Aletha Huston-Stein’s research while affiliated with Pennsylvania State University and other places

This study assessed the accuracy of judgments of 100 school age children as to the presence of real fruit content in 3 sets of cereals and beverages advertised on TV: real fruit, nonfruit, and artificially fruit flavored products. In the baseline session, accuracy was an increasing function of age, but children at each age were deceived about real fruit content of artificial fruit products. In session 2, the experimental group saw TV ads for 6 products embedded in a program (naturalistic viewing). They then judged fruit content for these six advertised products, plus a matched set of six for which ads were not shown. Controls saw toy ads on TV, and then judged the same 12 products. In session 3, subjects in each group saw the same ads they had seen in Session 2, without the program and with instruction to attend very carefully to messages in the ad (intensive viewing). They then judged all 12 products again. After naturalistic viewing, few significant differential changes from baseline were found. But after intensive viewing, accuracy of judgment of advertised artificial fruit products was lower than baseline among experimental group children. By contrast, accuracy was higher than baseline both for control children's judgements of “advertised” prod-

Preschoolers, kindergartners, and 3rd and 4th graders viewed an edited prosocial cartoon in 1 of 4 viewing conditions that changed program features and introduced viewing information to aid recognition and structuring of central plot information. Older Ss recalled more total information; Ss who had viewed with an experimenter recalled more material than did Ss in other viewing conditions. Visual presentation enhanced central recall. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The relation of reflection-impulsivity and motor inhibition to naturally occurring social and self-regulatory behavior of 121 urban Head Start boys and girls was examined. Correlations between the Kansas Reflection-Impulsivity Scale for Preschoolers, motor inhibition tasks, and classroom behavior were computed for two groups of Head Start classes that differed in race and the amount of adult-imposed classroom structure. In the less structured classes, impulsive children were less aggressive, less assertive, and less likely to show understanding of others or to engage in such prosocial behavior as cooperation, helping, and sharing than were their reflective peers. Impulsive children were higher than reflectives on two indices of self-regulation: responsibility during clean-up time and waiting patiently during delays. Impulsivity was not related to behavior in highly structured classes. Motor inhibition was not consistently related to the observational measures.

The influence of activity structure on sex differences in participation and social and cognitive behavior was investigated in this research. 83 boys and girls ages 2½-5 in 5 preschool classrooms were observed daily during a semester. As predicted, girls spent more time than boys in preschool activities that were highly structured by teacher feedback or availability of adult models. Boys spent more time than girls in low structure activities. Both boys and girls manifested more compliance and less novel behavior in high-structure activities than in low-structure activities. Within activities, there were no sex differences in these behaviors. Comparison across classrooms indicated that children in classrooms with high rates of teacher feedback (high structure) were more compliant, showed less novel behavior, and spent more time in organized activities than those in low-structure classrooms. These findings extend the analysis of socialization processes which encourage sex-typed behavior in young children and support the hypothesis that sex-typed interests and behaviors are acquired, in part, through participation in sex-typed activities.

Investigated whether (a) prosocial TV can affect the behavior of urban poor children and (b) environmental supports that stimulate rehearsal and labeling of TV content are effective in a field setting. The social, imaginative, and self-regulatory behavior of 141 children aged 2 yrs 4 mo–5 yrs 4 mo in Head Start centers was observed before and during 1 of the following 4 experimental treatments: (a) neutral films, (b) prosocial TV only, (c) prosocial TV plus related play materials, and (d) prosocial TV plus related materials plus teacher training for rehearsal using verbal labeling and role playing. Ss in each condition saw 20 films in 8 wks. Prosocial TV alone produced few behavioral differencs from the control group. When classrooms were otherwise comparable, Ss receiving TV plus related materials had high levels of positive social interaction with peers and adults, of imaginative play, and of assertiveness and aggression. Those whose teachers were trained as well showed high levels of positive social interaction with peers, imaginative play, and assertiveness, but did not increase in aggression. Self-regulatory behavior was unaffected. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Sex differences in activity selection or choice appear by age 12 or 18 months. These choices are one of the earliest indicators of sex differences in the behavior of young children. Differences in activity participation or toy choices are evident long before the emergence of sex differences in personality characteristics like passivity or sex-typed behavior like aggression. Some theorists view sex-typed participation in activities as an outcome of an already developed gender identity or as an outcome of differential reinforcement or modeling. Sex-typed behaviors can be learned in at least two ways. In the first, antecedent events such as participation in sex-typed activities and toy preference lead to sex-typed behaviors of passivity and aggression. In the second, sex-typed behavior like aggression leads to a preference for sex-typed activities, toy preferences, or dress-style. Assuming that participation in sex-typed activities is an antecedent of sex-typed behavior, there is evidence that changes in sex-typed behavior can be expected as a function of exposure to or participation in activities. (Author/HLM)

This paper begins with an historical review of research on television and children, summarizing the major questions asked and the knowledge gained about the medium. The authors then describe a new focus of research, dealing with the form of the television medium, not just its content. (Author/SJL)

The advent of television is one of the most significant changes in people’s lives in the 20th century. Television spread so quickly after its introduction in the post-World War II period that the majority of American homes had television sets by the mid-1950s. By the end of the 1960s, a higher percentage of American homes had television sets than refrigerators or indoor plumbing. At the present time, close to half of American homes have two or more televisions.

Structure was defined as the amount of adult-directed activity in preschool classes. The relation of structure to naturally occurring behavior was examined in 13 urban Head Start classes containing 141 children. Children in high structure classes engaged in less prosocial behavior to peers, less imaginative play, and less aggression than children in low structure classes but had slightly more friendly peer interactions. Children in high structure classes were more attentive in circle time and helped to clean up more after free play, but they did not show more independent task persistence. The latter finding suggested that high levels of adult direction produce conformity when adults are present but do not facilitate independent task-oriented behavior.

This paper discusses research on the effects of formal features of television programs on children's attention, comprehension, and social behavior. Formal features are defined as visual and auditory events which are not primarily a part of the content or message. Three models of the influences of form and content are discussed: (1) the observational learning model which posits that children imitate form the way they do content; (2) the satiation-habituation model which predicts that behavior which contrasts with dominant formal features should result from viewing; and (3) the general arousal model which posits that form and content combine to form a net total arousal that activates whatever behavior is cued in the situation. It is proposed that younger children and other inexperienced viewers respond directly to the most salient features of form and, to some extent, content as isolated attention getting features, whereas older children are more interested in content themes than in formal features. A sample of 19 commercial programs was examined for action, pace, variability, visual techniques and violent content. It was found that programs appealing to preschool children have shorter segments and higher levels of action, pace, variability and special visual effects than programs designed for elementary school children. It is noted that the change in content and form of programs appealing to older children follows the developmental changes proposed in Piagetian and other developmental theories. (SB)