ABSTRACT
The prevailing screen technology of each era has tended to be at the centre of the discussion. Now it is an opportune time to consider the effectiveness of tablets as a form of screen learning. It is important to know how researchers study the video deficit effect because how it is studied informs the nature of the effect. One of the standard paradigms for investigating the video deficit effect involves having a child watch a video of an adult hiding a toy in a room and then asking the child to find the toy in the actual room. The video deficit effect is robust, occurring on both TVs and tablets and across development. This deficit should be a concern to those wanting to use tablets for educational purposes. Dual representational ability is closely linked to symbolic understanding, knowing that words and numbers are symbols that represent concepts and magnitudes.
