So just what is that iPad or iPhone screen doing to your toddler's brain?
With more than half the country's children now having access to an iPad, iPhone or a similar touchscreen device, scientists are starting to wonder what the impact is on them -- especially in comparison to television.
The early returns suggest that while it is too early to draw any conclusive determinations, there is evidence to suggest it may not be as harmful as television.
In fact some scientists are holding out hope that the iPad can help children learn. The tablet computer's ability to focus a child on a smaller screen that often forces interactivity may prove to be a beneficial tool.
Daniel Anderson, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, has conducted studies on children and television for over 30 years.
He told The Wall Street Journal children have struggled learning from television partly because they often don't know where to focus -- looking away from the screen as much as 150 times an hour.
While some studies suggest that children between the ages of 4 to 7-years-old have been able to improve vocabulary after using apps on the iPad, the studies are too early.
Only two years into the iPad, children are still guinea pigs for future generations.
