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Studying Distractions

I recalled this scene from my family as I was reading a scientific report last week. When my eldest son Dan was in high school, I walked into the family room one evening while he was studying for a test with his buddy Nat. The TV was blaring and biology books lay open in front of them on TV trays.

"How are you guys doing?" I asked. Their eyes never leaving the screen, each murmured, "Okay."

I was curious what they thought they were achieving with the biology books since the boys didn't seem to even glance at them. "How's the studying going?" I asked.

"What? Oh, we've got a test tomorrow, so we're reviewing chapter 10," Dan answered. Still no eye contact.

"You should turn off the TV," I said. "You'll never get ready for the test that way."

Finally, Dan looked at me, and his face appeared as it would if he had been explaining something to a small child. "Dad, we did this with the last test, and I got an A." He pointed to his friend. "Nat did too." Nat nodded in agreement.

"I still think you should turn it off," I said. "You're not even looking at your book."

"We'll quiz each other at the commercial. Just because the TV is on doesn't mean we won't learn anything."

I considered asking if he'd be studying up on the grammar rules for double negatives. Instead, I said, "Okay, but I think it'd be easier to learn with the TV off."

When he got his test back he had another A, and I had to admit television hadn't ruined his chances as a biologist. But I couldn't shake the feeling that studying in a quiet room would have been better.

It turns out, according to the latest research, we were both right. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that you can learn in the presence of distractions, but you probably won't learn as well.

The study differentiates between two kinds of learning, declarative learning and learning through habit. With declarative learning, we use a part of our brains called the medial temporal lobes to learn facts and skills that can be recalled and used in other situations. This is the kind of learning we want our kids to do when they study. Learning through habit, which uses a part of the brain called the striatum, is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: repetition and more repetition. And habit learning isn't as easily used or recalled.

It turns out distractions, like a blaring TV, have no noticeable effect on learning through habit. But the study found that distractions significantly impair one's ability to learn declaratively.

It's nice to have scientific proof of what most parents have long suspected. Part of being MediaWise is helping your kids learn without distractions. To that end, we should make a simple declaration to our kids: when it's time to study, the TVs, video games, and cell phones need to be turned off.

David Walsh, Ph.D. is the founder of the MediaWise Movement, a program of the National Institute on Media and the Family (www.mediawise.org). His latest book, Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen, is a national bestseller.