tv and little children...

all this from friends:

put two empty, identical beakers in front of a 4 year old. fill them to the same level. ask him, "which one has more liquid?" he will say they have the same amount.

in front of the 4 year old, empty one beaker into a long flat container. empty the other into a tall skinny container. ask him, "which one has more liquid?" he will say the tall one has more.

point to a dog, and ask the child, "what kind of animal is that?" he will say it's a dog.

put a cat mask on the dog and ask the child the same question. he will say it's a cat.

cable television subscription rates are highly correlated with autism, controlling for other factors. precipitation is another highly correlated factor: more tv is watched when it's rainy out.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1548682,00.html
http://www.slate.com/id/2151538