objective: To test the hypothesis that audible television is associated with decreased parent and child interactions.

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Watching television does not contribute to a child's language development.

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One clinical study was designed to determine the impact of television on young children with respect to children's language ability. While one might think that the viewing of television would increase a child's ability to understand and speak audible language, the study actually found that for every additional hour that a child was exposed to television, there was a decrease in 770 words (7%) that the child heard from an adult during a recorded session, as well as a reduction in the number and length of sounds and spoken words by the child with the adult.

Audible Television and Decreased Adult Words, Infant Vocalizations, and Conversational Turns - A Population-Based Study, Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH; Jill Gilkerson, PhD; Jeffrey A. Richards, MA; Frederick J. Zimmerman, PhD; Michelle M. Garrison, PhD; Dongxin Xu, PhD; Sharmistha Gray, PhD; Umit Yapanel, PhD. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009;163(6):554-558.

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