Cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is in hot water from a study suggesting that watching just nine minutes of that program can cause short-term attention and learning problems in 4-year-olds.
Kids who watched just nine minutes of the fast-paced children's cartoon did worse afterward at tasks requiring focus and self-control than did kids who watched a slow-paced cartoon and kids who entertained themselves by coloring.
The problems were seen in a study of 60 children randomly assigned to watch either “SpongeBob SquarePants” or the slower-paced PBS cartoon “Caillou” or assigned to draw pictures. Immediately after these nine-minute assignments, the children took mental function tests; those who had watched “SpongeBob” did measurably worse than the others.
Children’s cartoon shows typically feature about 22 minutes of action, so watching a full program “could be more detrimental,” the researchers speculated, but they said more evidence is needed to confirm that.
Kids who watched just nine minutes of the fast-paced children's cartoon did worse afterward at tasks requiring focus and self-control than did kids who watched a slow-paced cartoon and kids who entertained themselves by coloring.
The problems were seen in a study of 60 children randomly assigned to watch either “SpongeBob SquarePants” or the slower-paced PBS cartoon “Caillou” or assigned to draw pictures. Immediately after these nine-minute assignments, the children took mental function tests; those who had watched “SpongeBob” did measurably worse than the others.
Children’s cartoon shows typically feature about 22 minutes of action, so watching a full program “could be more detrimental,” the researchers speculated, but they said more evidence is needed to confirm that.
View full story:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/0912/SpongeBob-study-Do-fast-paced-cartoons-impair-kids-thinking
