Experiences of contingent interactions like referential cues
(e.g., caregivers pointing to relevant text and pictures) during
shared book reading predict better reading and language
outcomes (Landry, & Smith, 2007). However, it is unclear
whether contingent responsiveness in a digital book could
provide similar support for children in the absence of
contingent feedback from an adult. The effects on story
comprehension using an interactive book with content-related
animations that activated contingent on children’s
vocalizations were investigated, with a focus on whether the
interactive book might be especially useful for children with
less developed attentional control. The present study used a
within-subject design with data from 69 preschool-aged
children. The use of the interactive book exhibited
significantly increased comprehension, and was also found to
be especially useful for children with less attentional control.
Importantly, the associations between attention and
comprehension gains were not entirely due to variance shared
with verbal ability.