Examines the complex nature of pretense as portrayed in a popular UK children's television puppet show. Argues that animality of puppets is rendered opaque as their identities as children are linguistically accomplished, leading to a piece of representational art structured by moral and behavioral dictates typical of conventional adult-child…

Media Panel is a research program directed toward media habits, causes and effects of TV use among children and adolescents, and viewer/media interaction in general. Results of this longitudinal study from 1970 to the present are presented in three sections focusing on the early work of the group, the preschool panel, and the primary school panel.…

This report describes the first wave of a research project investigating both the mass media behavior of adolescents in size and character of consumption, and their relations with the TV content consumed. This longitudinal study examines 11- to 15-year-olds through the use of specially developed scales and other traditional measures. Included are…

Three myths about the cognitive processing of television and its effects on children and adults--television is a passive medium, viewing decreases creativity, and viewing is an addictive behavior--are discussed and compared with relevant research findings. (MBR)

Some 25-1/2 hours of Boston commercial television for children were monitored on a Saturday and Sunday in April 1975. The monitoring covered three network affiliated stations and two independent UHF stations. Monitoring, coding, and editing provided much statistical data, which was analyzed to yield findings in the areas of distribution of…

A study analyzed the programing and advertising matter in the after-school hours on independent commercial television stations unaffiliated with the major networks. These stations, primarily UHF, relied almost entirely on syndicated programing that is often reruns of former network programs. These programs draw large after-school audiences. By…

A proposal commissioned by the American Association for the Advancement of Science suggests a science programing group for U.S. public television with the mission of increasing the level of understanding of science by a large part of the public. It is proposed that programing be undertaken at WBGH-TV Boston for the entire Public Broadcasting…

Describes steps taken by the American Broadcasting Corporation to assess the public's reaction to "The Day After." Pre-broadcast activities included a literature review, consultation with child development specialists, viewer's guide development, focus group research, and recommendations regarding children's viewing. Post-broadcast…

The effect that television programs have on the socialization of children is examined. As traditional sources of socialization have declined, and children's viewing of television has dramatically increased, it is important to consider just what children are learning from television programs about the world and their place in it. A study of the…

In Japan, the production and broadcasting of television (TV) programs for children began in 1953. After the first few years of trial and error, children's programs gradually rose in popularity with the introduction of TV animation, dramas, special-effects photography, music/variety and quiz shows, comedies, and action dramas. Since the inception…

This report provides descriptive information on the research, demonstration, and evaluation programs of the Office of Child Development during fiscal year 1974. An overview describing the role, function, and long range goals of the Office of Child Development is presented. Specific research, demonstration, and evaluation projects (both…

Provides an overview of articles included in this issue that address automatic evaluation of public service announcements about AIDS that are aimed at high-risk, low-literacy individuals; how children construe television programs; the concept of quality in broadcasting; and the use of video for inservice teacher training. (LRW)

Discusses the role of television in constructing social reality and teaching children to participate in society, examining Israeli research on the role of television fiction and news in parent-child interactions. The article notes how family cultures affect the way television is incorporated into the socialization process in all households. (SM)