In an article about IQ, I came across this:
Another study by the British psychologist Michael Shayer, of King's College, University of London, that looked at tests concerned with volume and heaviness, showed a marked reversal in geometric reasoning. In 2003 children of almost 12 years did as well as eight- or nine-year-olds in 1976. The biggest drop was in the performance of boys.
Shayer believes that boys today are less inclined to develop the 'differential play patterns' that previously accounted for their advantage over girls. In short, they have grown less prepared to explore further afield, to go beyond the comfort zone of their controlled environments. 'Presumably,' says Shayer, 'because they were looking at bloody computer games.'
Flynn thinks that computers can help with abstract cognitive skills, but, he warns, there is a price. 'They don't read, the little bastards,' he says of young people today. 'And I don't consider someone educated unless they can read Tolstoy or Plato.'
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