Infants’ Attention Skills
Babies are constantly surrounded by a multitude of objects, people, conversations, and events, all of which they endeavor to comprehend. To navigate this rich and intricate world, babies rely on their attention skills to select and process relevant information. Our study is dedicated to exploring the progression of attention control abilities from infancy through early childhood, as well as the various factors that influence this developmental journey. We are grateful for the support of our research through the TUBITAK 3501 program.
Funding:
TÜBİTAK 3501, “Cognitive Development in Infancy and Early Childhood: The Development of Language, Attention, and Executive Functions” (2022-2025).
Publications:
Uzundağ, B. A. (2025). Does Attention Sharing Support Attention Focusing? Investigating the Link Between Infants’ Sustained Attention and Joint Attention with Caregivers. Infant Behavior and Development.
Oral Presentations:
Uzundağ, B. A., Güven, İ. N., Sıvış, Ö., & Başpınar, G. (2024, July). From crib to screen: Understanding the links between screen time and infant attention. Talk presented at the XXIV International Congress of Infant Studies, Glasgow, UK.
Uzundağ, B. A. & Koç, N. (2023, August). Attention Sharing Helps Attention Focusing: Relations Between Infants’ Focused Attention and Joint Attention with Caregivers. Talk presented at the 8th Lancaster Conference on Infant and Early Child Development, Lancaster, UK.
Screen Media Use, Parent-Child Interaction, and Child Development
We are conducting a series of studies examining the connections between children’s and parents’ screen media use, children’s developmental outcomes, and the dynamics of parent-child interaction.
Related Publications:
Keşşafoğlu, D., Yıldız, E., Küntay, A. C., & Uzundağ, B. A. (in press). Infants’ Background TV Exposure and Maternal Language Input: A Home Observation Study. Journal of Child Language.
Yıldız, E., Keşşafoğlu, D., Altundal, M., Akel, G., & Uzundağ, B. A. (2025). Navigating the Digital Age: Exploring the Link Between Children’s Self-Regulatory Skills and Technology-Based Interruptions in Parent-Child Interactions. Family Relations.
Uzundağ, B. A., Koşkulu-Sancar, S., Küntay, A. C. (2024). Background TV and Infant-Family Interactions: Insights from Home Observations. Infancy.
Keşşafoğlu, D., Küntay, A. C., Uzundağ, B. A. (2024). Immediate and Delayed Effects of Fantastical Content on Children’s Executive Functions and Mental Transformation. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
Keşşafoğlu, D., Altundal, M. N., Koç, N., Yıldız, E., & Uzundağ, B. A. (in press). Küçük Çocukların Ekran Süresini Neler Belirler? Çocuk, Anne-Baba ve Ev Ortamı ile İlgili Yordayıcı Unsurlar. [Predictors of Young Children’s Screen Time: Child-, Parent-, and Home-Related Factors]. Studies in Psychology.
Uzundağ, B. A., Altundal, M. N.* & Keşşafoğlu, D. (2022). Screen Media Exposure in Early Childhood and its Relation to Children’s Self-Regulation: A Systematic Review. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies.
Uzundağ, B. A., Oranç, C., Keşşafoğlu, D., & Altundal, M. N. (2022). Relations Among Self-Reported Maternal Stress, Smartphone Use, and Mother-Child Interactions. Journal of Child and Family Studies.
Uzundağ, B. A., Keşşafoğlu, D., Altundal, M. N., & Erdoğan, Ş. N. (2023). Dijital Dünyada Ebeveyn-Çocuk Etkileşimi ve Çocukların Bilişsel Gelişimi [Parent-Child Interaction and Children’s Cognitive Development in a Digital World]. In M. Ekerim (Ed.), Sosyal Zihin: Bilişsel Gelişimde Sosyal Etkileşimin Rolü. Vakıfbank Kültür Yayınları.
Uzundağ, B. A. (2022). Arka Plan Televizyonun Erken Çocukluktaki Gelişim ve Çocuk-Ebeveyn Etkileşimleri ile İlişkisi: Bir Derleme Çalışması. [The Relationship Between Background TV, Child Development and Child-Caregiver Interactions in Early Childhood: A Review Study]. Nesne Psikoloji Dergisi.
Uzundağ, B. A., Keşşafoğlu, D., & Altundal, M. N. (2023). Dijital Dünyada Erken Çocukluk: Ekran Kullanımı ve Öz Düzenleme Becerileri Arasındaki İlişki [Early Childhood in a Digital World: The Relationship Between Screen Media use and Self-Regulation]. In F. Karaman and A. Özdeş (Eds.), Değişen Dünyanın Gelişen Çocukları: Dijital Teknolojinin Çocuk Gelişimi Üzerindeki Etkileri. Nobel Akademi Yayıncılık.
Uzundağ, B. A., Oranc, C., Keşşafoğlu, D., & Altundal, M. N. (2022). How Children in Turkey Use Digital Media: Factors Related to Children, Parents, and Their Home Environment. In H. Şen and H. Selin (Eds.), Childhood in Turkey: Educational, Sociological, and Psychological Perspectives. Springer.
Poster Presentations:
Keşşafoğlu, D., Küntay, A., & Uzundağ, B. A. (2023, August). Can A Crab Walk in The Air or Walk Through Walls? Impact of Watching Fantastical Content on Young Children’s Cognitive Skills. Poster session presented at the 8th Lancaster Conference on Infant and Early Child Development, Lancaster, UK.
Keşşafoğlu, D., Uzundağ, B. A., Yıldız, E., & Küntay, A. C. (2023, January). Background television and child-directed language input: a home observation study. Poster session presented at the 13th Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development, Budapest, Hungary.
Kessafoglu, D., Altundal, M. N., Koc, N., Yildiz, E., Uzundag, B. A. (2022, August). Correlates of young children’s screen time. Poster session presented at the 7th Lancaster Conference on Infant and Early Child Development.
Yıldız, E., Keşşafoğlu, D., Altundal, M. N., Akel, G., & Uzundağ, B. A. (2023, January). Parenting stress mediates the relationship between child effortful control and technoference. Poster session presented at the13th Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development, Budapest, Hungary.
Uzundag, B. A., Yildiz, E., Altundal, M. N., Kessafoglu, D. (2021, April). Screen Use at Home is Associated with Shorter Interactions with Objects in Infant-Caregiver Pairs. Poster session presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development.
Development of Children’s Referential Communication Skills
The capacity to differentiate and describe an entity in a manner that sets it apart from others, as exemplified by phrases like “the red pen on the table,” is encompassed within the realm of referential communication skills. Among kindergarten-aged children, the development of these referential communication skills is an ongoing process. In our research, we investigated the correlation between the referential communication skills of kindergarten-aged children and various aspects of maternal speech, feedback, as well as joint attention with the mother. One of our associated studies received funding through the TÜBİTAK 1002 program.
Funding:
TÜBİTAK 1002, “Foundations of Children’s Communication Skills: The Role of Joint Attention and Language Input in Infancy” (2021-2022).
Poster Presentations:
Yıldız, E., Koşkulu, S., Ertaş, S., Küntay., A. & Uzundag B.A. (2022, August). Joint Attention as a Precursor to Children’s Referential Communication Skills. Poster session to be presented at the 7th Lancaster Conference on Infant and Early Childhood Development.
Yildiz, E., Uzundag B. A., Küntay, A. (2022, January). Joint Attention in Infancy Predicts Referential Communication Skills in Toddlerhood. Poster session presented at the Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development.
Joint Attention in Mother-Infant Dyads
When mothers engage in communication with their infants, it’s common for them to discuss objects that capture their babies’ interest or guide their babies’ attention toward specific objects. In these instances, a crucial concept known as “joint attention” is established between the mother and the baby. This means that there is a shared object of focus that both the baby and the mother are attending to together. Research has consistently demonstrated that establishing joint attention plays a pivotal role in fostering language development. In our studies, we investigate a range of factors stemming from both mothers and babies that influence the duration and frequency of joint attention established during interactions between mothers and infants.
Publications:
Uzundağ, B. A., Koşkulu-Sancar, S., & Küntay, A. C. (2024). Background TV and Infant-Family Interactions: Insights from Home Observations. Infancy.
Koşkulu, S., Küntay, A. C., Liszkowski, U., & Uzundag, B. A. (2021). Number and Type of Toys Affect Joint Attention of Mothers and Infants. Infant Behavior and Development.
Koşkulu, S., Küntay, A. C., & Uzundag, B. A. (2021). Maternal Behaviors Mediate the Relationship between Maternal Education and Joint Attention. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.