Exploring Pathways From Television Viewing to Academic Achievement in School Age Children

Abstract

The author's purpose in this study was to test 4 hypotheses that proposed different paths for the influences of children's television viewing on their academic achievement. Data were drawn from the 1997 Child Development Supplement (CDS) to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The population for this study included 1,203 children between the ages of 6 and 13 years from the CDS-PSID data set. The author used structural equation modeling to test pathways from children's television viewing to their academic achievement. The author assumed that children's television viewing hindered their academic achievement by reducing certain traits that related to academic achievement. Results showed that 3 hypothetical models fit the data-the time-displacement hypothesis, the mental effort-passivity hypothesis, and the attention-arousal hypothesis. A 4th hypothetical model, the learning-information hypothesis, which proposed that children's television viewing practices stimulate their academic achievement, was not supported. In sum, children who watched more television tended to spend less time doing homework, studying, and reading for leisure. In addition, their behaviors became more impulsive, which resulted in an eventual decrease in their academic achievement.

Extensive Television Viewing and the Development of Attention and Learning Difficulties During Adolescence

“…We describe findings of the Children in the Community Study, 19 a community-based longitudinal investigation that meets these methodological criteria. The primary objective of our present study was to investigate the association of frequent television viewing during adolescence with risk for persistent attention and learning difficulties 6,7,11,16,17 and with poor long-term educational outcomes. 14 The families were randomly sampled on the basis of residence in 2 upstate New York counties in 1975, when maternal interviews were conducted regarding 1 randomly sampled child between the ages of 1 and 10 years from each family.…”

“…2,[6][7][8][9]11,13,14,16,17 Verbal intelligence was assessed at mean ages 14 and 16 years with a picture vocabulary test. 24 Verbal IQ scores were averaged and dichotomized (Ͻ100 vs Ն100).…”

The Wired Generation: Academic and Social Outcomes of Electronic Media Use Among University Students

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9] For example, Levine et al found that students who IM more than others show more distractibility during academic tasks. 10 Bowman et al, in an experiment regarding multitasking, found that students took longer to read a passage if they were IMing at the same time; but IMing did not affect comprehension relative to students that read without IMing.…”

Gaming, Gender, and Time: Who Makes Time to Play?

“…Huston et al (1999) and Shin (2004) used the displacement hypothesis to explain how children's television viewing may affect other activities. Ogletree and Drake (2007) suggest the displacement hypothesis may cause frequent gamers to spend less time with their nongamer significant other.…”