In a nutshell, yes:
The variation Mr. Gentzkow
and Mr. Shapiro exploited was the timing of the introduction of TV into
different cities. Television began taking off in the U.S. in 1946,
after a wartime ban on TV production was lifted. But the Federal
Communications Commission stopped granting new commercial television
licenses from September 1948 to April 1952 while it made changes in
allocating broadcast spectrum. There was a long lag between when some
cities got television and when others did.The economists then
looked at results of a survey of 800 U.S. schools that administered
tests to 346,662 sixth-grade, ninth-grade and 12th-grade students in
1965. Their finding: Adjusting for differences in household income,
parents’ educational background and other factors, children who lived
in cities that gave them more exposure to television in early childhood
performed better on the tests than those with less exposure.The
economists found that television was especially positive for children
in households where English wasn’t the primary language and parents’
education level was lower. "We don’t exactly know why that is, but a
plausible interpretation is that the effect of television on cognitive
development depends on what other kinds of activity television is
substituting for," says Mr. Shapiro, 28.
Here is much more. And yes the "Mr. Shapiro" is in fact Wunderkind Jesse Shapiro, a familiar figure to MR readers everywhere. You’ll find two versions of the paper here.
Addendum: Here is Alex’s excellent post on the topic.
From the WSJ article:
Mr. Gentzkow and Mr. Shapiro note that they studied the effects of 1950s-era shows and caution that today’s television, with its vastly different content, may affect children differently.
A study from 1950s to present would be very interesting.
The economists found that television was especially positive for children in households where English wasn’t the primary language and parents’ education level was lower. “We don’t exactly know why that is, …
The kids learned English watching television. Duh. I pretty much learned English watching Married … With Children while the two years of bilingual education I sat through taught me squat.
The general positive statistical association between television exposure (not hours watching) and eductional attainment has been giving various educationists conniptions for some decades. Still, it is nice to have the basic facts nailed down so cleverly and solidly.
I agree there is a positive correlation with television and education. Test results confirmed that children exposed to more television have a tendency to score higher on standardized tests. Television, whether it be the local news, a game show, or a comedian, exposes children to real-life events. The local news keeps everyone current with major events. The newspaper as we all know is a dying commodity. The internet and electronic media such as the television are much more targeted to today’s youth. A game show such as Jeopardy challenges people’s intellectual ability and promotes thinking. Finally, we can all see how cartoons can educate our youth. I have watched The Simpsons for as long as I can remember. This show has taught me of international relations with other countries, political theories and much more. Television is now used in classrooms everywhere across the country. It is such a vital educational tool, local cable company’s offer these services free to public school systems as “Cable in the Classroom†.
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This is absolutely fascinating…for years, everyone stressed how bad television was. But when you think about it, it makes sense. If your parents do not speak English well, or for that matter, at all, television would help you to understand English better.
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