英語時差：現(xiàn)在這幫小孩--已經(jīng)修正

Do you think kids don't pay attention these days? There could be some scientific evidence of that, as Don and Ya?l discuss in this Moment of Science. Don: Kids these days! They have no respect. They don't know the value of a dollar. They can't pay attention to anything for long.

Ya?l: Actually, that last one may be true.

D: You mean the others aren't?

Y: Well, the older generation always complains about kids. But researchers who study the effects of television actually have data to suggest that young people today don't pay attention in the way their parents do.

D: What's the connection to t.v.?

Y: Annie Lang and her colleagues at Indiana University have done a series of studies in which college-age people and middle-aged people were shown a string of t.v. and movie clips. In one trial they showed images which changed at a fast rate -- over eleven shots every thirty seconds.

D: Sounds like MTV!

Y: Other trials had images that changed at slower rates -- five to six changes, or zero to three changes, every thirty seconds. People from all three groups were quizzed after watching the videos to see how much they could remember.

D: The results?

Y: The results differed depending on a couple of factors, such as how arousing the images themselves were. But in general they found that young people have a much harder time than adults in paying attention to, and remembering, slower-moving material.

D: I knew it! Those lazy kids!

Y: It's not quite laziness. They try, but slow material is hard for them. And adults fared worse at remembering fast-moving material!

D: Gosh...do you think MTV teaches kids to have short attention spans?

Y: That's just speculation. But you gotta wonder!