A new study has shown that video series meant to jumpstart babies' cognitive development actually makes them dumber. The metric for development was vocabulary, and the babies shown either the Brainy Baby or Baby Einstein video series knew fewer words than babies who did not watch the videos. Mind you, the videos are meant for children 8 months to 16 months, while the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no television at all for children under 24 months of age. Toddlers whose parents read to them during this time had the largest vocabularies. This study really helps bolster the notion that cognitive development in people happens in stages, and that the teaching process, especially what should be taught and how, needs to take these stages into account. As for the American Idol reference:
"I would rather babies watch 'American Idol' than these videos," [Dr. Dimitri] Christakis said, explaining that there is at least a chance their parents would watch with them — which does have developmental benefits.
The source of those developmental benefits? Parents spending time with their children.
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