Embedded Files
Children all over the world scoff at their parents when they tell them that watching television shows makes them less smart. But beware: new scientific research conducted by a PRISMS student proves that for once, the parents are right!
SpongeBob SquarePants, a famous television show about a sea sponge named SpongeBob and a starfish named Patrick, revolves around these characters’ journeys capturing jellyfish and going on adventures when not working at the restaurant, The Krusty Krab. The major comedic part of SpongeBob is the stupidity of the two main characters, who, for example, are unable to even tell the difference between animals like elephants and giraffes. Therefore, many parents do not allow their children to watch this show for fear of them becoming like SpongeBob and Patrick, namely their low IQs.
To test this hypothesis, I conducted an experiment with six students at PRISMS, by asking them to take an IQ test (https://memorado.com/iqtest). After this, I recorded the students’ scores anonymously and played to them the same compilation of SpongeBob. One problem with this is that the video was only a little less than three minutes long, while one episode of SpongeBob SquarePants is about 25 minutes long. Therefore, it is possible that the clip did not have the same effect on the students as watching a full episode of the show. Afterwards, the students took another IQ test (https://www.123test.com/iq-test/).
Some people complained that this test was more difficult than the previous one, though, which may have skewed the data. One possibility, though, is that the test seemed more difficult due to the SpongeBob clip they viewed. Additionally, it is possible that, since this test was timed, it may have added to the pressure of getting a high score, therefore, lowering the test results by making the students anxious. Lastly, this test had a different way of scoring, because it provided a range instead of one definite number. To combat this issue, I used consistency by using the highest number of the range for all the students.
Through all of these issues, the scientific method was used by following the steps in order: an observation was made that many parents do not allow their children to watch SpongeBob SquarePants. Then, a hypothesis was created that SpongeBob lowers the IQs of children when they watch it, which was then tested after experiments. The results showed that this hypothesis was indeed correct. In fact, in one case, the IQ of a student dropped by 14 points, which is not that substantial, but it was the largest change amongst the group. The smallest change was of five points, which shows that it may have been SpongeBob SquarePants that lowered the IQ or other factors, such as the ones aforementioned. Therefore, the data shows that watching SpongeBob SquarePants does indeed lower the IQ scores of students, although a more extensive experiment is needed in order to finalize the data.
Report abuse