I asked our developmental psychologist, Shlomit Gerber-Popper, to comment on the TV and Autism study. This is what she said:

The study is interesting, but should be carefully scrutinized and not taken at face value.

There is no doubt that the study’s assertions regarding the effects of television on children and their interaction with their parents have much truth to them. Prolonged television viewing is known to be problematic and even to inhibit the interaction between parent and child.

Having said that, though, I have to say that the study is not problem-free.

First, it’s important to note that this is a correlative study, meaning it can only talk about a correlation between variables, i.e: a has an effect on b. It cannot talk about a causal relationship: a is the cause of b, or a makes b happen.

Second, the study is retroactive, not prospective, meaning it did not follow its subjects in real-time, but looked at historical records and drew its conclusions from them.

And, third, the researchers link rainfall with watching more television, and continue to tie television to autism. This point is very problematic, since the explanation could very well be tied to another factor relating to staying indoors longer while there is much rainfall. It is not necessarily television that is that factor.

In general, there are three things to remember with children and television:

1. 1.Duration: make sure the periods of exposure to television are short.
2. 2.Quality: make sure your child is watching quality content.
3. 3.Together: try to watch your children’s shows with them, so you can mediate as well as monitor what they are exposed to.

Thank you Shlomit. Anyone with questions or comments is more than welcome to post them here in the comments section, and we will try to answer them all.

Also, (attention: shameless, blatant self-promotion ahead), if you are on the hunt for quality viewing material, you should check out our DVD MagIQ™.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 at 10:24 pm and is filed under development, expert's corner, family, kids. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.