Describes the adaptation and testing of a curriculum designed to mediate the effects of television. Curriculum included lessons on special effects, violence, commercials, audio and video aspects. Results of the testing indicate that children in kindergarten through second grade made significant gains in their knowledge of how television works. (PD)

Reviews studies of the relationship between television viewing and children's interest and achievement in reading; points out that the relationship is complex and that further research studies using more sophisticated measures of viewing and reading behavior need to be conducted before conclusions are made. (ET)

A study explored the means by which children apply knowledge of the television medium and of the real world in distinguishing among the levels of reality and fantasy presented on television. Fifty-four second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade children were presented with a series of paired (reality/fantasy) television shows. They were asked to choose…

While "Captain Planet and the Planeteers" has won numerous awards and is currently the number one rate household animated children's television program in the United States, the contradictions and complications of instilling environmental values in children through the medium of television are apparent. A content analysis of 15 episodes…

Using open-ended questions to elicit responses from 77 kindergarteners, 24 second graders, and 25 fifth graders in New York, an attempt was made to determine how children perceive the accuracy and the reality of television programs. The kindergarteners and second graders tended to restrict their observations to specific visual traits, while the…

Describes a study of fifth grade students' ability to process information from a play, and compares the results to related information from television research. (JC)

The Philadelphia City Schools engaged in a four-year program to develop and test dual audio television, a way to help children learn more from the massive amount of time they spend watching commercial television. The format consisted of an instructional radio broadcast that accompanied popular television shows and attempted to clarify and amplify…

The activities of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) for the Fiscal Year 1973, which ended June 30, 1973, are reported. An open letter from the president of CTW summarizes the Workshop's previous successes, its goals, and its financial situation and difficulties. Following this, the major elements of CTW's research and development laboratory…

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…

A study of 64 Canadian 7-12-year-olds and of adults who might influence their television viewing habits was made to measure the receptivity and acceptability of "Monkey Bars," a children's television program created as an alternative for Saturday morning viewing. A 50-minute composite tape of program segments was shown, after which…

To test the assumptions that children's perceptions of a news program affect their learning and that their perceptions are in turn affected by age and program context, a study was undertaken involving 435 third through seventh graders. The specific independent and perceptual variables examined were: believability, liking the story and program,…

Describes study of Israeli children in grades 4, 5, and 6, ages 9-12, that was conducted to test their perception of deceitful behavior in a situation comedy. The influence of television on children's perceptions of the world and on the acquisition of behavioral patterns is discussed, and understanding characters' motivations is examined. (27…

Six classes with 20 students per class participated in a study to determine the effects of television programing's stereotyped images on children's autonomy (independence of thought and action). Classes of first and second grade students and two classes of fifth grade students were the experimental groups, while the third and sixth grade classes…

Research assessing the impact of consistently negative motivations versus mixed negative and positive motivations for a televised character's aggressive behavior and the consequences on children's subsequent behavior is provided. This study is also reported in related document SO 008 573. Second and sixth graders viewed one of two edited versions…

The Philadelphia City Schools engaged in a four-year program to develop and test dual audio television, a way to help children learn more from the massive amounts of time they spend watching commercial television. The format consisted of an instructional radio broadcast which accompanied popular television shows and attempted to clarify and…