Assesses the variable amounts of attention that are required for a viewer to process two kinds of interruptions common to television: the shift from one message to a different, unexpected message; and the reference to previously presented material. Interprets results in terms of limited capacity and attentional inertia models of attention. (RS)

A study assessed the variable amounts of attention that are required for a viewer to process two kinds of interruptions that commonly occur in television: the shift from one message to a different, unexpected message; and the reference to previously presented material that follows an interruption. Twenty-six subjects recruited from an…

Tests the proposition that message structure (cuts) affects attention to television differently, depending on whether the cuts link related or unrelated content. Finds cuts in unrelated sequences require more attention than cuts in related sequences. (NH)

The influence of story schema development on children's attention to television and memory of program content was examined in a study that involved two separate testing sessions. The expectation was that maximum effort would be given to program elements most central to comprehension of a television story and that this allocation strategy would be…