How Early Screen Exposure Shapes Language Development, Memory, Sleep, and Interaction in Infants: A Systematic Review

Screen use in infancy is increasing, raising concerns about its effects on 1) language, 2) memory, and 3) sleep development. The last chapter of this thesis reviews the literature after theoretically reviewing the main stages of language development in infancy and the main factors that affect it. The review examines empirical research on screen exposure and newborn development. An accurate screening procedure identified 39 papers from Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and other relevant scientific databases to provide an in-depth analysis of the subject. The studies show that high screen exposure has a negative affect on infants development.1) by decreasing parent-infant verbal interactions, conversational turns , lowering the joint attention experiences, and infant-directed speech exposure, which all help learning new words and gestures and are also crucial for phonological processing, which studies using EEG and fMRI confirmed lower neural network activity in language processing areas during the screen exposure. 2) Due to the distraction of attention and decrease in social interactions, it brings difficulty for the infants to memorise and process the language inputs, and this could lead to a further detrimental outcome concerning their ability for problem-solving. 3) The screen exposure before bedtime can affect infants' sleep patterns by interfering with melatonin production and circadian rhythms, which results in delayed sleep onset, reduced sleep quality, and shortened overall sleep duration, and this poorer sleep efficiency results in poorer memory consolidation and cognitive performance. Studies indicate that interactive, parent-mediated screen experiences, such as age-appropriate, slow-paced, and language-rich content alongside co-viewing and active parent engagement, could reduce negative effects because of the importance of real-world interactions and direct human contact in shaping cognitive and language development, which screen-based learning could not replace. This study highlights the need for evidence-based guidance on infant screen use and calls for parental education and government legislation to minimise the exposure while enhancing positive social interactions. Also, future research is needed on longitudinal studies for assessing the long-term cognitive and neurological outcomes to minimise the negative effects of early screen exposure on three developmental trajectories. language; sleep; memory; language.