In his article, Watching TV Makes You Smater, Steven Johnson argues that instead of decreasing the brain function of its viewers, modern television is instead increasing cognitive brain function, thus making participants smarter. Mr. Johnson goes on to explain the Sleeper Curve theory to his audience. This hypothesized learning curve suggests that modern viewers demand more of television programs, and push to interact and involve themselves in the intricate movements of plot and theme within today's programs.
Personally, I feel that Mr. Johnson, in his attempt to answer the question of whether or not humans are getting dumber, incorrectly identifies a pre-existing characteristic of the human learning and preservation process as a new method of learning and development.
All species have come to understand that they must observe and adapt in order to preserve the continuation of their species. Learning to corretcly identify emotions and motives, and committing behavioral patterns to memory to formulate a pattern for predicting outcomes (or what Mr. Johnson is proposing modern television enables viewers to do) is a device humans have had for centuries. Modern television has simply become the newest classroom in which it can be observed and tested.
In short, while I feel that Mr. Johnson has a good point (that modern television allows viewers to actively participate in the watching process), I feel that it is a well known one, not a revolutionary, scientific thought.
It may be that he's articulating and defining the idea as it applies to modern pop culture; sure, cognitive psychologists know all about cognitive development, but for the most part, people haven't believed that pop culture was in any way good for your brain the way he's arguing.
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