Argues that the popular view of the superiority of literacy over television is incorrect. Reviews literature contradicting the popular view, analyzes demands television makes on viewer/auditor, emphasizes that children's purposes for viewing influence the amount of mental effort they invest, and discusses implications for school and home use of…

Classified primary students in India into light, moderate, and heavy television viewers (controlling for socioeconomic status) and assessed them for either academic performance or cognitive skills, using various instruments. Found no significant differences among groups, but light viewers performed significantly better on oral reading; results may…

Concludes that television viewing produces brainwave patterns much like those of other waking-state activities and that it is neither predominately an alpha nor a right-brain activity. (FL)

Presents results of a study in rural Alaska to assess effects of commercial television, installed in 1977, on the Inupiat Eskimo group and the Tlingit and Haida Indians. Predictor variables included age, sex, culture area, and amount of television watched. Results indicated no major effects of television by itself on cognitive abilities. (SA)