Your Kid’s Brain, SpongeBob-ed

When Mindless TV is Too Hard to Follow

SpongeBob SquarePants is not the sharpest sponge in the ocean, despite his angularity. In fact it’s his amiable cluelessness that probably endears him to a large segment of American TV viewers, who appear to be sustaining a robust market for T-shirts and toddler sippy cups blaring out his bright yellow spongey self.

But just because SpongeBob is a bit bumbling, don’t assume that watching SpongeBob takes no brains. There are some real cognitive challenges involved. Scenes switch every 11 seconds on average. What we see isn’t labeled or explained, nor does …