Recently collected data appear to warrant advancing some tentative conslusions concerning the short-term effects of violence in television on children: 1) children are exposed to a substantial amount of violent content on television, and they can remember and learn from such exposure; 2) correlational studies have disclosed a regular association…

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.…

The U.S. Surgeon General's report on the effects of televised violence on children is discussed--how the report began, how it was compiled, and the results. The book concludes that broadcast media influence kept the most respected social scientist investigators of the subject off the Committee, and that the final results were distorted in the…

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…

The failure of television research to affect broadcast policy is attributed partially to its methodological inadequacies and its narrow audience. Research tends not to take into account such variables as the program selection behavior itself, the natural viewing context, and other non-content influences. Existing research suggests that television…

Analyzes research in the area of children and the media and concludes that there is no support for the hypothesis that research questions relating to the subject are cyclical and follow a predictable pattern with the introduction of each new medium into the social system. (FL)

Until the 1960's, the prevailing view within the scientific community was that television was a relatively unimportant influence, but studies have shown that television does have an important effect on the behavior of its viewers, particularly aggressive behavior. Consequently, recent research has focused on the role of television in the…

Discusses hypotheses (facilitation, inhibition, and no-effect hypotheses) explaining television's influence on children's development of reading skills. Surveys and discusses empirical research on this complex relationship and evaluates the utility of the five research approaches used in the past. (SR)

Highlights differences between cause-effect and interactive research models that are used to explain television's effects on children. Proposes a schema theory of comprehension and learning that (1) acknowledges the child's prior knowledge, (2) considers television viewing as active communication, and (3) emphasizes critical and literate viewing…

Identifies nine motivations for television viewing and relates these to age, viewing levels, television attitudes of attachment and reality, and program preferences. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of uses and gratifications research perspectives. (JMF)

Examines major issues and problems for research on television and its effects on children through a critical discussion of Cullingford's book, "Children and Television," which focuses on ways in which children learn and what they learn from television. (MBR)

Using a new telephone-observation methodology which permitted low-cost observation of home television viewing behaviors, this study examined how families use home television, parental involvement in their children's television viewing, and families' educational use of home television. Following initial calls to 2,922 household phones, a total of…

This paper identifies limitations of previous investigations of the relation between televised violence and viewer aggression and suggests a framework for future research concerning the effects of media viewing on child development. It is suggested that typical research is short-term, cross-sectional, and laboratory-based. Factors which mediate…

The bibliography on analyses of television programing provided in this paper indicates the types of content analyses that have been conducted on television programing over much of the last 30 years. Compiled after a review of relevant books and the back issues of "Journal of Communication,""Journal of Broadcasting," and "Journalism Quarterly," the…

Examines the claim that television does not actively involve the viewer cognitively in ways usually associated with mature information processing. Study is described that suggests active and differential processing of television information by viewers and an increase in the level of sophistication in understanding the medium. Twenty-six references…