5 ms·

TLDR: mice exposed to very high levels of stimulation early in life, grew up to treat that level of stimulation as baseline later in life. Study posits that bra

by 60654 10y ago

TLDR: mice exposed to very high levels of stimulation early in life, grew up to treat that level of stimulation as baseline later in life. Study posits that brains wired like that would deal well with high stimulation environments that would overwhelm regular subjects - but be under stimulated and restless in "regular" situations. Very interesting finding for sure - especially since the mice weren't even playing games etc. They were just exposed to high levels of audiovisual stimuli. Makes you wonder if actually interacting and problem solving, instead of just being bombarded with stimuli, would have a different effect...

sliverstorm 10y ago
Anecdotally reflected in my youth- had little exposure to television as a kid. I simply could not ignore "background televisions" for many years, while other kids whom I knew grew up with constant "background television" could ignore it without difficulty.
- ctrl-j 10y ago
  Interestingly, I recall the same problem as a young child, however, now I often need some form of "background noise" to focus. When it's dead silent, I get distracted really easily.
- nugget 10y ago
  Given the environments that a child born today will likely face in the future, what do you think is the right balance to strike in early childhood?
  - tlarkworthy 10y ago
    pediatricians say for young children (under 2), background noise is discouraged as it interferes negatively with language development. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/128/5/1040 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/128/5/1040.
  - sliverstorm 10y ago
    I think being vulnerable to overbearing stimulus is probably less evil than requiring ongoing level of stimulus to function. Your kids might struggle with pulling them away from stimulus they are not used to, but they will figure it out as they grow up and hopefully keep the ability to go without constant stimulus. Personally, my plan is to minimize background stimulus so as not to stunt the ability to focus, and to ensure there are balanced periods of both stimulus and no stimulus. You might say that stimulus will be harder and harder to escape in the future, but I like to think if you choose, you will still be able to keep much of your life free of it.
contingencies 10y ago
Anecdotally, I moved to Asia when I was 18, and have since always found lower-density urban environments of western countries boring. An SF-area friend visiting me here in China yesterday from his now home in Brooklyn, New York also commented that he needs density. Personally, returning to visit, I often happily observe that immigration is slowly changing these places (eg. Sydney, Auckland) to have greater 24 hour life. Also, I have a 2.5 year old. She can get a lot more situational cues for linguistic development from sporadic exposure to decent TV than we could offer her in two or more languages. Sometimes we just show her film in a third language neither of us speak. Decent TV for kids ... now there's a thread waiting to happen.
- nutanc 10y ago
  Tried language through TV with my kids. The experiment with the first kid was an accident. She used to watch Chhota Bheem a cartoon in Hindi. Within a couple of months she was able to understand and speak Hindi though none of us spoke the language at home. She was 3 years old. With the next kid we sort of experimented. We never spoke in English to him. But he has picked it up by just watching Peppa pig on you tube. He is 2.5 years old now.

by 60654 10y ago

sliverstorm 10y ago

Anecdotally reflected in my youth- had little exposure to television as a kid. I simply could not ignore "background televisions" for many years, while other kids whom I knew grew up with constant "background television" could ignore it without difficulty.

ctrl-j 10y ago
Interestingly, I recall the same problem as a young child, however, now I often need some form of "background noise" to focus. When it's dead silent, I get distracted really easily.
nugget 10y ago
Given the environments that a child born today will likely face in the future, what do you think is the right balance to strike in early childhood?
- tlarkworthy 10y ago
  pediatricians say for young children (under 2), background noise is discouraged as it interferes negatively with language development. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/128/5/1040 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/128/5/1040.
- sliverstorm 10y ago
  I think being vulnerable to overbearing stimulus is probably less evil than requiring ongoing level of stimulus to function. Your kids might struggle with pulling them away from stimulus they are not used to, but they will figure it out as they grow up and hopefully keep the ability to go without constant stimulus. Personally, my plan is to minimize background stimulus so as not to stunt the ability to focus, and to ensure there are balanced periods of both stimulus and no stimulus. You might say that stimulus will be harder and harder to escape in the future, but I like to think if you choose, you will still be able to keep much of your life free of it.

contingencies 10y ago

Anecdotally, I moved to Asia when I was 18, and have since always found lower-density urban environments of western countries boring. An SF-area friend visiting me here in China yesterday from his now home in Brooklyn, New York also commented that he needs density. Personally, returning to visit, I often happily observe that immigration is slowly changing these places (eg. Sydney, Auckland) to have greater 24 hour life. Also, I have a 2.5 year old. She can get a lot more situational cues for linguistic development from sporadic exposure to decent TV than we could offer her in two or more languages. Sometimes we just show her film in a third language neither of us speak. Decent TV for kids ... now there's a thread waiting to happen.

nutanc 10y ago
Tried language through TV with my kids. The experiment with the first kid was an accident. She used to watch Chhota Bheem a cartoon in Hindi. Within a couple of months she was able to understand and speak Hindi though none of us spoke the language at home. She was 3 years old. With the next kid we sort of experimented. We never spoke in English to him. But he has picked it up by just watching Peppa pig on you tube. He is 2.5 years old now.