Environmental enhancement of prosocial television content: Effects on interpersonal behavior, imaginative play, and self-regulation in a natural setting.

Abstract

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.

Positive Effects of Television on Children's Social Interactions: A Meta-Analysis

“…In a typical study (e.g., Friedrich-Cofer, Huston-Stein, Kipnis, Susman, & Clewett, 1979), children were assigned to watch Mister Rogers' Neighborhood or some neutral content. This was a broad variable used to capture measures such as "friendly play" or "peaceful conflict resolution."…”

The Impact of a Healthy Media Use Intervention on Sleep in Preschool Children

“…32 The monthly mailings included a program guide tailored to the family' s available channels with recommended educational and prosocial television shows and schedules and a newsletter with tips and reinforcement. The criteria for recommended programming were based on previous research regarding the positive benefits of educational and prosocial media for young children [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] and were as follows: a TV Guidelines rating of TV-Y, being rated high on educational and/or prosocial value by CommonSenseMedia.org, and being currently available on network or cable television. In creating our final list, we sought to include programming that featured a diversity of gender, race, ethnicity, and culture and balance in terms of topical focus.…”

Positive effects of television content on emotional and social behavior of children

“…U studiji u kojoj su ispi-tivani efekti serije "Susedstvo gospodina Rodžera" na međusobne socijalne interakcije dece uzrasta od dve do pet godina (Friedrich-Cofer et al, 1979), putem posmatranja socijalnog ponašanja dece u prirodnim uslovima (u učionici i školskom dvorištu) tri meseca pre početka eksperimenta i dva meseca nakon svakodnevnog gledanja posebno izabranih epizoda serije (dvadeset epizoda tokom osam nedelja), utvrđeno je da je u grupi dece koja su gledala prosocijalni program došlo do povećanja pozitivnih interakcija sa vršnjacima u odnosu na kontrolnu grupu koja su gledala neutralni programski sadržaj. U drugoj ranoj studiji, deca uzrasta od tri do pet godina su u vrtiću tokom četi-ri dana gledala po petnaest minuta dnevno delove popularnih dečjih serija "Ulica Sezam" ili "Susedstvo gospodina Rodžera" (Coates et al, 1976).…”