On the Consequences of Television-Related Parent-Child Interaction

Abstract

This is a theoretical examination of certain ways in which a child's development may be affected by parentchild interactions in which the content of television programming appears as an explicit referent, i.e., as the topic of a verbal exchange, as the premise for a game, and so forth. The discussion deals with four areas of development, viz.: (1) the child's interpretational skills with regard to the television medium; (2) the child's repertory of cognitive categories regarding the real world; (3) the child's behavioral repertory, including both verbal and nonverbal items; and (4) the child's social relation¬ships. The paper concludes with a discussion of certain methodological issues involved in the empirical examination of these matters.

Psychosocial Functions of Shared Media use Among German Adolescents

“…Although interpersonal communication appears to be limited during the act of watching television (Maccoby, 1951;Walters & Stone, 1971), television can help family members enlarge their repertoire of shared experiences (Holloway & Green, 2008;Silverstone, 1994) and can allow them to argue or illustrate personal points of view during discussions (Lull, 1980a(Lull, , 1980b. Watching television together can help family members to compare and adjust their understandings of and emotional reactions to particular media content (Messaris & Sarett, 1981). Finally, television serves as a means of social comparison for tasks and issues in family members' personal lives.…”

“…Television characters and their behaviors provide possible role models that may be discussed and evaluated with respect to family members' own experiences and the family's value system. These models are ultimately accepted or rejected in family decisions (Lull, 1980a(Lull, , 1980bMessaris & Sarett, 1981;Silverstone, 1994).…”

Coviewing in An Italian Classroom

“…Research on media consumption at home and audience studies have already demonstrated how and to what extent television stimulates interaction among its users during viewing and among family members in various moments extended over time 268 LETIZIA CARONIA (Lindlof, 1987;Lull, 1990;Morley, 1992;Pasquier, 2001). Through these interactions, children would attribute meaning to the activity of "watching television" and elaborate the television contents in a highly specific manner (Alexander, Ryan, & Munoz, 1984;Messaris, 1982;Messaris & Sarrett, 1981;Weintraub Austin, Roberts, & Nass, 1990). This, however, is just the point: what happens when this activity is situated in the classroom, a very different social and cultural context?…”

Mass Media and Public Opinion

“…More recent studies have found that mothers actively attempt to turn television content into messages more appropriate for their children (Messaris & Sarett, 1981;Messaris, 1982). In direct reference to family values, a complex series of studies have found that the more television children watch, the more likely they are to adopt that medium's view of even family behavior-a relationship actually strengthened by everyone of the observed ways that parents attempt to intervene in the process (Buerkel-Rothfuss et al, 1982).…”