Articulation

1) My argument
Cartoons do not give a negative effect on the children's brain. Most people are full of prejudices about how cartoons implicate violence on children and give a bad effect on their mental growth. I want to show them through scientific evidences about brain development and information processing that cartoons do not influence children harmfully but actually beneficially and that cartoons are actually a good way of transferring information.


2) How I found my argument

My research question was "Are cartoons not harmful to the brain as much as people thought it to be or is it not harmful at all?" I recalled seeing some articles about how the cartoon 'Spongebob Squarepants' gave poor performance of simple tasks of children. So I found the article my self:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/watching-spongebob-makes-preschoolers-slower-thinkers-study-finds/story?id=14482447 This article helped me realize that this study is hard to generalize and its effects are contributed to the fast-changing scene and not the content of the cartoon. So I have found this article: http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1bdjas/sponsored_content_how_do_childrens_cartoons/
This article helped my argument become credible and able to refute my opponents. http://www.uic.edu.hk/~amyzhang/teaching/COMP3050/readings/McCloud_Understanding_Comics.pdf
This pdf file is a theoretical book about the artistical and medium-like feature of cartoons. From this site I found out how the brain percieve cartoons and how effective cartoon is at transferring information.


3) New research questions What do you still need to know? What is your research plan?

I need to know whether there is a long term research about the deterimental effects of fast-paced cartoons. Also I have to do additional research on the exact process of information absorbing from cartoons to the brain and on the positive effects of cartoons when they are watched by children currently on the phase of brain development.


4) Connections to the Harvard Sampler

The argument I have made is connected to the human mind section of the Harvard Sampler. How the brain is formed during childhood and how the fast-paced cartoons effect the brain is all about human brains.