Television, Cognitive Ability, and High School Completion

2017/10/03 by Øystein Hernæs, Simen Markussen, Knut Røed · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Media Influence and Politics

paper · doi:10.3368/jhr.54.2.0316.7819r1

openalex publication_date 2017/10/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/07

Abstract

We exploit supply-driven heterogeneity in the expansion of cable television across Norwegian municipalities to identify developmental effects of commercial television exposure during childhood. We find that higher exposure to commercial television reduces cognitive ability and high school graduation rates for young men. The effects are largest for exposure during pre-school and elementary school age. We find no effect on high school completion for women, suggesting availability of non-educational media content as a factor in the widening educational gender gap. Based on time-use data, we show that a possible explanation is that television-watching crowds out reading more for boys than girls.

Citations

• Secular declines in cognitive test scores: A reversal of the Flynn Effect
• A normative and reliability study for the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices for primary school aged children from Victoria, Australia
• A negative Flynn effect in Finland, 1997–2009
• Health Effects of Media on Children and Adolescents
• Television and Voter Turnout*
• The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting

Cited by

• Television [wikipedia]