review of the television research literature, however, indicates that such claims are largely based upon subjective observations rather than theory-guided investigations, and there is no conclusive evidence that television stultifies the mind( Seels, Berry, Fullerton, & Horn, 1996). There is also no consistent evidence that television increases either hyperactivity or passivity in children( Dorr, 1992).
Another popular belief is that television viewing is detrimental to the academic achievement of school-age children and teens. While some studies have reported a negative correlation between the amount of television viewing and scholastic performance, such statistics are susceptible to misinterpretations because of intervening variables such as intelligence and socioeconomic status( Seels et al., 1996). In a book titled Literacy in the Television Age: The Myth of the TV Effect, Susan Neuman( 1995) provides an in-depth review of research examining the relationship between television and achievement. She concludes that there is insufficient support for the hypothesis that television viewing displaces academic activities such as reading or homework and thereby has a negative impact on school achievement. A competing analysis of the literature by Comstock and Paik( 1991) concluded that the relationship between the amount of time spent viewing television and achievement test scores( primarily reading tests) is curvilinear with achievement actually rising with 1-2 hours of television per day, but gradually falling with longer daily viewing periods.
Undoubtedly, the most widespread belief about television is that it fosters violence and aggressive behaviors among children and adolescents( Winn, 1985). A survey of the literature indicates that there have been nearly 20 books published on this topic in the last decade alone, most of them condemning television as causing aggression. In addition, scores of research studies related to this topic are published around the world each year. There is little disagreement that in many, if not most, countries television provides a steady flow of violence ranging to as many as 25 violent acts per hour in children’ s programming( Donnerstein, Fairchild, Feshbach, Katz, & Huston, 1993). The preponderance of the quantitative research evidence indicates that viewing violence on television is moderately correlated with aggression in children and adolescents( National Institutes of Mental Health, 1982; Seels et al., 1996), but as with all such correlational research, the evidence for direct causality is weaker. Alternative explanations for the reported correlations are possible, e. g., those children with a tendency toward aggression may be more likely to watch violent television programs. Despite the weak evidence for causality, both the public in general and many politicians have come to accept the conclusion that television violence has negative effects on youth( Signorielli, 1991). As a result, legislation has recently been passed in the USA to compel television networks to provide violence ratings for their programs and to require manufacturers to install electronic blocking devices( such as the“ V-chip”) in new TV sets. Similar laws are already in place in other countries.
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