Cartoons Effect Kids Concentration

PSYCHOLOGISTS believe that watching fast-paced cartoons with constant changes of setting can be an information overload for toddlers' brains and therefore harm their ability to solve logic-based puzzles, as well as undermining their short-term memory, according to new research.

Four-year-olds shown clips of animations with rapid scene changes, such as the popular SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon, performed significantly worse in problem-solving and attention tests than those shown slower sequences.

Dr Angeline Lillard, of the University of Virginia in the US, whose study was recently published in the journal Pediatrics said: "Our results are consistent with other research showing long-term negative associations between entertainment television and attention.

"Given the popularity of some fast-paced television cartoons among young children, it is important that parents are alert to the possibility of lower levels of executive function in young children at least immediately after watching such shows."

Previous studies suggest many children of pre-school age watch more than 90 minutes of television a day.

It's long been suspected that TV watching can lead to attention problems in young children over the long term, but this study suggests there may be more immediate problems that can occur, even after just a few minutes of viewing. Parents should not only be concerned about how much tv their kids watch but also what it is they're watching.