Ambitious parents eager to cram Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy down their child’s throat at the earliest opportunity should pause for thought.
Scientists found that reading may not have any significant effect on a child’s intelligence past the age of seven or eight. Even among five-year-olds the amount of time dedicated to books is only linked to better scores on a few cognitive skills.
The study did show that spending more time on reading and using computers was likely to be more beneficial than watching television.
Psychologists in Finland and the US recruited 381 American children between the ages of five and 12. Their parents filled out questionnaires detailing how much time the children spent consuming various forms of media.
The researchers then took each