(AP) -- The character that lives under the sea could be dragging down your child's ability to learn. Another study is suggesting links between attention problems in young children and their TV watching habits.

The latest study finds that watching just nine minutes of the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants can cause attention and learning problems in 4-year-olds.

The problems were seen in a study of 60 children randomly assigned to either watch "SpongeBob," or the slower-paced PBS cartoon "Caillou" or assigned to draw pictures.

Immediately after these nine-minute assignments, the kids took mental function tests and those who had watched "SpongeBob" did measurably worse than the others. The new study suggests more immediate problems can occur after very little exposure, especially to fast-paced programming like SpongeBob.

Experts say kids' developing brains don't have enough time to process fast-paced shows.

"These children's brains were actually tired from all that stimulation and they weren't as able to then focus the way they otherwise would be able to," explained Dr. Dimitri Christakis from Seattle Children's Research Inst. 

Another expert warns the size of the study is small and should be interpreted cautiously.  If you'd like to read more, the full study can be found in the Journal Pediatrics.

The typical preschooler watches two to four hours of telelvision a day. 

Do you think Spongebob is causing a learning problem in children or is he getting a bad rap? Tell us "Your Point of View" by voting in the poll below and leaving your comments.

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