The Lone Ranger and Gangbusters were popular radio programs when I was a child. Such programs and the Superhero comic books that also emerged at that time were criticized for glorifying violence and diminishing the mental potential of young people—who adults thought should rather read a good book or go outside and play.

Films, television, videogames, and the Internet sparked similar rounds of criticism as they emerged. Each parental generation is seemingly convinced that the inane, violent, and sexual elements of the latest mass media format will mentally destroy and morally corrupt their passive, uncritical children. But they also believe that their own parents' similar concerns about inane and degenerate media were overstated. Today's parents thus sing along in nostalgia when they hear the Gilligan's Island theme, unconcerned about how inane it and similar shows of their youth actually were.

Some intriguing recent research disagrees with the conventional wisdom that contemporary mass media and videogames are destructive, arguing rather that current forms of electronic media actually enhance cognitive development. This two-part column will explore the issue. This month's column will focus on the relevant cognitive systems that process natural and electronic environments. Next month's column will describe and discuss the research on the positive and negative effects of contemporary electronic media on these brain systems.