Two experiments explored differences in television viewers' responses to viewercontrolled and producer-controlled content changes. Viewers in both studies could change channels among 4 different newscasts. Orienting, sympathetic activation, cognitive effort, and recognition were compared in the moments following both channel changes (viewer control) and cuts (producer control). Neither channel changes nor cuts elicited orienting. Sympathetic activation was higher following channel changes, while cognitive effort was higher following cuts. In 1 experiment, recognition accuracy was higher after a cut than it was after a channel change. These results inform how the exertion of control over media content alters psychological processing.It seems safe to say that the remote control has fundamentally changed television viewing. Nearly every television sold in the United States today comes equipped with a remote control (Frisby, 1999; Zenith). People fight over who wields it (McBride, 1995). Producers have altered the way they make programs in order
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