Fewer Toys Gives Kids a Better Quality of Playtime, Study Claims (nypost.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from New York Post: Toddlers with just a few toys were more creative and focused than tots with more choices, according to the study, published in an upcoming edition of the journal Infant Behavior and Development. For the study, University of Toledo researchers gave kids under age 3 either four toys or 16 toys and recorded their playing habits, according to the report. "When provided with fewer toys in the environment, toddlers engage in longer periods of play with a single toy, allowing better focus to explore and play more creatively," researchers said. Fewer toys "promotes development and healthy play," they concluded. The bah humbug-boosting findings may be one reason to skimp on the stocking stuffers -- but parents have another option. Simply keep more toys in storage also helps rein in the attention of scatterbrained toddlers, researchers said.

Comments

I think this can be generalized

[Camel Pilot]

To include adults also... you know the saying -> The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys

Another variation on the Paradox of Choice

[SlaveToTheGrind]

To a point, the less choices people have, the happier they are with whatever they choose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

This is the same problem I have at work...

[Lodragandraoidh]

I'm forced more and more to multi-task, and have a wider range of choices to make in any given day on the job. This has increased the overall output only slightly - primarily because my work requires research to get to the bottom of many questions - and has certainly eroded the quality of that output immensely - forcing 2nd passes across some items that are in error.

I think sensory overload in all forms is a bad thing for human beings - regardless of their age.