Suchergebnisse

This study relies on a national survey of parents and children and interviews with children to assess the extent and nature of use of videocassette recorders (VCRs) by children and adolescents. It reports on developmental changes in the use of VCRs for repeated viewing of videos, as well as children's descriptions of when and why they rewind and fast-forward videos.

This study examined the effects of differently valenced portrayals of old age on the emotional responses of elderly viewers. Lonely and nonlonely elderly people (as determined in a pretest) were given a series of descriptions of television offerings and indicated the degree to which they desired to see each program. In a separate session, they were randomly assigned to view a negative portrayal (involving an unhappy, isolated old man) or a positive portrayal (involving a happy, socially integrated old man). The results indicated that lonely subjects showed greater interest in viewing negative than positive portrayals, whereas nonlonely subjects exhibited the opposite preference. In addition, lonely subjects felt better after viewing the negative portrayal than after the positive portrayal, whereas nonlonely subjects felt better after the positive than after the negative portrayal. The findings therefore indicated that elderly viewers may benefit from varied portrayals of old age more than from uniformly positive or negative depictions.

Although preschoolers learn from educational TV, they may not use information appropriately due to their developing understanding of video and fantasy-reality distinctions. Seventy 3- to 5-year-olds watched a Sesame Street clip, introduced as either "fun" or "for learning," that depicted aspects of Hispanic culture (e.g., fiestas). They answered comprehension questions and rated the reality of the educational and fantasy content. Approximately a week later, a seemingly unrelated interviewer asked for help planning a fiesta (transfer task), then reassessed memory and reality judgments. Regardless of condition, children retained most of what they learned, but all ages became increasingly skeptical about the reality of both the educational and fantasy content. Consistent with theorizing about transfer, children's use of the educational content depended on both memory and reality judgments. Older children remembered the information better than younger children, but memory only predicted transfer if the information was remembered as real.

There are numerous media offerings targeted to young audiences that claim to have educational benefits. It is hard to overemphasize the need for evidence about which of these offerings are effective, for which populations, and for which outcomes. The current article begins by discussing the value and limitations of meta-analysis (as opposed to narrative literature reviews) as a tool for marshaling such evidence. We illustrate these points with a recent meta-analysis of the educational impact of Sesame Street international coproductions. We then present two further studies that emerged from one aspect of the findings, examining effects of educational TV narratives on children's racial/ethnic attitudes.

Given children's difficulty comprehending prosocial narratives, we examined strategies to bypass comprehension (affiliative priming) and reduce cognitive burden (simplified lessons, adult scaffolding). In Study 1, one hundred seven 3- to 5-year-olds watched a prosocial narrative (helping vs. waiting) with affective primes (loving vs. funny) or a control narrative. Comprehension was low and behavioral outcomes were unaffected by lesson or prime. In Study 2, sixty-four 3- to 5-year-olds watched shorter stimuli (1-minute song videos) about loving or helping others. Those in the helping condition helped more, but the loving condition did not differ from a no-exposure control. In Study 3, 636 parents of 2- to 10-year-olds were surveyed about a time their child showed prosocial responses to media. Over 70% recalled an instance, a third of which involved songs. Reported response duration was positively predicted by family discussions after exposure (rather than at the time), including explicating the lessons and giving timely reminders/praise.

This study examined young viewers' evaluations of the social and physical aggression that is endemic in tween sitcoms. Preadolescents ( N = 176) were randomly assigned to watch a tween sitcom that featured a protagonist or antagonist committing social or physical aggression (two exemplars at each level). As suggested by recent work on disposition theory and moral development, participants' moral evaluations of the depicted aggression were related to their liking of the perpetrator, not their perceptions of the severity of the aggression. Furthermore, there was support for the causal chain proposed by Raney's formulation of disposition theory, whereby protagonist liking predicted moral indifference, which further predicted self-reported likelihood of imitating the aggression. This path was stronger at higher ratings of funniness. When aggressors were perceived as likable and their actions as funny, viewers reported more indifference and greater likelihood of imitation.

BACKGROUND: By 2030, the number of US adults age ≥65 will exceed 70 million. Their quality of life has been declared a national priority by the US government. OBJECTIVE: Assess effects of an eHealth intervention for older adults on quality of life, independence, and related outcomes. DESIGN: Multi-site, 2-arm (1:1), non-blinded randomized clinical trial. Recruitment November 2013 to May 2015; data collection through November 2016. SETTING: Three Wisconsin communities (urban, suburban, and rural). PARTICIPANTS: Purposive community-based sample, 390 adults age ≥65 with health challenges. Exclusions: long-term care, inability to get out of bed/chair unassisted. INTERVENTION: Access (vs. no access) to interactive website (ElderTree) designed to improve quality of life, social connection, and independence. MEASURES: Primary outcome: quality of life (PROMIS Global Health). Secondary: independence (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living); social support (MOS Social Support); depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-8); falls prevention (Falls Behavioral Scale). Moderation: healthcare use (Medical Services Utilization). Both groups completed all measures at baseline, 6, and 12 months. RESULTS: Three hundred ten participants (79%) completed the 12-month survey. There were no main effects of ElderTree over time. Moderation analyses indicated that among participants with high primary care use, ElderTree (vs. control) led to better trajectories for mental quality of life (OR=0.32, 95% CI 0.10–0.54, P=0.005), social support received (OR=0.17, 95% CI 0.05–0.29, P=0.007), social support provided (OR=0.29, 95% CI 0.13–0.45, P<0.001), and depression (OR= −0.20, 95% CI −0.39 to −0.01, P=0.034). Supplemental analyses suggested ElderTree may be more effective among people with multiple (vs. 0 or 1) chronic conditions. LIMITATIONS: Once randomized, participants were not blind to the condition; self-reports may be subject to memory bias. CONCLUSION: Interventions like ET may help improve quality of life and socio-emotional ...