TV has negative impact on very young children's learning...( e controls for parental preferences ab...),Health

"By contrast, this analysis suggests that television viewing at ages three to five years has a more beneficial effect, at least for the outcomes of reading recognition and short-term memory," the authors write. The researchers found no beneficial effect on mathematics outcomes or reading comprehension, and they state, "Because reading recognition and short-term memory are arguably the most basic of the cognitive outcomes studied, the implication would seem to be that the net effect of television viewing from a population perspective is limited in its beneficial impact."

"One of the contributions of this study is to recognize and explicitly model the heterogeneous [mixed] effect of television viewing at different ages on children's outcomes," the authors write. "Television viewing in early childhood varies depending on age; for very young children the effects are negative, while for preschool children they can be constructive, at least in some domains. This analysis further suggests that parents may appreciate and benefit from better guidance on the kinds of high-quality content that is available on television and on ways of managing the context of television viewing to maximize its potential benefit for their children."

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Contact: Pam Sowers
206-543-3620
JAMA and Archives Journals
4-Jul-2005