1. REFERENCES Do contingent hotspots support or distract infants from learning a new word from an electronic book? Gabrielle A. Strouse Patricia A. Ganea University of South Dakota University of Toronto Touchscreens may be good for learning because they offer interactivity and contingency not present in traditional media (Christakis, 2014). Hotspots (interactive areas on the screen) provide contingency – the tablet responds to young infants’ actions – as well as content that may capture infants’ attention. Do hotspots promote learning by directing infants’ attention to relevant content or do they act as “seductive details” that grab infants’ attention and distract them from the content of the book? METHOD DISCUSSIONINTRODUCTION RESULTS Sample: 98 infants, 19-23 months Materials: Listened to a narrated e-book in which the narrator “liked” a target novel object labeled “the dax” on some pages, and a distractor novel object labeled “this one” on others. After each labeling, the voice requested the child to “touch the dax” or “touch the one I like” before continuing to the next page. Procedure: Infants were randomly assigned to one of 4 conditions: Test: Infants were presented with the pair of novel objects and asked to identify the dax both on the touchscreen (2x) and using the 3D objects (2x). Contingency may make touchscreens better for learning than traditional video-based media. However when contingency is coupled with attention- grabbing hotspots and unrelated to the book’s educational goal it is no longer helpful for learning. Similarly, lift-a-flaps in books have been shown to distract children from learning content in traditional books (Tare et al., 2010). In line with other recent work (Choi & Kirkorian, 2016) this study highlights the importance of content and function in hotspot design. Choi, K., & Kirkorian, H. (2016). Touch or watch to learn? Toddlers’ object retrieval using contingent and noncontingent video. Psychological Science. Published online before print. Christakis, D. A. (2014). Interactive media use at younger than the age of 2 years: time to rethink the American Academy of Pediatrics guideline?. JAMA pediatrics, 168, 399- 400. Tare, M., Chiong, C., Ganea, P., & DeLoache, J. (2010). Less is more: How manipulative features affect children's learning from picture books. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31, 395- 400. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.Do contingent hotspots promote infants’ learning of a novel label presented in an e-book? 2.Does the type of hotspot influence learning? CONDITIONS Non-contingent: A condition much like a movie in which the book pages turned regardless of the infant’s touch response Contingent distracting: A correct touch response triggered a child-friendly noise and animation unrelated to the novel label along with a page turn Contingent neutral: A correct touch response trigged simply a page turn Contingent supporting: A correct touch response triggered a “good job!” and page turn Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare infants’ scores to chance (Median = 1). Infants selected the correct images and objects at above chance levels in the contingent supporting and contingent neutral conditions, ps ≤.02. Infants failed to select the correct images and objects in the non-contingent and contingent distracting conditions, ps ≥.20. A GEE to test condition differences resulted in a marginal difference, χ 2 (3,N = 98) = 6,02, p =.072 Neutral and supporting hotspots resulted in learning. Distracting hotspots resulted in no learning, similar to when children watched the book with no contingency.