Dam Investigators Procedure Outline Effects of TV viewing on children – Studio Magic Compulsory Task (AF5 iv) Can television harm children? Dependent variable Watched at 3 Not at 5 Watched at 5 Not at 3 Watched at 3 and 5 Sleep problems Attention problems Aggressive behaviour Social skills Scientists did an investigation to find out about the relationships between watching television and various problems in children. All the children were the same age at the time of the study. The scientists wanted to discover if the ages at which children watch TV make a difference. They studied three groups of children: Look at the results. Children who watched TV for more than two hours a day aged 3, but who were watching very little TV by the time they were 5. Children who watched TV for more than two hours a day aged 5, but who watched little TV when they were 3. Children who watched more than two hours a day aged 3 and 5. This page may have been changed from the original Activity from the Studio magic unit © upd8 wikid, built by cracking science 2010 Expert reasoner problem (part 1) A result of zero would mean there was no difference between children watching TV for more than 2 hours and those watching less. A positive number means the children do this more. A negative number means the children do this less.

Say whether you think the evidence was collected properly or whether there was anything else they could have done. What can you say about the ages at which children watch TV and the relationships between the problems in the table? Write down the evidence that supports your conclusion. Use the background information to help you explain your conclusion scientifically. Are there any inconsistencies in the data? Can you explain them? Say how the data can be viewed differently. Level 7 Level 6 Level 5 Level 4

Background information Sleep Children who watch more TV have less regular sleeping patterns. For example older children may not fall asleep at the same time each night. More research is needed to find out if watching TV actually causes children to sleep less. Attention Research has shown that greater TV viewing at age 1 or age 3 is linked with attention problems at age 7. Some scientists think that the fast-changing images on the TV screen over stimulates children, and that this causes reduced attention spans. Aggression Some scientists think that seeing violence on TV makes children more aggressive. This might be because they copy what they see or because they become less sensitive to violence. These children also spend less time reading or playing. Social skills Between the ages of 0 and 3 scientists say that a child’s brain develops very quickly. These physical changes can be affected by what the child is exposed to. If a child watches TV instead of interacting with others, the child may not develop social skills. Scientific studies have shown that... Background information Sleep Children who watch more TV have less regular sleeping patterns. For example older children may not fall asleep at the same time each night. More research is needed to find out if watching TV actually causes children to sleep less. Attention Research has shown that greater TV viewing at age 1 or age 3 is linked with attention problems at age 7. Some scientists think that the fast-changing images on the TV screen over stimulates children, and that this causes reduced attention spans. Aggression Some scientists think that seeing violence on TV makes children more aggressive. This might be because they copy what they see or because they become less sensitive to violence. These children also spend less time reading or playing. Social skills Between the ages of 0 and 3 scientists say that a child’s brain develops very quickly. These physical changes can be affected by what the child is exposed to. If a child watches TV instead of interacting with others, the child may not develop social skills. Scientific studies have shown that... This page may have been changed from the original Activity from the Studio magic unit © upd8 wikid, built by cracking science 2010 Expert reasoner problem (part 2)Expert reasoner problem 1 (part 2)