Compares American middle-class children, as representatives of heavy television viewers, and Israeli middle-class children, as representatives of lighter television viewers, to determine the extent to which accumulated television viewing enhances the development of particular mental skills. (PD)

States that television has been a "single-station medium" in Israel since 1968, and that cable television is a recent innovation for that country. Describes an experiment that compared houses with cable to ones without, and found that houses with cable had markedly different viewing habits. Concludes that these findings suggest a…

Cites evidence from an Israeli study which indicates that media effects on cognition interact with a child's initial level of skill mastery. (MH)

Analyzes the image of the elderly, those age 60 and over, presented on television programs imported to Israel. Older characters are presented as more independent but less effective; less liberal and more conformist; more "family-functional" and less beautiful; less able; less future-oriented; less clean and orderly; and less sexually…

Compares identical studies of the uses of leisure, culture, and communication in Israel in 1970 and 1990, to infer possible long-run effects of the introduction of television broadcasting. Finds a drop in attendance at "spectacles" of all kinds (whether theater or sports) and a rise in activities that are interactive, time flexible, and…