Hidden Effects of TV

An awakening article about the effects of TV on Children (and beyond):

http://www.sondraslair.com/television.html

Healy (1990) explains that the frequency of electrical impulses emitted from
the screen blocks active mental processing, thus inducing a kind of hypnotic
trance in viewers.

I do know this. That is why I watch sometimes.
Keeps the mind from trying to interfere.

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Sondra's Lair

Programming Young Minds: Effects of Television on the Developing Brain

There has been a significant amount of psychological research in the past
decades dealing with the problematic effects of violence in children's
television programming. There have also been multiple studies that have
established significant correlations between the extent of television
viewing amongst youth and the risk of developing attention deficit
disorders, autism and other psychiatric conditions. However, there has been
relatively little investigation of the effects of television technology,
regardless of program content, on the human brain. Given estimates that
between the ages of 3 and 5 (the critical period for the development of
language), children are spending 28 hours in front of the television per
week and by high school are spending six times as many hours watching
television as they are doing homework (Healy, 1990), the paucity of research
into the neurophysiological effects of this historically unique activity is
staggering.

The concept of neural plasticity the brain's capacity for alteration and
reconfiguration in response to environmental stimuli has become well
accepted in medical and psychological communities. We know that a child¹s
quality of life can impact learning, social adjustment, impulse regulation
and many other facets of development, making redundant the whole debate of
nature verses nurture. Therefore, it would follow quite logically that if
children are spending an average of 5000-6000 hours in front of the
television by the age of 6, this form of stimulation should elicit
neurological changes that impact the human organism. This paper explores the
question of what is actually happening in the brain while engaging in
television viewing. What are the implications of extensive viewing for
children's cognitive and psychological development? Could the seemingly
simple act of watching television be harmful to youngsters?

Television images appear via the projection of fluorescent light from 25,000
volt cathode-ray guns that shoot streams of electrons at phosphors (little
metal dots) inside the screen, making them glow. This light is then
projected from the screen into our eyes. While it appears that the flow of
light is continuous, the phosphors actually light up 30 times per second,
creating what is commonly known as the "flicker effect" (Mander, 1978).

There are important differences between the fluorescent, or radiant light
used in television technology and natural, or ambient light. For example,
whereas natural light must be reflected off other surfaces in order to be
perceived, radiant light enters the eyes directly. In addition, radiant
light does not contain the entire range of spectra that makes up natural
light. The fluorescent light of television emits only red, blue and green
and in a very different combination than would be found in sunlight (Mander,
1978) .There are of course implications of this difference for the
development of visual perception in television-addicted children which I
will discuss later, but artificial light may be hazardous to our health in
other ways. According to John Ott, founder of the Environmental Health and
Light Research Institute and author of Health and Light, exposure to
artificial light can contribute to hyperactivity, loss of vitality,
aggression, heart disease, cancer and impaired immune functioning (Mander,
1978).

Other researchers have shown conclusively that radiant light causes specific
shifts in mental functioning. In her book Endangered Minds: Why Children
Don't Think and What We Can Do About It, Jane M. Healy points out that
when early research into the effects of television began to reveal that the
act of viewing actually causes the brain to "enter a hypnotic, nonlearning
state" (Healy, 1990), funding for such studies was cut. This was a
phenomenal discovery with the potential to discredit claims made by industry
executives that television programming could be educational. It has since
been demonstrated using electroencenograph (EEG) machines that the human
brain effectively shuts down after a mere 30 seconds of television viewing
(Moore, 2001), as it enters into what is called an alpha state,
characterized by long slow brainwaves. The transition from beta state
(associated with reading and active learning) to alpha (associated with
dreaming, meditating and lack of mental activity) is caused by exposure to
the artificial, flickering light of television. Healy (1990) explains that
the frequency of electrical impulses emitted from the screen blocks active
mental processing, thus inducing a kind of hypnotic trance in viewers.

A study cited by Joseph Chilton Pearce in his interview with Chris
Mercogliano (1999) demonstrated that the same information presented on paper
and on a television screen yields markedly different rates of retention.
Three groups of people were given a single page from a fourth grade textbook
in different formats. The first were given an actual piece of paper, the
second viewed the information on film, and the third read from a television
monitor. Each group was tested for comprehension and retention after 20
minutes of studying the text. The results showed that the group who read
from the paper retained 85% of the information. The second group retained
25-30%, and the group who read from a television screen retained a meager
3-5%.

The conditions for watching as well as the light source of television create
an optimal condition for hypnotic induction. The room lights are dim,
extraneous sensory stimuli such as sound are eliminated, the focus is on a
singular source of flickering light, the body is still, there is little or
no interpersonal communication. As the mind habituates to this state, the
heart beat slows down, the pulse evens out, and the brain enters an "overly
receptive" state of consciousness marked by suggestibility and cessation of
information processing (Mander, 1978).

In order to moderate the hypnotic effects of television, startle effects
such as quick changes in the intensity of light or sound and camera angle
shifts (Mercogliano, 1999) are utilized. These non-stop effects such as
zooms, pans and close-ups alert our attention to what is happening on the
screen by tricking the brain into thinking there is an emergency situation
at hand. The body¹s natural defenses against danger are thus triggered,
resulting in excess production of the hormone cortisol. This inevitable
physical reaction to what is happening on screen raises an important
question: why do our bodies respond to images on television as if they were
happening in reality, when as most people believe, we "know" it isn¹t real?
The answer is that despite knowing consciously that what we are seeing on
the screen is not actually taking place, the part of our brain that is
operative while watching television cannot distinguish between real and
artificial stimuli.

Studies have shown that higher brain functions such as the ability to
critique and rationalize are de-activated by television technology. It is
the lower, or reptilian brain, instead, that responds to the incoming
images, as the intellect is effectively bypassed. As Jerry Mander (1978)
explains in his seminal book Four Arguments for the Elimination of
Television, "human beings have not yet been equipped by evolution to
distinguish in our minds between natural images and those which are
artificially created and implanted... Whatever information the senses
produce the brain trusts as inherently believable." This explains why even
adults have trouble fundamentally differentiating between actors and the
characters they play on television dramas. It also explains why advertising
is so effective. Our attitudes about products become unconsciously
associated with feeling states as liminal and subliminal images are planted
in our minds without recourse for critical thought. Though the majority of
people claim resistance to commercial advertisements, companies use these
techniques because they consistently increase sales. Startle effects are
useful in promoting products as well, because the fast-paced influx of
images move faster than we can react, leaving us no time to reflect on the
information (Mander, 1978).

In addition to shifts from the higher to the lower brain regions during
television viewing, studies by Herbert Krugman have demonstrated that
cerebral activity is centered in the right hemisphere of the brain (Moore,
2001). This crossover from the left brain (associated with the development
of language, thinking and analyzing (Healy, 1990)), to right brain
(associated with non-verbal communication) has the effect of "discourag[ing]
development of 'executive' systems that regulate attention, organization,
and motivation" (Healy, 1990). It also triggers the release of endorphins,
the body's natural opiates. People who watch the average of 4 plus hours of
television daily will admit feeling unable to curb the habit. In fact, an
experiment reported in South Africa's Eastern Province Herald from October
1975 (Moore, 2001) suggests that television is physically addictive! 182
German individuals agreed to abstain from watching television for one year
in exchange for financial compensation. Not one participant last longer than
six months, and all showed symptoms of opiate withdrawal including anxiety,
frustration and depression. Migraines are also a common symptom of
television withdrawal, as opioid receptors adjust to a break in endorphin
surges (Moore, 2001).

The frustration experienced by individuals attempting to curtail their
television viewing is not actually alleviated when the habit is resumed.
This is because watching television is an inherently frustrating act, on
many levels. As discussed previously, the body responds to overstimulation
from imagery projected from the screen by producing hormones such as
cortisol and adrenaline. Once triggered, these intense calls to action are
promptly aborted, as the danger signal is recognized as a false alarm. For
every startle effect that violates the body's natural defense system, there
is no outlet for expression. This cut-off impulse and the resulting
accumulation of pent-up stimulation is thought by many to be the primary
cause of hyperactivity (Healy, 1990). Christopher Lee (2001) also notes that
the firing of action-response-mechanisms are "disconnected from 'real'
experience, which could be problematic for young children, who are learning
how to appropriately associate such responses with experiences."

Other elements of early childhood development are negatively impacted by
television viewing as well. In addition to hyperactivity, the daily
absorption of fast-paced sensory stimuli at the expense of face-to face
adult modeling (Healy, 1990) can lead to attention and listening problems.
Children who watch excessive amounts of television tend to get bored and
anxious without high-density stimulation, as their ability to form internal
images was never developed properly. Reading skills are also adversely
affected by extensive television viewing. Outrageous claims that
"educational" programming can actually teach kids to read egregiously
overlook the reality that television has largely replaced reading in the
lives of young people.

Television technology can also fundamentally affect the brain's ability to
perceive sensory stimuli. A study conducted by the German Psychological
Institute (Mercogliano, 1999) conducted over the course of 20 years
determined that there has been a 2/3 loss of children's ability to detect
shadings of color as a result of repetitive exposure to cathode ray tubes.
Whereas 20 years ago kids could distinguish between 360 different shades of
a single color, that number is now down to 130. It was also established that
there has been a 20% reduction in children¹s awareness of their natural
environment.

Watching television puts the viewer in an essentially passive position.
There is no interactive give and take, no lessons that are tailored to the
needs of the individual child, no sensory engagement with the external world
or opportunities to form mental images in the service of creativity. Viewers
give over all sense of agency by letting someone else decide what they will
watch and when, opening their minds to an influx of highly charged images
that are designed to elicit fear and greed. It is difficult to disagree with
Jerry Mander's (1978) statement that "imagining a world free of television,
I can envision only beneficial effects."

-Sondra Rosenberg, 2004

References:

Healy, J.M. (1990) Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think - And What We
Can Do About It. New York, Touchstone.

Lee, C.A. (2001) Evaluating information and communications technology:
perspectives for a balanced approach [electronic version] Report to the
w.k..
kellogg foundation.

Mander, J. (1978) Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. New
York, Quill.

Mercogliano, C. & Debus, K. (1999) Expressing life¹s wisdom: nurturing
heart-brain development starting with infants [electronic version] Journal
of family life, 5(1).

Moore, W. (2001) Television: opiate of the masses [electronic version]
Journal of cognitive liberties, 2(2), 59-66.