Provides a collection of references and ideas for using television equipment in physics demonstrations and teaching. (SL)

Shows that Saturday morning television programs covertly teach children that boys are more significant persons than girls. (RL)

The role of social, personality, and outlook factors in accounting for media usage and taste was examined at several developmental stages across a 20 year time span. This encompassed the period during which TV was introduced and absorbed into the leisure time of those sampled. (Author)

Studies the success of Music Television (MTV), the only cable "narrowcaster" that has survived and prospered. Claims that the promotional power of rock music has altered the marketing and revised the nature of contemporary music. Finds that "music you don't have to watch" is becoming a record industry rarity. (NKA)

Describes how the jokes of Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and Joan Rivers explore, support, and disrupt different elements of the American social experience. Argues that joking is one strategy for encouraging and sustaining resistance to ideological control. (NKA)

Recounts the history of WETA-TV's "Cover to Cover" program, initiated in 1965. Relates that the program has been updated to reach a wider audience and now is geared toward fifth and sixth graders, with a change of title to "More Books from Cover to Cover." (NKA)

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…

Reviews research on the educational aspects of British television programs, especially those dealing with economic knowledge and financial advice. Concludes that there is a public demand for better economic understanding and that television can be used as a significant component in an economic education campaign. (GEA)

Investigates whether the relative amount of bad, neutral, and good news on television has corresponding effects on viewers' image of the community depicted and of the carrying newscast. Concludes that bad news creates a bad image for the community but that good news does not produce a more favorable image than neutral news. (MM)

Reports on an experiment that examined the independent effects of television content (violence) and television formal features (action) on preschool boys' attention to programs and their postviewing social behavior. Shows rapid character action facilitated visual attention to the programs and that television action level had no systematic effects…

Although they are normally ignored by schools, popular television shows can provide valuable opportunities for instruction. Ideas for making educational use of television include instruction in critical viewing, teaching with television, and history lessons from reruns. (TE)

Three myths about the cognitive processing of television and its effects on children and adults--television is a passive medium, viewing decreases creativity, and viewing is an addictive behavior--are discussed and compared with relevant research findings. (MBR)

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)

Study examines frequency of attractiveness-based messages on 4,294 network television commercials. Attractiveness statements appear to be associated more with food and drink and personal care ads and with female performers and male voice-overs. Implications of an association of women and attractiveness on television are explored. (Author/SA)

Discusses the many changes occurring in the entertainment industry that involve videocassette recordings, copyrighted programs, cable television, and movies and explains how the changes are affecting Americans. (EL)