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Reports medical developments in Great Britain as of March 1977. Campaign against violence in television and its effects on children; Assessment of Civil Aviation Authority on fatal accident rate; Details on the wearing of seatbelt of pregnant women while driving.

Presents adaptations of conversations with `Family Ties' creator Gary David Goldberg and `Machine Dreams' author Jayne Anne Phillips, who ponder the effect of television on the imagination of the young. Includes excerpted portions from Phillips' books, `Black Tickets' and `Machine Dreams.'

Vague quantifiers, terms like 'quite a bit' and 'hardly ever', are often used in the response scales of psychology and social science questionnaires to measure the frequency of certain behaviours. However, responses to such questions are confounded because people differ in their interpretations of vague quantifiers. We propose that people interpret vague quantifiers by construction a notion of how most people behave. Examining a critical topic for media researchers—estimating the amount of television watched—we conducted two split-ballot experiments in national surveys. Our first study (n = 1028) demonstrates that the amount people think other people watch varies according to how much television they watch themselves and the behaviour of their social group. Our second experiment (n = 1106) extends this result to the interpretation of vague quantifiers. These findings shed light on the psychological processes involved when interpreting vague quantifiers, and bring into question the validity of many survey results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments were conducted on edited TV newscast sequences to clarify effects of film accompaniment on learning from heard news text. In Experiment 1, 150 British subjects viewed a sequence with either film format throughout or alternating film and 'talking head' format between items. Those items that were presented by 'talking heads' in the mixed sequence were learned better with format, in which the heard text was accompanied by appropriate moving pictures. However, no effect of uniform context was found on the remaining items. In Experiment 2.91 German subjects viewed one of four versions of a bulletin, one with 'talking head', one with film throughout, the other two having complementary mixed-format patterns. Besides confirming a beneficial effect of film presentation over 'talking head' which accords with the findings of all studies of teaming from material in the form of national network newscasts, the results showed an impairing effect of uniform visual format. This can explain 'contradictory' findings. notably with atypical test material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assumes the effective management of the technologies of communication to be the problem of the last quarter of the twentieth century and that the future will be vastly more surprising than anything. A new era in urban and rural communication is marked. With dazzling speeds it will influence the major social and political decisions of daily public lives. One's views of himself and others will be greatly changed by the emerging communication technologies. The problems of urban communication are unlike any communication problems before this time. The acceleration of change in urban communities is the most amazing aspect of the twentieth century. Modern technology destroys one's ability to define communication with one's work. Instead people communicate, frequently without substance, either personally or intellectually.

Reports on the effect of television viewing on the development of mental health in the U.S. Relevance of stress on mental health; Possible therapeutic value of television in the maintenance of mental health; Ability to alter negative emotional state.

Evaluates the information content of television commercials directed to children in the U.S. Types of information attributes used in determining if a commercial is informative or non-informative; Relation of the decline of the information value of commercials with the shift of television programming to children's orientation; Comparison of the information content between children's television commercial and commercials broadcast in other dayparts.

Analyzes the extent to which motivation to watch entertainment and public affairs programming. Use of dimensional analysis to scrutinize the patterns of relationships or motivational structures associated with the programs; Basis for evaluating the degree of similarity between both kinds of programming; Implications of the results of the study for the strategies adopted by television networks in changing programming aimed at attracting specific viewers.

Compares the perception between schizophrenic-labeled and non-labeled persons toward television reality. Consideration of the magic window dimension as the extent to which the viewer believes that television portrayals of events, settings and characters exist in reality; Emphasis of social expectations with the perceived similarity of TV portrayals to the viewer's own social and physical environment; Differentiations between TV families and TV police programs; Potential of television to be a therapeutic use within the mental health institution.

The article cites a study on the television (TV) viewing habits of families in New Zealand. The study involved the daily viewing routines of eight families and combined the data gathered after post-observational family interviews. The study intended to match various TV programmes to the actual family contexts, in which these programmes are consumed. The author inferred that TV viewing practices could either be episodic, interrupted, or generally lacking in attentive concentration, and that commercial breaks only serve as a reminder of the erratic family viewing habits. A textual analysis of three TV programmes, including "Sale of the Century," "Foreign Correspondent," and "One World of Sport: Nissan Rugby Special," and the combined analysis of the family TV viewing habits are discussed.

Focuses on a study which assessed the influence of gender on patterns of parent interaction with children regarding television viewing. Method; Results; Discussion.

Focuses on a study which compared how low and high verbally aggressives differ in the television sitcoms they watch. Method; Results; Discussion.

Deals with study which analyzed antisocial acts in television programs. Method; Results; Discussion.

This study examines sixth through tenth graders' open-ended responses to television's influences on their lives. Results suggest that there is little evidence of clearcut positive or negative interpretations of the medium's influences. Students identified a wide variety of both positive and negative effects of the medium, demonstrating a multifaceted understanding of the role of the medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Presents case studies on three young adolescents situated in their home, neighborhood, school, and peer cultures, and analyzes their uses and interpretation of television; Methodology used to deter qualitive difference in everyday learning within television cultures; Examination of constructing portraits by the use of individual experience and interpretations; Discussion on the images portrayed by adolescents.

Background: Paracetamol self-poisoning, which carries a significant risk of fatal liver damage, is increasing in the UK, especially among adolescents. There is concern that media portrayal of suicidal behaviour may influence its occurrence. We have investigated the effects of two broadcasts of a television drama showing a teenage girl's overdose of paracetamol.Method: Data from the Oxford Monitoring System for Attempted Suicide were used to examine changes in the number of overdoses and the use of paracetamol in the three week period before and after both broadcasts. An analysis of log-linear models was carried out, using additional data from two previous years, in order to control for the effects of gender, age group, time period, season, year and drug. A questionnaire was used to ascertain whether the programme had influenced patients' decisions to take an overdose or their choice of drug.Results: An increase in paracetamol overdoses occurred following the first broadcast, but when data from the two previous years were examined and the log-linear analysis was used there was no evidence of significant effects attributable to the broadcasts. The questionnaire study revealed that very few people had seen either episode, and only two claimed that it had influenced them (one in terms of getting help).Conclusions: It is important to use sound methodology to avoid interpreting chance fluctuations as a media effect. The potential positive benefits of such programmes should also be investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compares the relationship between reading and cognitive processing of television and radio. Administration of a battery of memory and comprehension tests; Lack of correlation of performance in the television and reading conditions; Similarity of absolute levels of performance in television and reading conditions.

Studies the relationship between visual attention and comprehension of a television program in children. Description of the tests conducted; Effects of presence of toys on children's comprehension of the television program; Correlations between visual attention and comprehension; Factors affecting children's comprehension of television programs.

The article presents an attempt to place the Edinburgh International Television Festival in the context of developing work on television, and to draw out for a theory of television some of the implications of what emerged and what was repressed. It attempts to propose some kind of auto-critique of the nature of the opposition which was offered to the dominant structure and ideology of the event. It also formulates a basis for future strategies of intervention in television. It argues that intervention should not be thought simply as oppositional, intervening in a monolithic institution, or even a monolithic festival, but also should be seen as establishing grounds for productive theoretical work within institutions, within theoretical practice itself.

The authors analyze some of the assumptions underlying most current research on television. They emphasize the dependence on (1) an individual rather than an institutional level of analysis; (2) a model of research utilization that pays little explicit attention to where sources of leverage lie for changes in programming; (3) extremely simple models of the selection processes associated with different levels of television viewing; and (4) uncritical appraisals of the consequences of effects that many would call small or modest. These issues are illustrated by a general discussion of the NIMH report on Television and Behavior and specific discussion of "mainstreaming" and the effects of television violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A household survey utilizing a quasi-experimental design was undertaken to assess the impact of the TV movie, The Day After, on a number of psychologically and politically important variables such as the salience of the issue of nuclear war and individuals' beliefs about the efficacy of their own political actions in helping to prevent such a war. Respondents were initially surveyed 2 weeks prior to the movie's airing and were resurveyed afterwards. Contrary to the impression conveyed by reports of a number of public opinion polls, which focussed on attitudes toward government policies, we found that The Day After and the surrounding controversy had a substantial impact on many dimensions including the salience of nuclear war, feelings of personal efficacy, affect related to the idea of a nuclear war, intentions to engage in anti-nuclear behavior, estimates of the probability that a nuclear war would occur, and beliefs about the likelihood and desirability of survival. Two general conclusions emerged. First, many of the effects occurred for the entire sample rather than only for those who watched the film, suggesting that the widely publicized controversy that surrounded the movie contributed to its impact. Second, reactions appeared to be depressive in nature. Compared to the pre-airing responses, the post-airing survey found more passive affective reactions to the idea of nuclear war, decreased estimates of the chances of survival, a decreased desire to survive, and a decreased sense of personal efficiacy. Nonetheless, respondents, especially those who watched The Day After, were more likely to intend to engage in antinuclear war activities after the film than before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an experiment conducted testing Armstrong and Greenberg's (1990) model of the effect of background television on cognitive performance, as it applies to reading comprehension and memory. Subjects completed a cued-recall test of the content of an expository prose passage read under quiet conditions or concurrently with the presence of one of two types of television content. Method; Results; Discussion.

Investigates whether different levels of attention to the visual and auditory modalities is a result of selective attention to a particular television modality. Proposition of the multiple resource theory; Manipulation of selective attention; Modality with the most information; Viewers' instructed focus; Measurement of reaction times to cues in each modality.

Studies the use of television to relieve stress. Relation between stress and television addiction; Relationship between stress and the type of television programs viewed; Time-lapse video recordings of adults' television viewing.

Discusses the application of the multiple resource theory to television viewing. Limitedness of the necessary resources in comprehending television; Use of resources by attention, meaning-level processing and memory tasks; Use of different symbol systems by television's auditory and visual modalities; Meaningful information in the auditory or visual modality; Levels of redundancy by television programs.

Discusses variations in visual and verbal memory for television messages as a function of the message's emotional valence. Testing of variations at the encoding and recall stages of processing; Proposal of laterized state of emotional processing; Significance of the amount of visual or verbal information that is encoded; Ambiguity of results at retrieval stage.

scoPresents a study that conceptualizes the cultivation effect or the effect of television viewing on the construction of social reality in terms of the accessibility of information in memory. Social reality research on psychological process; The notions of construct accessibility and its influence; Information about availability heuristics; Hypotheses and methods of the study; Results and discussion of the study; Conclusion and limitation of the study.

Two studies of thoughts in relation to viewing of expository television programs are presented. In one study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 subjects immediately after watching a program about acid pollution of the environment. In the other study, 62 subjects answered a questionnaire in writing after watching a program about natural science. Comprehension as well as thoughts were measured in both studies. The expository programs gave rise to a good number of thoughts, which were classified into different categories. The studies show a close relationship between comprehension and thoughts and demonstrate that viewers can be engaged in deep cognitive activities by expository television discourse. Further, different reception profiles among the viewers were found, which correlated closely with topicrelevant previous knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soap operas constitute the most popular form of daytime television. Students are a large portion of the soap opera audience. The reasons for high student interest are unclear, however. The present investigation uses expectancyvalue theory to untangle student perceptions of soap opera viewing, and it weaves these perceptions into the broader fabric of social psychological forces behind viewing levels. Among other things, the study indicates that desires for learning and romantic fantasy play little role in determining student exposure levels, whereas anticipated entertainment and social interaction are powerful expectations. Affective and cognitive factors mediate the effects of these expectations, however. Self-concept also plays a major role in determining exposure levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the processing costs of watching television messages. Index of processing costs with a secondary task reaction time measure; Psychological cost of viewing television; Introduction of a measure of covert mental processing that does not depend on self-reports by viewers or inferences made from the ability to recall content.

Reports on a study carried out to look at the role of the television, and the effect that it has on its viewers. What are the feelings that are experienced when in closer contact to a television set; Methods used to carry out study; When technologies become specialized.

Explores the possible impact of visual and auditory narrative structure on television viewers' processing and memory. Nature of narrative; Narrative presentation of information; Researches on narrative structure and memory; Storage of information in a narrative form.

Focuses on the study of television viewers' subjective experiences prior to a night of heavy and light television viewing. Method used in the study; Results of the study; Conclusion drawn from the results.

Focuses on research concerned with the concept of catharsis in relation to television viewing and fantasy. Definition of catharsis; Relationship between catharsis, fantasy and aggression; Correlation between television viewing and fantasy; Postulates on the interdependence between catharsis, television viewing and fantasy.

The article presents an examination of existing ideas and theories about television's effects as they are presented in the research literature, as claimed by the press and as gathered in extensive interviews of a non-directive kind with viewers and non-viewers. The investigation was to be limited to London, England and it began in 1953. The study tests theories postulating that television affects certain mental states and processes. The main theory within this system was that there has been a loss through television of identification with or concern for those interests about which viewers were formerly oriented. The second central theory that television's direct treatment, in its programmes, of various interests has not made up the loss hypothesized in the first theory. The first two theories postulate changes in identification. Identification is a motivational concept implying that an object or activity has a positive valence for people. The study of television's effects upon interests would be incomplete if it did not deal with the behavioral expression of the identification.

Recent studies have shown that children in homes with television (TV) spend very considerable amounts of time watching TV programs. The article explores the impact of TV on children and consequences related to the evolution of television, such as, effects of this massive exposure to a new mass medium on developing personality of a child; on relationships within the family; and on social interaction among children. The study is based upon "open-ended" interviews with 332 mothers of school children in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The sample was confined to families with children between ages of four and seventeen. Mothers were asked to describe any problems which arise in their homes in connection with television, and to discuss how these problems have been handled. The sample includes both families which have television and families which do not. For comparing the typical activities of television children with those of non-television children, these groups were matched with respect to age, sex, and socio-economic status. Some of the findings are presented here. Ownership of television in Cambridge is clearly related to the family's income, education, and occupation. Professional people are not buying TV because they do not like the programs and are apprehensive about its effect on their children. Bedtime is a fairly serious problem for TV parents, and children in TV homes go to bed later than children of the same age in homes without TV. As compared with other activities at home, TV is absorbing, contrary to some claims, children do not spend more time with children of their own age once they have television.

The article offers a look at the effect of screen media on children. Studies that utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) found that screen media affects brain activity. They revealed that initial exposure to media with violent content increases short-term aggression and later leads to anti-social behavior. The use of mindfulness in treating psychiatric illnesses is also discussed. INSETS: CHECK POINTS;CASE VIGNETTE.

In this era of social television, we see not only the content of online videos but also how many other viewers are viewing them and how they are reacting to them. Do these metrics about audience size and opinion affect our own reactions? And, does it matter where these viewers are geographically located? We investigated these questions by first proposing a typology of audience cues based on size, opinion, and identity, and then testing the effects of each of these cues through a 2 (frequency metric: high number of viewers vs. low number) x 3 (evaluative metric: positive comments vs. negative comments vs. no comment control) x 2 (distance metric: low distance vs. high distance) between-subjects experiment (N = 410). We discovered that view counters and comments affect media enjoyment through perceptions of audience size and collective opinion respectively. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. • Responses of other audience members affect our enjoyment of digital media content. • New typology of audience metrics for social television—size, comments and identity. • Negative comments affect perceived crowd opinion and indirectly reduce enjoyment. • High view counters affect perceived crowd size and indirectly increase enjoyment. • Audience metrics have an effect on enjoyment regardless of audience location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]