Indicates that prime-time television presents a remarkably consistent portrayal of the world across program genres and that it offers few scheduling alternatives to avoiding violence-laden adventure programs. Finds that the average viewer has little opportunity to exercise any kind of choice in viewing. (JD)

Indicates that (1) less affluent, less educated, and divorced and separated respondents are more inclined than others to watch television to avoid the negative moods that often coincide with solitude and unstructured time; and (2) personality dispositions and internal states are more likely to dictate media use than vice versa. (JD)

Analyzes some of the most frequent deceptive interactions as rendered through case histories of male con artists and their victims taken from police records. Discusses the recurrent elements in both the con-games strategies and victims' way of interpreting those strategies. (JMF)

Explores how adolescents process information in making decisions about risk behavior. Explains two developmental aspects of adolescent egocentrism: personal fable and imaginary audience, along with individual difference variables. Concludes the deep elaboration message was partially effective in changing message perceptions and adolescents'…

Indicates that younger married couples were both more communicative and satisfied than younger cohabiting couples or older married or cohabiting couples. Suggests that verbal and sexual communication practices of intimates are influenced more by their chronological age than by whether they are married or cohabiting. (JD)

Describes the historical context of a systems approach to the family; defines basic systems concepts with emphasis on their application to the family; and describes some axioms of human communication theory and the role they play in understanding family communication from a systems viewpoint. (PD)

Data analysis from television-viewing surveys suggests that people are not "glued to the box." Rather, the level of repeat-viewing of television--about 60 percent--suggests that television fills the gap between other activities and that the reason people watch television is that they have "so much time to kill." (PD)

Reports on a study designed to test whether or not individuals ingesting alcohol will be less affected by persuasive messages than individuals in a normal state. (PD)

Reports on observations of interpersonal touching behavior patterns among residents of homes for the elderly. Analyzes behavior for Blacks and Whites, males and females, in terms of who initiates touching and parts of the body touched and used for touching. (JMF)

Reveals that 46% of the time with television was spent in some activity instead of or in addition to looking at the TV. Notes that social interaction was the most common nonviewing activity for all viewers, followed by playing and eating for children and reading for adults. Considers how nonviewing behaviors occurred most often during programming…

Explores the argument that television exemplifies the production and reflection of surplus value and that watching, as an activity, reflects the organization of human labor in the economy as a whole. Develops the basis for a materialist theory of the advertising-supported media industries in advanced industrial societies. (JD)

Presents a study demonstrating that aid-giving by children is predicated by nonverbal displays of submission emitted by the child under attack, and that although the children observing the episodes respond to the displays, the aggressor ignores them. (JMF)

Suggests that violent activities occur not because of reduced self-control, but because cognitive skills and self-control are used through moral justifications and self-exonerative devices in the service of destructive causes. Threats to human welfare are generally brought about by deliberate acts of principle rather than by unrestrained acts of…

Discusses four propositions about television viewing by children of ethnic minorities. Presents several unaddressed issues and priorities for future research. (JMF)

Discusses how new video media affect patterns of exposure to television and explores how these changing patterns of consumption may be related to larger issues of the medium's social impact. (JD)