Analyzes 830 television spots from 8 presidential campaigns. Shows that the "negativism" charged to the 1988 campaign is actually at the same level as the two previous campaigns. Finds that what tends to differentiate negative from positive ads is not party or incumbency but a more frequent appeal to voters' fears. (PRA)

Finds that use of new television technologies (cable television, videocassette recorders, and remote control devices) had an impact on receiving, pass-the-time, and companionship gratifications from television viewing. Shows that instrumental viewing motives, television exposure, and receiving informational gratifications from television viewing…

Investigates whether background television produces structural interference with aspects of cognitive processing. Finds a significant deleterious effect on a geometric analogies and completion task involving visuo-spatial processing and marginal improvement on a parallel verbal analogy test. Shows that concurrent television exposure had no…

Analyzes television news stories broadcast during the Persian Gulf War for censorship disclaimers, the censoring source, and the producing network. Discusses results in terms of both production- and viewer-based differences. Considers the question of whether censorship "works" in terms of unanticipated results related to story…

Examines adolescents' television viewing motives, activities, and satisfaction, in an attempt to integrate the audience activity construct into the uses and gratifications model. Suggests that more strongly motivated viewers engage more actively in various audience activities throughout the viewing process and receive greater viewing satisfaction…

A study involving 111 adults with blindness examined the impact of watching television science programs with and without audio description. Results indicate respondents gained and retained more information from watching programs with description. They reported that the description makes the program more enjoyable, interesting, and informative.…

Examines violence in music video programming. Reveals that 15% of music videos feature violence, and most of that aggression is sanitized, not chastised, and presented in realistic contexts. Discusses the findings in terms of the risk that exposure to violence in each channel and genre may be posing to viewers' learning of aggression, fear, and…

Assesses the prevalence and context of violence in prime-time television programming using a random, representative sample. Shows that, regardless of the time of day, viewers are likely to encounter violence in roughly 2 out of 3 programs. Identifies specific channel types and genres that feature potentially harmful depictions of violence during…

Notes the correlation between television-viewing habits and children's level of creativity, aggressiveness, and social skills. Highlights better quality programming, noting that most of it is on cable rather than network television. Cautions against the less controllable factors such as commercials and "teasers" for other programs and movies. (HTH)

Outlines issues, teaching tips, things to avoid, problems, and advantages of using video/cable/interactive television for gerontology education. Presents concerns for learners, participation issues, and other factors related to teaching gerontology using the Internet. (SK)

This study examined the relationship between parent-child co-viewing of television and the cognitive development of the child. Both survey and experiment methods were employed to determine the participants' television viewing habits and their cognitive achievements after watching a pre-recorded programme under different conditions. The…

This article reports how the Ready to Learn program, which has helped transform children's educational television over the past decade, faced scrutiny after it aired a controversial topic. The Ready to Learn program attracted unusual attention when one of the shows it helped get on the air, "Postcards from Buster," drew criticism from…

This paper presents evidence for the positive impact of television on 1,500 children, aged 6 to 16 years old, specifically concerning their conceptions of beauty. The role of television was repeatedly mentioned by the subjects although it was not the primary research goal of the researcher. Examples of children's descriptions of beauty as derived…

Instructional, or educational, television can be an effective instructional tool if lesson plans are developed that promote interactive viewing and involve the students in a variety of integrated learning activities. Teaching methods will influence the decision to use educational television as well as the ways in which television programming is…

An exploratory study focused on usage patterns of television remote control devices (RCDs), examining how and why individuals use television RCDs to "graze." The study identified the gratifications obtained from RCD use and evaluated their relative importance in accounting for variations in RCD use. Subjects were 455 undergraduates in…