Aaargh! This piece is dripping with causal attributions, even by the lead author himself! Apparently, we can now, without doubt, say that due to their correlational relationships, tv watching increases the likelihood of a child developing attention-related disorders. Well, at least scientists without appropriate cautionary training can claim this. The rest of us who recognize the limitations of dealing with correlational data are stuck with the statistically just as likely, but apparently less interesting, possibilities that, for example,
a) infants and toddlers who have attention-disordered brains are more likely to find TV engaging, and will find it more stimulating than nontv-play, and stay engaged in TV watching for longer periods of time or b) parents of infants who have attention-related problems (and who are probably frustrated with their children's temperamental difficulty), are more likely to resort to placing their children in front of a tv set. I guess I'll have to write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper or something. Wally Dixon On 4/6/04 7:45 AM, "Dennis Goff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > There was an interview with the author of this study on Morning Edition > yesterday. You can hear it at > http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=1812501 > You can make your own judgments about how the author is talking to the press > about his results. > > Dennis > > -----Original Message----- > From: Rick Froman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 9:18 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences > Subject: RE: AAP Blame Game Again > > > I realize that pediatricians are not bound by American Psychological > Association ethics guidelines but I like the fact that APA guideline 1.01 is > "If psychologists learn of misuse or misrepresentation of their work, they > take reasonable steps to correct or minimize the misuse or misrepresentation." > I just wish that either a) more researchers took that to heart or b) the media > didn't prevent more researchers from taking those steps. > > Rick > > Dr. Rick Froman > Associate Professor of Psychology > John Brown University > 2000 W. University > Siloam Springs, AR 72761 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (479) 524-7295 > http://www.jbu.edu/academics/sbs/faculty/rfroman.asp > > -----Original Message----- > From: Stephen Black [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 7:43 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences > Subject: Re: AAP Blame Game Again > > On 5 Apr 2004, Wallace E. Dixon, Jr. wrote: > >> All over the news today is a claim that, by implication, watching >> TV in infancy basically causes attention problems in children. Of course, >> the AAP doesn't say this, but that doesn't matter since the press is >> splattering ITS understanding of the claim all over the place, and >> this is the message people will take home with them. > > The authors do make some interesting statements in their article, > however, including: > > "We have not in fact studied or found an association between > television viewing and clinically diagnosed ADHD". > > "We relied on parental report of television viewed". > > "We cannot draw causal inferences from these associations". > > (from the Pediatrics article, all on p. 711 at > http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/tvapril.pdf) > > I wonder how often those statements get reported in news summaries of > the research. And I wonder how often the authors stress these points > to journalists when they discuss the implications of their work. > > Sigh. > > Stephen > ___________________________________________________ > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 > Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 > Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 > Canada > > Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy > TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at > http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm > _______________________________________________ > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wallace E. Dixon, Jr. | Chair and Associate Professor | Maybe the Hokey-Pokey really of Psychology | is what it's all about. Department of Psychology | East Tennessee State University | -Bumper Sticker seen in Tiffin, Johnson City, TN 36714 | Ohio (423) 439-6656 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
