Dumb Shows

‘NINE out of ten times we pay no attention to surveys and the results of scientific research carried out to justify grants.

But the work of Joshua Fogel, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences at Brooklyn College, at the City University of New York, is worthy of comment.

Fogel has looked at 289 women aged between 70-79 without dementia and noted that the ones who liked talk shows and soap operas best were the ones with the least agile minds.

Fans of soaps and TV confessionals were outperformed by their peers when it came to testing their memory, attention and mental sharpness.

Does this means that daytime TV makes you dumb? Or is it that people less willing to be challenged by, say, news shows are drawn to Neighbours?

Dr. Fogel has stated out this doesn’t mean there’s a direct link between brainless daytime shows and actually being stupid.

Indeed, might it be argued that part of the pull in watching Trisha, Jeremy Kyle and Oprah is knowing that there is someone dumber and less well off than you – a comforting thought for the long-term injured, the institutionalised, journalists and other daytime TV gawpers.

There could be a connection between the shows we choose to watch and our own cognitive ability.

It is fascinating stuff that demands more work. What, for instance, happens to people who watch Noel Edmonds on the utterly brainless Deal Or No Deal?

Are they more mentally negligible than fans of Countdown, who like watching sums? Or are all daytime viewers of a type, sat at home watching daytime telly and wondering why they don’t make shows like Pebble Mill and Quincy any more?

For his part, Dr Fogel thinks that when consulting older patients about their state of wellness, doctors should ask them about their favourite TV shows.

Answering The Daily Politics or Working Lunch will earn you a knowing nod from your GP. Listing Escape To The Country or Tweenies gets you lots of prescription drugs and an audience pass to This Morning LIVE!.

Mention Loose Women and find yourself pitied and locked up for your own good and the safety of others.’

Posted: 24th, March 2006 | In: Celebrities Comment | TrackBack | Permalink