Indicates that premenstrual and menstrual women preferred comedy over alternative choices more strongly than did women midway through the cycle. Suggests that this preference reflects a desire to overcome the hormonally mediated noxious mood states that are characteristically associated with the premenstrual and menstrual phases of the cycle. (JD)

Indicates that (1) affinity, selectivity, and involvement predicted intentionality; (2) pass time motives, perceived realism, and reduced intentionality predicted nonselectivity; (3) pass time motives and reduced affinity predicted distractions; (4) information and nonentertainment motives, perceived realism, and intentionality predicted…

Reappraises the relationship between television use and reading achievement. Concludes that what change there is in reading skills does not seem to be related consistently to time spent viewing TV. Suggests that the question of the influence of media use on reading achievement requires a more sophisticated approach than has been applied in the…

Explains that the concept of message discrimination was originally developed as a means of determining actual units of content that individuals extract from encounters with mass media and describes the relationship between message discrimination and the two related concepts of systematic information availability and knowledge. (DF)

Discusses the question of the influence of mass media and interpersonal communication on the growth of partisan independence among American preadults and concludes that preadults become increasingly independent as they get older. (DF)

Investigated how children (ages 4 to 9) perceive stereotypes in television programs. Found that they use their existing knowledge of traditional sex roles to account for activities both witnessed and presupposed. Concludes that children make informed judgments about television sex roles by referring to their developing scripts of social life. (PD)

Found that (1) neighborhood leaders' agendas and definitions of issues compared highly with those of residents, especially the most educated residents, while (2) neighborhood papers' agendas and definitions were much less related to those of residents. (PD)

Describes the basic method of using naturally occurring settings for research on media effects. Suggests research questions that could be studied and identifies settings (and media markets) most promising for such research. (PD)

Reviews literature on efforts to personalize mass communication by disguising the size of intended audiences, targeting messages, and contriving intimacy in content. Argues that distinctions between interpersonal and mass communications have become blurred into what might be called "pseudo-community." Finds that technological development…

Indicates greater attention to televised news was related to subsequent increased fear, concern, and avoidance activity in the public's behavior. Finds no such effects for newspaper crime news attention, although greater concern was related to subsequent increased readership. (JD)

Investigates how social reality effects are determined by exposure to black-oriented television, to the black press, and by social structural variables (i.e., income, age, education, and parental training). (PD)

Analyzes primetime commercial television content showing that heroes, villains, and secondary characters are almost always being rewarded or justified when commiting antisocial acts, frequently portrayed as being internally motivated. The context is also portrayed as very antisocial. (SD)

Investigated the persuasive impact of a national crime prevention campaign in the context of past and contemporary media efforts. Found that the campaign had marked influence on citizens' cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors regarding crime prevention. (PD)

Assesses the addition of sexual and/or violent images to rock music videos whose originals were both nonsexual and nonviolent. Notes that sexual stimuli intensified music appreciation in males and females, that violent stimuli sometimes did the same, but that the combination of sexual and violent images failed to enhance appreciation of the music.…

Indicates that (1) feeling both competent about handling scientific information and enthusiastic about scientific and technological advances are strongly related to exposure to media science information and (2) beliefs about specific science and technology issues (such as the need to maintain scientific and technical superiority for national…