TELEVISION WATCHING, NEWSPAPER READING, AND COHORT DIFFERENCES IN VERBAL-ABILITY

This study found that an intercohort decline in vocabulary at all or most educational levels in the United States in recent years was closely related to an intercohort decline in newspaper reading. The decline in newspaper reading, in turn, may have resulted largely from an increase in television watching, but other influences, such as those from women's increased participation in the labor force, seem to have been involved as well. Other types of reading apparently declined in tandem with newspaper reading, and thus differences in reading are the most promising explanation for differences in the verbal ability of the various cohorts.