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The Psychological Effects of TV
effects of TV on students
effects of TV on students
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In Steven Johnson's article "Watching TV Makes You Smarter" he discusses the intellectual merits of television programs. The essence of Johnson's argument is that the complexity of certain current shows can get one to think at a higher cognitive level, and that shows have become more "cognitively demanding"of their viewers over the past few decades. Johnson's argument, that is in favor of watching quality television and the benefits that one can get from it, is reinforced by some good points the author makes. Johnson is effective in his argument and was very convincing. Viewing certain television programs can in fact benefit one's cognitive capacities, especially in children.
Johnson article effectively states that watching programs such as "Hill Street Blues", "24", and "Lost" can make one smarter because they require a lot of thinking on the part of the viewer. Johnson asserts, that when watching these programs "you have to focus to follow the plot, and in focusing you're exercising the parts of your brain that map social networks, that fill in missing information, that connect multiple narrative threads"(228). He believes that shows have come a long way in past years, explaining that shows from the 30-40 years ago were not as complex as are some of the shows on television these days. In his article, he explains that shows from decades past, such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "All in the Family" essentially did all the thinking for you. In those shows the plot was spelled out for you, and watching them required little brain function, whereas shows today require much more mental participation from the viewer. Similar to reading, when watching complex television shows you can gain "cognitive benefits conventionally as...
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... not all reality show contestants are worthy of such degradation. It seems as though some people become so preoccupied with the themes that are blatant and obvious rather than really give some shows a fair shake, a point that Johnson also states in his article.
Is it true that is a common, widely accepted belief that books can make one a smarter person? Yes
It is also true that certain programs make your brain function similar to the way reading a book does, so I truly believe that watching certain televisions programs can make someone smarter. I believe for parents, television can be utilized as a useful educational tool for their children. In fact, anyone who is looking to give their brain a "cognitive workout" can simply click on the television and navigate to programming that will supply the brain with good quality input, which will make them smarter.
Steven Johnson in “watching television makes you smarter” believes that the complexity of the shows' plots has a cognitive value, nutrition for the viewers. Dana Stevens arguments this fact by also stating that television only “teaches you to watch more television”, the complexity of the new shows help you understand how the show will turn out. However, they do not help you for real life events that the shows try to depict. In my opinion, television is just a fun thing to do occasionally to relax and get your mind off of the regular life. It can teach you some things however you should take them in consideration.
In “Television Harms Children”, Ann Vorisek White claims that the intellectual and cognitive development of children who frequently watch television is threatened. To support this claim, she points to the findings that “the more television children watch, the weaker their language skills and imaginations” (White, 2006). Before the brain fully matures around age 12, it is in the stage of rapid development. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “recommends that children under the age of two not watch TV or videos, and that older children watch only one to two hours per day of nonviolent, educational TV” (White, 2006). A study from the AAP (as cited in White, 2006) found that the average American child watches four hours of television every day. Considering "expression and reasoning are not automatic" abilities, young children who routinely watch television eventually become "passive and nonverbal" to stimuli in their environment (White, 2006). Since the normality of curiosity and imaginations of young children are the foundation of how they learn, remaining passive for extended periods of time affects their intellectual and moral development.
In Steve Johnson’s article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” he argues that a region of the brain is stimulated that makes people think. He claims that TV makes you smarter, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I agree that people tend to contemplate more when watching television. On the other hand, I still insist that viewing TV doesn’t make you any smarter, but in fact, it can actually lower one’s intelligence.
Within the content, in order to prove the opinion of “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”, Johnson through analyzes the development trend of TV shows, compares the old and recent TV shows to come up with sound reasoning such as the recent TV shows require more attention and critical thinking to support his idea.
In Steven Johnson’s article, Watching TV Makes You Smarter, Johnson illustrates the development of media over time and the change people are trying to make to television. Johnson argues over how the population watches bad TV shows over the good and how it is healthy for the human brain. Johnson compares older TV shows and present day TV shows to show the difference in
American pop culture has come a long way in the last few decades: from the rock 'n’ roll boom of the fifties, to the hippie aesthetic of the seventies, to the electronic age of the nineties. Pop culture clearly fluctuates at a rapid pace and even though fads have come and gone, one thing has remained viable even in more contemporary times: the TV set. On top of that, never has the world seen a greater peak in technology than it has in recent years, and the television is no exception. Unfortunately, as fascinating as these advancements may sound, it is generally presumed that the television—as with much modern pop culture tech—has had and continues to have detrimental effects on Western culture. Given that the TV has been a predominant force for the last sixty years, it’s safe to assume that most have heard the pervasive statement of how television "rots your brain.” By contrast, the benefits of this technology are rarely discussed and when the topic does arise, it seems to be hastily dismissed as “phooey.” Despite these labels, some would argue that television pop culture not only provides a form of recreational relaxation, but also has the potential to enhance cognitive capabilities.
Makes You Smarter” argues that certain television shows can make you smarter because we will learn how to think critically and analyze certain situations. Johnson says, “Instead of a show’s violent or tawdry content, instead of wardrobe malfunctions or the F-word, the true test should be whether a given show engages or sedates the mind” (Johnson 293). Dana Stevens the author of “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” says “From the vantage point of someone who watches a hell of a lot of TV (but still far less than the average American), the medium seems neither like a brain-liquefying poison nor a salutary tonic” (Stevens 298). Dana debates with Johnson because of his opinion and poor choice of wording his essay because she believes that television can lack a person’s knowledge and critical
Today’s youth are spending more time indoors in front of a television than they do outside playing, which has been reported in studies to have negative effects on children; My early childhood education teachers have taught me that a brain/body in motion helps the child to gain fine motor, gross motor, cognitive and language skills. Bly cities the National Institute of Mental Health which found that “more skill and concentration was needed to eat a meal than to watch television, and how the constant watching left people passive yet tense, and unable to concentrate” (page 5). In my experience I came across a parent who was set in her ways; she believes that television education is more beneficial for a child than to have a child sit in a classroom learning environment. I asked her why she said “television gives her child a quieter atmosphere to learn in”. She then got upset when it was time for me to do child assessment on her child. She was embarrassed. She couldn’t understand why her child was so far behind the other children. She asked me what the difference was; why was her child not able to keep up. She became confused. I myself thought shows’ like “Sesame Street” were educational but I never thought it could replace school. I thought that it aided and had a positive effect. I never took the time to realize what Bly meant when he said “the show’s producers have violated the natural slowness in which
Not only educational shows accomplish these goals, but fictional television programs can often incorporate information that requires viewers to grapple with a topic using logical reasoning and a global consciousness. In addition, not to diminish the importance of reading, television reaches those who may never pick up a book or who might struggle with reading problems, enabling a broader spectrum of people to interact with cognitive topics. Veith has committed the error of making generalizations about two forms of media when, in truth, the situation varies depending on quality and content. However, what follows these statements is not just fallacious, but
Barney, Sesame Street, and Arthur are just a few of many television shows that children watch. Many kids all over the world watch television, but the question is, is it really educational? Although there is no actual proof that television shows children watch are educational, surveys say that they can help enlarge children’s knowledge, increase imagination, and also introduce social behavior.
Television was an invention designed to entertain and inform. Created in the 1920s by John Logie Baird, TV has become an indispensable piece of furniture in most American dwellings. Every child, at least once in their lives have heard their mothers tell them that spending long periods of time in front of a screen will damage their brain. Two opposite arguments question all mothers’ hypothesis. Steven Johnson in “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” claims that over the years TV has become more complex. He considers that this complexity forces the brain to work. Dana Stevens in “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” argues that there are many cons in the issue and that watching TV does not make anybody smarter. Instead,
Television has become a big part in children’s day-to-day lives especially in the 20th century. Children in this century rely on television to keep them entertained and educated instead of entertaining and educating themselves by participating in activities, which will teach them a lot more in life then the actual television. There is no doubt that children are most easily influenced by television because of the different content that they watch as well as the amount of time consumed watching TV. The television does have an emotional and intellectual development on children but this all depends on the content that they’re watching and the way that they absorb the information that the show is trying to send out. Different programs will portray
According to Paediatrics & Children’s Health, T.V can teach kids many different things, such as “watching Sesame Street is an example of how toddlers can learn valuable lessons about racial harmony, cooperation, kindness, simple arithmetic, and the alphabet through an educational television format.”(2003) T.V shows can teach very good lessons to children about many important things, that these kids can use in their adult life. Another positive effect of television for kids is that it sort of opens their horizons to different things and people. For example, according to The Raising Children Network, teens and children can benefit from media exposure by developing cultural and political awareness. Television, films, magazines, and social media sites expose teens and children, who might be otherwise be limited to interactions with people from their own cultural and ethnic backgrounds, to an array of different people”. (Mokeyane) Children can really benefit from watching T.V, they can learn many educational things from shows like Sesame Street, Barney, or Caillou. Also, older children can learn about other cultures and political things that might not be talked about at home. Television really helps kids learn more important personal and educational lessons, that the generations,before, never had. Children, nowadays, have a great advantage in learning much more
There are many facts that show how children are affected by television. The most obvious is the effects that television has on the brain. 'Television interferes with the development of intelligence, thinking skill and imagination.';(LimiTv) A huge element of thinking is taking from what you already know and deciding how it applies in different situation. School makes you do this, but television does not. Michael and Sheila Cole, sociologist, say that 'Children socialized to learn from television had lower than normal expectations about the amount of mental effort required to learn from written texts, and tended to read less and perform relatively poorly in school.';(Development of Children 24) Which means that it takes very little effort to follow a television show and kids are raised on television believe that it takes less effort to learn from television rather than books because they have been 'spoon-fed'; information by television. 'Opportunities for a child's imagination to develop are also denied by habitual viewing.'; (Neural Activity and the Growth of the Brain) Children need some unstructured time to allow imagination skills to form by thinking about a book or story, a conversation, or an event.
Since the television made its big appearance in our society, there has been a lot of debate on whether it is good for us or not. Researches have come up with the conclusion that average person in the United States now watches over one hundred and fifty-one hours of television a month, which is well over 5 hours a day, and while there are many concerned people convinced that watching television has a negative impact on today's society. The question is “Do watching television make people smarter? You might well be surprised that watching television can actually make you smarter but that would be depending on the television show that the viewer spends their time watching.