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Savannah McCamey

Professor Sharyn Hunter

ENG 1201 A50

19 February 2017

The Effects of Reading Fiction in Comparison to Watching Television on

Language and Theory of Mind Development

Societal norms steer closer to placing no importance on reading. Those

who are engaged in the lives of children often witness parents using technology

to entertain their children rather than teaching them healthy habits and ways

of using technology as a tool, engaging in their thoughts, and sharing valuable

perspectives and skills with them. From popular thinking I have considered

that reading has profound effects on language and see these effects in my

personal life. To understand more about the effects of reading on language

development, I have researched this topic and found another largely important

skill that is affected by reading- theory of mind. Theory of mind is defined by

Jessica Black and Jennifer Barnes, writers of the essay The effects of reading

on social and nonsocial cognition, as the ability to infer and reason about

mental states: our own and other peoples beliefs, desires, and intentions (3).

Upon reading this definition I was able to draw connections to the lives of
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children I know and realize the difference in play and language of those who

receive strong encouragement to read and those who are allowed access to

television and other electronics without bounds. Having bounds set for the

amount of digital media, specifically TV shows, movies, and videos, consumed

in conjunction to setting goals for reading, exercises the human brain and

allows for better ability to understand and engage with other people.

Using current statistics and studies, one can see the loss of ability and

skill in the recent and current school-age generations. In the documentary

Why Reading Matters, Professor Maryanne Wolf of Tufts University in Boston

states that from 2004-09 children middle school and high school age were

flattening or declining in reading and comprehension skills gauged by academic

tests. She attributes these losses to the unhealthy use of digital media. This

statistic seems to be holding true for fourth- and eighth-grade students in

2015. The National Report Card, a website containing statistics on national

testing, states that fourth-grade reading levels are stagnant compared to those

reported in 2013 and eighth-grade reading levels are lower than those reported

in 2013. The report also states that about one-third of fourth- and eighth-

grade students in 2015 perform at or above the Proficient level in reading

(2015 Mathematics & Reading Assessments). These statistics paint a picture

of the failure of the United States families to incorporate reading and language
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development into the lives of their children. To do this, one needs to know the

means of making it happen.

Many believe the consumption of television is as beneficial to our brains

and education as reading. Others place no importance on reading and view

leisure time as a time to stop their minds from working and essentially become

passive in their thinking by absorbing content from television and other media

rather than reflecting on ideas. There are also those who believe in the

importance of reading and working ones brain to produce greater abilities. The

Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates an annual average percentage of leisure

time spent watching television to be over fifty-five percent in 2015 (American

Time Use Survey). This means more than half the time people have not

working, going to school, or fulfilling some obligation, they are watching

television. In this statistic, television does not include consuming other types of

digital media. This statistic also states that only six percent of leisure time

spent by Americans over fifteen-years-old is filled with reading. Making the age-

range smaller, fifteen- to nineteen-year-olds spend under four percent of their

leisure time reading according to the statistics the Bureau of Labor Statistics

provide (American Time Use Survey).

Competing with the popular belief that television programs can benefit

language and education, studies confirm that watching television has physical
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effects on the brain that cause lower IQ and a creates a disconnect between

parents and children. Melissa Chu writes of a 2013 study led by Hiraku

Takeuchi from Tohoku University in Japan that involved 276 children and their

mothers. The findings indicate that parts of the brain associated with arousal

and aggression as well as the frontal lobe that lowers verbal reasoning

thickened as the children watched more television (Chu). Douglas Fields, Chief

of the Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section at the National

Institute of Health also reviewed this study and writes that the scientists

examined the same children several years later to find that the anatomical

changes strengthened through the years. The regions correspond to arousal,

aggression, emotions, and vision. There was an increase in gray matter in many

regions including the frontal lobe (Fields). The results also show an indirect

correlation between the hours of television being watched and the scores of

verbal proficiency tests. As the children consumed more media, their tests

results were lower regardless of factors including age, gender, and economic

background. Watching television actually affected the communication between

the mother and child. Generally, during the session of television viewing,

comments made from the mother towards their child were sparse and random-

they didnt relate to the childs comments (Chu).

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If executed correctly digital media, specifically television, can be

beneficial to education and language development. The American Academy of

Pediatrics wrote an article in 2016 speaking to the importance of parent-child

interaction and the danger of media. The article explains that media can be

beneficial to the learning of toddlers and is largely done by parents watching

media with the child and then revisiting and teaching the content later on.

Going on, the piece reiterates that beginning at the age of 15 months and using

applications created specifically for teaching that arent available for

commercial use, children are able to gain new language but still have difficulty

generalizing this knowledge to the physical world. Although the effects are most

probably of a lesser intensity than the interaction decrease between parents

and children when the television is on, studies show that excessive television

viewing in the early years of childhood and delays in cognition, language, and

social/emotional development have close relations. Using the evidence

available, this article recommends a limited time of 1 hour per day of digital

media for children 2-5 years-old. This allows for engagement in activities that

support development and healthy habits for life (American Academy of

Pediatrics Council of Communications and Media).

Although reading and comprehension tie into language development,

another important area affected by reading or the lack of is theory of mind

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(ToM). In an article written by Lauren Lowry, speech-language pathologist, she

claims that recognizing others emotions and using words to express them,

knowing that one is separate and different than others, knowing that people

behave to get what they want or avoid what they do not want, understanding

the cause and consequences of emotions, and the ability to pretend or role play

are all functions of ToM. According to Lowry and her sources, theory of mind

really appears between the ages of four and five as typically developing children

begin considering the thoughts and feelings of others. Skills tend to develop in

this order: understanding desire, understanding thought or beliefs,

understanding that seeing something leads to knowing about it, understanding

inaccurate thoughts or false beliefs, and finally understanding hidden

feelings. The understanding of figurative language, sarcasm, and lies fall into

the understanding of ToM. Lowry expresses that some experts believe ToM

develops over a lifetime as a person experiences people and their behaviors

more. The issues that arise when ToM isnt well-developed include not

understanding others decisions and finding it difficult to have conversations,

tell stories, or make friends. The importance of ToM is more prominent than

one may realize which makes the growth of it something to seek (Lowry).

ToM development is affected by reading fiction works like novels and

aided further, especially for children, by discussing the book. A way to nurture
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the development of ToM as recommended by Lowry is to use books to discuss

the thoughts and emotions of the characters and to use similar language in

real life to discuss emotions being experienced and reasons behind them with

children (Lowry). A study conducted by Black and Barnes, a replica of one by

Kidd & Castano in 2013, used the Reading the Mind in Eyes test (RME) to

gauge the effects of reading fiction and nonfiction on social cognition-

specifically theory of mind. The RME is multiple-choice and displays photos of

peoples eye regions before asking the participant to choose one of four words

that best describe the emotion being felt by the subject of the photo. Both

studies present substantial evidence that reading fiction positively affects ToM

development (Black and Barnes).

The average parents wants to produce the best outcome for their childs

future. It is extremely difficult to do this without understanding the effects of

something so seemingly simple as a moving picture in the modern atmosphere

of technology. Americans are surrounded with gadgets and ninety-nine percent

of households have a television, but not all of those households know the

effects they have on their engagement with their child or their childs brain

matter (Chu; Fields). To see children with vivid imaginations and better

understanding for one another instead of stumbling through words and

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inconsolable without a device would be signs of engaged parenting, plenty of

book reading, and limited television watching.

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Works Cited

2015 Mathematics & Reading Assessments. The Nations Report Card .

National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2015,

www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_ math_2015/#?grade=4.

American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media.

Media and Young Minds. Pediatrics, vol. 138, no. 5, 2006.

10.1542/peds.2016-2591.

American Time Use Survey. Bureau of Labor Statistics. United States

Department of Labor, Dec. 2016, www.bls.gov/tus/charts/leisure.htm.

Black, J.E., and J.L. Barnes. "The effects of reading material on social and

non-social cognition." Poetics, vol. 52, 2015, pp. 32-43. OhioLINK

Electronic Journal Center, doi:10.1016/J.POETIC.2015.07.001.

Chu, Melissa. Books vs. TV: How They Stack Up Against One Another. The

Blog, The Huffington Post, 11 July 2016.

www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-chu/books-vs -tv-how-they-

stac_b_10928340.html.

Fields, Douglas. "Watching TV Alters Children's Brain Structure and Lowers

IQ". blog.brainfacts.org. blog.brainfacts.org/2015/05/watching-tv-alters-

childrens- brain-structure-and-lowers-iq/#.WKEkJDsrLIU.
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Lowry, Lauren. "Tuning In" to Others: How Young Children Develop Theory of

Mind. The Hanen Centre. 2016, http://www.hanen.org/helpful-

info/articles/tuning-in- to-others-how-young-children-develop.aspx.

Why Reading Matters: A Holistic Study for the Digital Age. Films Media Group,

2009, fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=19259&xtid=41293.