States that in an attempt to better understand the attributes of the "average" viewer, an analysis of data characterizing television nonviewers and extreme viewers was performed. Identifies a set of demographic variables as the strongest predictor of nonviewers and the combination of family-related and lifestyle/social activity-related…

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)

Tests the hypothesis that processing strategy moderates the effect of television viewing on social perceptions of undergraduate students (cultivation effect). Examines views on prevalence of crime, occupations, affluence, and marital discord. Indicates that processing strategy moderated the cultivation effect such that cultivation effects were…

Examines the relationship of preschool children's visual attention to the presence of 37 visual and auditory attributes of television programs. Attributes included the use of puppets, women, and children, auditory changes, peculiar voices, movement, cuts, sound effects, laughter, applause, adult male voices, extended zooms and pans, eye contact,…

Investigates the effects of various programing strategies, commonly employed by the television networks, on program popularity for children. Strategies include counterprograming by type, block programing by type, inheritance effects, starting time, program familiarity, and character familiarity. Confirms the effects of starting time and program…

Examines adolescents' television viewing motives, activities, and satisfaction, in an attempt to integrate the audience activity construct into the uses and gratifications model. Suggests that more strongly motivated viewers engage more actively in various audience activities throughout the viewing process and receive greater viewing satisfaction…

This study investigated Israeli adolescents' differential perceptions of social conflicts in the "real" world and in television news. Overall results suggest that, when asked to do so, adolescents are able to differentiate between the social conflicts and their symbolic representations in television news. (PD)

Examines whether errors in memory (specifically source confusions) contribute to the link between television viewing and social reality judgments. Finds that a manipulation of the visual similarity of the news and fictional programming affected subjects' tendency to make source confusions. (RS)

Investigates the cultivation hypothesis by testing two cognitive processes hypothesized to allow viewers to construct television-biased beliefs. Finds the basic cultivation result replicated, but neither process hypothesis was supported. (SR)

Investigates the possibility that television can evoke presence by showing 65 undergraduate students examples of rapid point-of-view movement from commercially available videotapes on a television with either a small or large screen. Finds that participants watching the large screen television thought the movement in the scenes was faster, enjoyed…

Measured children's identification with and perceived reality of television characters and children's rating of peers on 11 traits. Found, among other results, that identification with television characters was a significant predictor of the mean evaluation of peers, and that television viewing was a significant predictor of the variance in…

Tested the idea that exposure to television people could affect children's judgments of a real person introduced after watching television. Found that television can prime traits and provide a frame of reference for use in encoding new information about people. (PD)

Examines theoretical and methodological controversies identified with the cultivation explanation of the way television shapes perceptions of social reality. Finds that content-specific viewing is a more reliable predictor than total viewing or select viewer sociodemographic variables of the public's tendency to perceive attorneys in the same way…

Examines the relationship between victimization of characters in television drama and susceptibility to the viewers' cultivation of a sense of personal risk in the real world. Found that viewers whose fictional counterparts are more likely to be shown as victims show stronger associations between viewing and perceived vulnerability. (PD)

Examines current research on the role of television in children's learning. Assesses evidence that television can play a positive teaching role and suggests a model for evaluating television's impact on viewers. Concludes that current programing limits the positive effects of television on children's learning. (JMF)