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New findings of the CulturaE Zndicators research project support earlier results and lead to elaboration of the concepts of "mainstreaming" and "resonance. "Television makes specific and measurable contributions to viewers' conceptions of reality. These contributions relate both to the synthetic world television presents and to viewers' real life circumstances. These are the basic findings of our long-range research project called Cultural Indicators, and they have been supported, extended, and refined in a series of studies. Here we shall report new findings and introduce theoretical developments dealing with the dynamics of the cultivation of general concepts of social reality (which we shall call "mainstreaming") and of the amplification of issues particularly salient to certain groups of viewers (which we shall call "resonance").The design of our research consists of two interrelated parts: message system analysis and cultivation analysis. Message system analysis is the annual monitoring of samples of prime-time and weekend daytime network dramatic programming (including series, other plays, comedies, movies, and cartoons). Cultivation analysis is the investigation of viewer conceptions of social reality associated with the most recurrent features of the world of television. Our studies since 1967-68 have traced some conceptual and behavioral correlates of growing up and living with a television world in which men outnumber women three to one, young people comprise one-third and old people one-fifth of their real numbers, professionals and law-enforcers dominate the occupations, and an of methodology and results (25) and "Highlights" containing the most important tabulations are available.

Gross under-representations lead viewers to believe that old people are a vanishing breed; men seem to age slower and enjoy life longer than women.Aging is a process that starts with birth and goes on throughout life. Life styles associated with different stages of the life cycle are roles learned in a culture. Images of old age cultivate our concept of aging and the age roles we assume.Television, as the wholesale distributor of images and the mainstream of our popular culture, presents a world of places, people, and roles. Most of us experience this world with little selectivity or deviation and do so for an average of 30

Latest report stresses methodology, current findings on the distribution of power in television drama, and the behaviorial correlates of viewing.