Elaborates on the cultivation hypothesis: that heavy television viewers incorporate biases present in television content into their own constructions of reality. Suggests that the integration of discrete television events into social reality beliefs requires cognitive skills not available to or unused by younger children. (JMF)

Two underlying assumptions of the Cultural Indicators approach to television research were examined, using data on the television viewing habits of 76 second grade, 150 fifth grade, 509 eighth grade, and 350 eleventh grade students in Perth, Australia. The assumptions were that commercial television presented an organically composed total world of…