Reference
Sauce, B., Liebherr, M., Judd, N., & Klingberg, T. (2022). The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 7720. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11341-2
Review
In their article, Sauce, Liebherr, Judd, and Klingberg (2022) explore the cognitive effects of digital media on children, addressing the ongoing debate surrounding this topic. The authors advocate for the inclusion of genetic data in such studies to clarify causal claims and account for typically unaddressed genetic predispositions. The study analyzed 9,855 children in the United States, part of the ABCD dataset, with intelligence measurements taken at ages 9-10 and after two years.
The authors discovered that time spent watching (r = -0.12) and socializing (r = -0.10) was negatively correlated with intelligence at baseline, while gaming showed no correlation. However, after two years, gaming had a positive impact on intelligence (standardized β = +0.17), which aligns with experimental studies on video gaming's cognitive benefits. Socializing, on the other hand, had no effect.
Interestingly, watching videos also benefited intelligence (standardized β = +0.12), which contradicts prior research on the impact of watching TV. A post hoc analysis, though, revealed that this was not significant when controlling for parental education instead of SES. Overall, the results support research on cognitive abilities' malleability from environmental factors, such as cognitive training and the Flynn effect.
The study by Sauce et al. (2022) provides valuable insights into the cognitive impact of digital media on children while addressing potential confounding factors. The findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between screen time and children's intelligence, offering implications for future research and educational policy.
