The purpose of this study was to research the extent of incidental learning by aging adults through casual television viewing. Seventy-nine aging adults participated in viewing a commercially prepared television documentary in an informal setting. Cued-recall tests were given immediately after the program and again one week later (to 55 participants) to determine the proportion of recall of main and subordinate ideas, both immediate and delayed. Regression was used to analyze the importance to retention of the aging adults' individual characteristics (age, socioeconomic status, meaningfulness of content and materials, attitude towards television, and previous education). Only previous education showed a statistically significant positive correlation with immediate and delayed recall. This study revealed the difficulty of ascertaining incidental learning outcomes. Methodological considerations are discussed, and further implications for adult education via television are probed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Apt, P. H.
, & Hiemstra, R. (1980). A model for learning resource networks for senior adults. Educational Gerontology, 5,163-173.
2.
Ball, S. H.
, & Bogatz, G. A. (1970). The first year of Sesame Street: An evaluation.Princeton: Educational Testing Services. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 013 371).
3.
Ball, S. H.
, & Bogatz, G. A. (1972). Sesame Street: A continuing evaluation.New York: Teachers College Press.
4.
Bluem, W. A.
(1965). Documentary in American television: Form, function, method.New York: Hastings House.
5.
Botwinick, J.
, & Storandt, M. (1974). Memory, related-functions, and age.Springfield, Illinois: Thomas.
6.
Comstock, G.
(1978). Trends in the study of incidental learning from television. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 168 605).
7.
Davis, R. H.
(1971). Television and the older adult. Journal of Broadcasting, 15,153-159.
8.
Gagne, R. M.
, & Briggs, L. J. (1977). Principles of instructional design (2nd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
9.
Hand, S.
(1979). Teaching older adults. In A. Hendrickson, (Ed.), A manual on planning educational programs for older adults.Tallahassee: Adult Education Research Institute.
10.
Harris, L., & Associates.
(1974). A survey on aging: Experiences of older Americans versus public expectations of old age. New York: Lewis Harris & Associates, Inc.
11.
Havighurst, R. J.
(1976). Education through the adult life span. Educational Gerontology, 1,44-55.
12.
Hendrickson, A.
(1979). A manual for planning educational programs for older adults.Tallahassee, Florida: Adult Education Research Information Processing Center, Florida State University.
13.
Hiemstra, R.
(1972). Continuing education for the aged: A survey of needs and interests of older people. Adult Education, 22,100-109.
14.
Kidd, J. R.
(1973). How adults learn.Chicago: Follett Publishing Co.
15.
Knowles, M. S.
(1970). The modern practice of adult education: Andragogy versus pedagogy.New York: Association Press.
16.
Knowles, M. S.
(1980). The growth and development of adult education. In J. M. Peters and Associates (Eds.), Building an effective adult education enterprise.Washington, D.C.: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
17.
Lynes, R.
(1970). The electronic express. In B. G. Cole (Ed.), Television: A selection of readings from TV Guide magazine.New York: The Free Press.
18.
Meyer, B. J. F.
(1975a). The structure of prose and its effect on memory.Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing.
19.
Meyer, B. J. F.
(1975b). Identification of the structure of prose and its implications for reading and memory. Journal of Reading Behavior,7, 7-47.
20.
Nie, N. H.
, Hull, C. H., Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K., & Brent, D. H. (1975). Statistical package for the social sciences,2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
21.
Nielson, A. C.
(1977). National audience demographics report.Northbrook, Illinois: A. C. Nielson Company.
22.
Owens, D. (1980). Nature and amount of ideas retained from a television documentary. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida State University.
23.
Real, M. R.
, Anderson, H. L., & Harrington, M. H. (1980). Television access for older adults: Growing older-perceptions and representations. Journal of Communication, 30,4-9.
24.
Rubinstein, E. A.
(1978). Television and the young viewer. American Scientist, 66,685-693.
25.
Schonfield, D.
(1965). Memory changes with age. Nature, 28,918.
26.
Schramm, W.
(1977). Big media, little media: Tools and techniques for instruction.Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
27.
Siebert, W. F.
(1976). Broadcasting and education: ERIC/EBR annual review paper. In P. Sleeman & D. M. Rockwell (Eds.), Instructional media and technology: A professional's re- source.Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania: Dawden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.
28.
Singer, D. L.
(1980). The power and the limitations of television. In P. H. Tannerbaum (Ed.), The entertainment function of television.Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
29.
Steinhauer, M. B.
(1980). Obstacles to the mobilization and provision of services to the rural elderly. Educational Gerontology, 5,283-291.
30.
United States Bureau of the Census
. (1984). Statistical abstract of the United States 1985,105th ed.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce.
31.
White, E. B.
(1971). Letter to the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, p. 69. In A. Kirschner & L. Kirschner. Radio and television: Readings in the mass media.New York: The Odyssey Press.
