Watching a 3-D movie can more than double the concentration powers and cognitive processing of children, new research claims.

A study by visual technology firm RealD and led by child psychologist Richard Woolfson and associate lecturer at Goldsmiths Patrick Fagan suggests that children aged between 7 and 14 experienced twice the cognitive processing speed and performed better in testing after watching 20 minutes of a 3-D film.

This is despite suggestions that attention spans in children have shortened in the last decade due to unlimited access to entertainment, including on-demand TV, gaming and social media.

A 2015 study claimed that watching 3-D content had a similar effect to brain-training exercises.

Consumer psychologist Fagan said that the increased stimulation found in watching something in 3-D “exercised” the brain and improved performance in the short term.

“3-D films can play the role of ‘brain-training’ games and help to make children ‘smarter’ in the short term,” he said.

“The shortening of response times after watching 3-D was almost three times as big as that gained from watching 2-D. In other words, 3-D helps children process aspects of their environment more quickly. This is likely to be because 3-D is a mentally stimulating experience which ‘gets the brain’s juices flowing.’”

The experiment saw children given a range of cognitive tests before watching 20 minutes of a movie in either 2-D or 3-D and being tested again. The results showed those who saw the 3-D content reacted faster and performed better in the second round of testing. Mental engagement also rose by 13 percent among 3-D watchers.

Child psychologist Woolfson added that “supportive parenting” and regularly listening to classical music can also aid a child’s memory.

“Children now expect to flit from activity to activity in a matter of seconds, leaving them struggling when they need to concentrate for longer, for instance, during a classroom learning experience.” he said.

一项新研究声称，观看3D电影可以让儿童的注意力和认知处理速度提升一倍多。视觉科技公司RealD开展了一项研究，领头人是儿童心理学博士理查德•伍尔夫森和金史密斯学院助理讲师帕特里克•费根。研究显示，7至14岁之间的孩子在观看20分钟3D电影后，认知处理速度提升一倍，在测试中的表现也更出色。

尽管一些迹象表明，在过去十年间，由于接触娱乐无节制，包括观看点播电视，玩电子游戏和使用社交媒体，儿童注意力的持续时间已经缩短了。2015年的一项研究声称，观看3D节目与大脑训练有相似的功效。

消费者心理学专家费根表示，观看3D节目增加的刺激“锻炼”了大脑，能在短期内提高大脑的表现。他说，“3D电影可以发挥 ‘大脑训练’游戏的作用，帮助儿童在短期内‘更聪明’。”

“观看3D节目后缩短的反应时间是观看2D节目后的近3倍；换言之，3D节目帮助儿童更迅速地对环境中的方方面面做出应对。这可能是因为3D节目会刺激大脑，‘让脑汁流动起来’。”

该实验先对儿童进行了一系列认知测试，在观看20分钟2D或3D电影后，再对他们测试一遍。结果显示，在第二轮测试中，观看3D节目的儿童反应更

快、表现更佳。此外，观看3D节目的儿童大脑活跃度提高了13%。

儿童心理学家伍尔夫森博士补充道，

“鼓励式教育”和经常听古典音乐也有助于提高儿童的记忆力。

“现在的孩子们常在数秒之间就从一个活动换到另一个活动，这导致他们在需要较长时间集中精神时感到煎熬，比如在教室上课。”(Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【刺激】cìjī stimulation any stimulating information or event

    【集中精神】jízhōng jīngshén concentrate bring all efforts, faculties, activities, etc., to bear on one thing or activity