Prediction was not supported that responses followed by positive or negative social consequences would immediately be repeated or changed, respectively. (Author/MB)

White subjects were aggressive toward Black opponents when contest results appeared to reflect elements of reverse discrimination; but they showed less aggressive behavior toward Black opponents when they thought their loss was due to their opponents' superior ability. (RL)

Two experiments were performed in the naturalistic setting of a preschool classroom in order to assess the effects on children's social behavior of nonevaluative teacher attention to the children's cooperative or aggressive speech. (Author/JMB)

The effects of spatial density on five styles of children's behavior (aggression, passivity, self-involved play, avoidance, and instability of activity) were studied. Subjects were 72 five-year-olds, half male, half female. Twelve groups of six children participated in 54-minute sessions of free play in an adult-free situation. A multivariate…

Female subjects in this study were induced to harm another person in an alleged "learning" study by administering aversive noise to a confederate-victim as she performed a problem-solving task. The subjects consisted of forty-six female undergraduates enrolled in Introductory Psychology at the University of Toronto. They were randomly assigned to…

This study examined factors that affect individual judgments of violent behavior portrayed on television. Study subjects included twenty "average" adolescents (control group) and twenty adolescents with a history of in-school social adjustment problems (experimental, or "adjustment," group). All the sujects were evaluated for self-esteem,…

This essay attempts to describe how age relations are important to the social behavior of preschool children. Major behaviors examined are sociability, friendship, aggression, and dominance. Imitation, cognitive development, social cognition, nurturance, and prosocial behavior are also briefly considered. (Author/SJL)

A study was conducted to explore the relationship between a child's exposure to television content portraying various levels of physical agression, verbal aggression, altruism, and affection, and that child's enactment of these four types of behavior under different conditions of parent-child co-viewing and discussion of the television content.…

A group of social scientists met to advise the National Institute of Mental Health on how best to follow up on the work of the Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior. Participants were asked to: 1) define research issues and approaches, 2) identify means for conducting research, and 3) provide guidance…

Three studies examine the impact of different types of television content on the social behavior of children at various ages. The studies represent research into the interrelated problem of the processes involved in media effects and age-related differences. In the first study an action-adventure program, in which a character's reputation and…

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…

Research into children's responses to constructive and aggressive behavior in a television drama is provided. This study is also reported in related document SO 008 573. A 22-minute action-adventure television program depicting an intense interpersonal conflict was edited into two versions. In one version the hero responded with physical…

Psychosocial adaptations are sometimes affected by experiences that are ordinarily considered to be amusements. In 1974, a field study was undertaken by the Program on Psychosocial Adaptation and the Future to determine if it is possible to measure the effect of television on adult viewers. A sample of 260 couples, controlled for demographic…