Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of General Psychology: Cognition, University Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2022 May 11;12(1):7720. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11341-2.
Digital media defines modern childhood, but its cognitive effects are unclear and hotly debated. We believe that studies with genetic data could clarify causal claims and correct for the typically unaccounted role of genetic predispositions. Here, we estimated the impact of different types of screen time (watching, socializing, or gaming) on children's intelligence while controlling for the confounding effects of genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic status. We analyzed 9855 children from the USA who were part of the ABCD dataset with measures of intelligence at baseline (ages 9-10) and after two years. At baseline, time watching (r = - 0.12) and socializing (r = - 0.10) were negatively correlated with intelligence, while gaming did not correlate. After two years, gaming positively impacted intelligence (standardized β = + 0.17), but socializing had no effect. This is consistent with cognitive benefits documented in experimental studies on video gaming. Unexpectedly, watching videos also benefited intelligence (standardized β = + 0.12), contrary to prior research on the effect of watching TV. Although, in a posthoc analysis, this was not significant if parental education (instead of SES) was controlled for. Broadly, our results are in line with research on the malleability of cognitive abilities from environmental factors, such as cognitive training and the Flynn effect.
数字媒体定义了现代童年，但它对认知的影响还不清楚，并且存在激烈的争论。我们认为，使用遗传数据的研究可以澄清因果关系，并纠正通常无法解释的遗传倾向的作用。在这里，我们在控制认知和社会经济地位的遗传差异的混杂影响的情况下，估计了不同类型的屏幕时间（观看、社交或游戏）对儿童智力的影响。我们分析了来自美国的 9855 名儿童，他们是 ABCD 数据集的一部分，在基线（9-10 岁）和两年后都进行了智力测量。在基线时，观看（r = -0.12）和社交（r = -0.10）与智力呈负相关，而游戏则没有相关性。两年后，游戏对智力有积极影响（标准化β= +0.17），而社交没有影响。这与视频游戏的实验研究中记录的认知益处一致。出乎意料的是，观看视频也有益于智力（标准化β= +0.12），这与之前关于看电视对智力影响的研究相反。尽管，如果控制了父母教育（而不是 SES），那么在后验分析中，这并不显著。总的来说，我们的结果与从环境因素（如认知训练和弗林效应）对认知能力的可塑性关系的研究一致。
