Keywords

Television, Psychology, Television and children

Abstract

This study examined the effect of intervening commentary and generalization discussions upon the generalization of prosocial values as transmitted through a commercially broadcast prosocial television program. The subjects participating were 50 first graders and 50 third graders. They were randomly assigned to one of five treatment conditions (control, film only, film with commentary, film with generalization, and film with commentary and generalization). Contrary to predications, the intervening commentary used as a means of directing attention to the critical points in the story, did not have an effect upon the comprehension of the values implied in the program. It is suggested that explicitly explanatory comments coupled with value judgements may be effective in enhancing comprehension. Also contrary to predictions, the use of the general discussion concerning the value promoted in the program did not increase generalization of the value to a novel but similar situation. The effect of the prosocial program upon the first grade audience differed according to their level of comprehension. First graders with higher comprehension errors violated the rule significantly more than those with lower comprehension errors. Although the third graders as a whole had high levels of comprehension, the prosocial film appeared to have a suggestive effect, as those exposed to the prosocial film violated the rule significantly more than those exposed to the control film. It appears that in order for the prosocial values to be generalized it is important that the program be directed towards the demonstration of the prosocial behaviors themselves.

Notes

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Graduation Date

Spring 1979

Advisor

Thomas, Margaret H.

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Social Sciences

Degree Program

Psychology

Format

PDF

Pages

38 p.

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Identifier

DP0013235

Subjects

Television -- Psychological aspects, Television and children

Contributor (Linked data)

Margaret H. Thomas (Q60029333)

Collection (Linked data)

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Accessibility Status

Searchable text

Included in

Psychology Commons

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