Many social scientists believe there is a causal relation between viewing television violence and aggression. That majority consensus has recently been challenged on the grounds that the data are inconsistent, that different methods of study may be subject to systematic biases, and that the findings have limited generalizability to real-world violence. In this review we reply to these challenges. We conclude that the data support a bidirectional causal relation between viewing television violence and aggression, that the potential threats to the internal and external validity of studies using different methods are not likely to produce a positive bias, and that the findings can be generalized. The available research is placed in a theoretical context encompassing multiple psychological processes and developmental change, and social policy implications are discussed.The authors made equal contributions to the article; therefore, they are listed in alphabetical order.

Two questions were addressed in a field experiment: Does prosocial TV affect the behavior of urban poor children, and are environmental supports that stimulate rehearsal and labeling of TV content effective in a field setting? The social, imaginative, and self-regulatory behavior of 141 children in Head Start centers was observed before and during one of the following four experimental treatments: (a) neutral films, (b) prosocial TV only, (c) prosocial TV plus related play materials, and (d) prosocial TV plus related materials plus teacher training for rehearsal using verbal labeling and role playing. Subjects in each condition saw 20 films in 8 weeks. Prosocial TV alone produced few behavioral differences from the control group. When classrooms were otherwise comparable, children receiving TV plus related materials had high levels of positive social interaction with peers and adults, of imaginative play, and of assertiveness and aggression. Those whose teachers were trained as well showed high levels of positive social interaction with peers, imaginative play, and assertiveness, but did not increase in aggression. Self-regulatory behavior was unaffected by treatments.In recent years there has been an increas-tive play have been found. With one exceping interest in television's potential to en-tion (Shirley, 1974), increased prosocial behance the social development of young chil-havior was not accompanied by reduced dren. The "Mr.

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The relation of reflection-impulsivity and motor inhibition to naturally occurring social and self-regulatory behavior of 121 urban Head Start boys and girls was examined. Correlations between the Kansas Reflection-Impulsivity Scale for Preschoolers, motor inhibition tasks, and classroom behavior were computed for two groups of Head Start classes that differed in race and the amount of adult-imposed classroom structure. In the less structured classes, impulsive children were less aggressive, less assertive, and less likely to show understanding of others or to engage in such prosocial behavior as cooperation, helping, and sharing than were their reflective peers. Impulsive children were higher than reflectives on two indices of self-regulation: responsibility during clean-up time and waiting patiently during delays. Impulsivity was not related to behavior in highly structured classes. Motor inhibition was not consistently related to the observational measures.