The purpose of this study was to investigate various textual characteristics of popular children television shows. More specifically, researchers examined both the quantity and quality of question asked (i.e., question training). Furthermore, several readability components among the different shows (e.g., narrativity, syntactic simplicity,…

This study examined children's media use (i.e., amount of television and Internet usage) and relationships to children's perceptions of societal threat and personal vulnerability. The sample consisted of 90 community youth aged 7 to 13 years (M = 10.8; 52.2% male) from diverse economic backgrounds. Analyses found children's television use to be…

This report, the fourth in a series of six reports on television advertising and children, describes attitudes toward children's television advertising held by industry executives, government officials, and consumer critics. The accuracy with which each group perceives the positions of the other parties involved is also assessed. Data were…

Investigates the relationship between the moment-to-moment occurrence of selected visual and auditory formal features of a prosocial cartoon and two aspects of information processing (visual attention and comprehension). Subjects, 128 White kindergarten and third- to fourth-grade children, were equally distributed by sex and age and viewed the…

Surveys children and parents to examine children's active, conscious cognitive processing of television program information during home viewing. Finds that children's mental effort investment varies as a function of viewer age and the type of program being viewed. (SR)

Present the results of a study conducted to determine the correlation between children's selection of television programs and aggression. The regression analysis suggests that the relationship between viewing and aggression may be attributable to selective exposure rather than the reverse viewing-causes-aggression sequence. (Author/JVP)

Describes past television research on children related to imagination and vocabulary, visual and verbal processes, and TV exposure and reading; and recommends that television be used with discretion, with other modes of information and entertainment--especially books--becoming a habitual part of a child's life. (CMV)

Presents a taxonomy of formal features of television and examines ways in which these features are used in current productions for children. Coding categories for formal features include action, pace, visual events, and auditory features. Concludes that commercial producers stress formal features as much or more than content. (PD)

Discusses children as television viewers capable of manipulating the co-viewing setting by interpreting, constructing, and carrying out planned lines of play in relation to television and its content. Examples illustrate program-oriented and free-form improvisational play situations. (JMF)

Partially supports hypothesis that children viewing a commercial television drama in which effective interpersonal relations are emphasized will show greater amounts of cooperation subsequent to viewing than will children not exposed to such a presentation and more than children exposed to a presentation stressing noncooperative behavior. (SW)

Analyzes usage of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs during two recent television seasons. Alcohol predominated, accounting for more than two-thirds of all coded substance acts. More than two acts of alcohol use were found per hour in each season. The middle class and comic characters did the heavier drinking. (Author/BEF)

Investigates how the presence of cable television affects parental mediation of television viewing. Finds that children whose homes have cable are exposed to more R and PG movies than their noncable counterparts. Finds little differences in mediation behaviors across pay, basic, and noncable environments. (RS)

Assessed children of three age groups (4-5, 6-7, and 8-10) on reality/fantasy distinction and story-schema development after viewing episode of "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers." Found that only oldest children could make clear distinction between reality and fantasy, and that older children showed mastery of other study variables: memory…

Studies investigating selected aspects of children's television viewing are described and the findings are used as the basis of a theoretical formulation in which young children's television viewing is seen as a transactional process similar to other normal information processing activities. According to this formulation, the child's motivation to…

This paper discusses the rationale for a cross-cultural (Israeli-American) study of the cognitive effects of the television media on children. The overall purpose of the study are: (1) to examine the extent to which exposure to television has an effect on children's mastery of cognitive skills; and (2) to examine the extent to which activities of…