Reviews multichannel learning research to find the best ways to combine audio and video in television to improve learning, and summarizes the research findings into principles for instructional television production. Highlights include the effects of redundancy on learning and on audience attention, message clarity, and problems in instructional…

Examines the impact of six years (1981-1987) of television deregulation by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Contends that the FCC's rule deletions have altered economic relations among segments of the television industry and its users, and discusses effects on the future of "free" television. (MS)

Identifies the cognitive skills necessary for children to accurately comprehend projective size on television. Traces the acquisition of these skills and identifies the role of media experience in facilitating comprehension by assessing the extent to which different types of television fare require the use of different cognitive skills. (MS)

Discusses a model of television interpretation processes regarding the influences of alcohol advertising and describes a study that tested the model with preadolescent at-risk students. Highlights include perceptions of alcohol use at home and on television; social norms; perceived realism of commercials; and intent to drink. (41 references) (LRW)

Describes a study of undergraduates that was designed to assess the independent and interactive effects of emotional arousal and emotional valence on viewers' cognitive capacity and memory for television messages. Highlights include emotional processing and memory, emotion and cognitive capacity, pretests and posttests, and hypotheses tested.…

Describes a telephone survey that investigated differences in information needs during the viewing of serious news programs (i.e., The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour) versus routine news (i.e., network news). Topics discussed include the role of the news media; types of television news; and television news program effects. (43 references) (LRW)

Discussion of children's comprehension of television focuses on a study in the United Kingdom that examined whether a successful course of television literacy could be developed for use with students from 5 to 12 years old. Treatments of experimental and control groups are explained, and correlations to other media are examined. (29 references)…

Studies sexual morality in one year of programing of the soap opera "All My Children." Reconceptualizes definitions of inappropriate sexual behavior to deemphasize marital status. Examines use of force in sexual contact. Finds that men, often heroes, engage in and are rewarded for aggressive sexual behavior in spite of women's protests.…

Considers television viewing practices during special events. Examines how audiences organize around such programing and whether this organization changes the understanding of audience connectiveness. Considers connectiveness and privatization in conjunction with conceptions of the public sphere, reviews literature on media events, and applies…

Examines the characteristics of school television programs used in British primary schools in light of attainment targets for the National Curriculum. Describes four case studies that investigated what made the programs a useful teaching and learning aid and how they influenced students' reactions and facilitated their learning from the programs.…

Concluded that (1) reliance on television news correlated negatively with knowledge of issues; (2) reliance on newspapers did not correlate at all; (3) focused television news correlated more highly with knowledge of issues than did general television news use; and (4) for newspapers, both focused and general use had strong correlations with…

Reviews research into children's use of television and discusses two studies, one from the United States and one from West Germany, that focus on media in families. A study currently being completed is also described that examines the effect of cable television on children's and adolescents' media use in Austria. (LRW)

Discusses how critics of 60 Minutes have tried to account for the meaning of the popular news show. Argues that embedded in its news is the power of metaphor and formula to both transform and deform experience, to secure a middle ground for audiences, and to build unified meanings in and for a pluralistic culture. (JK)

Describes a 1981 study that compared uses of U.S. television by foreign children residing in the United States and American children in light of theories of acculturation, cultivation, and uses and gratifications. Children's television viewing is discussed, research methodology is described, and results are analyzed. (22 references) (Author/LRW)

Reports that children recalled equal amounts of information from male and female newscasters and there was no interaction between sex of newscaster and sex-stereotypic story content. (FL)