Television viewing is a popular activity for children throughout the Western nations
and in many developing countries. Although little is known about the functions of
viewing, considerable evidence indicates that televised models of social behavior
influences viewers' post-viewing actions. Recent advances in research on behavioral
effects include field experiments and panel studies that permit use of
nonexperimental causal-inference techniques. In addition, the scope of recent
research has expanded to include other types of effects (e.g., children's concepts
of social reality) and cognitive processing of televised information. Directions for
the future include the need to (1) examine further developmental aspects of response
to typical television programming and (2) study the interaction of television
content with children's common contexts and experiences.
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