m iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii L m a, .. This is to certify that the thesis entitled MEDIATING EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE THROUGH CURRICULUM INTERVENTION presented by Nancy Buerkel—Rothfuss has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for .EhJL— degree in EQmmnnication M Majcisrofesfl DateAugnsJ:_2_84_J.9.18 0-7 639 @383 165415 5 , MEDIATING EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE THROUGH CURRICULUM INTERVENTION BY Nancy Buerkel-Rothfuss A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Communication 1978 ABSTRACT MEDIATING EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE THROUGH CURRICULUM INTERVENTION BY Nancy Buerkel-Rothfuss This study presented an experimental test of two in- structional modules designed to teach children to be more critical consumers of television violence. Two global ob- jectives provided the groundwork for development of the cur- riculum modules: (1) to decrease students' liking for television violence; and (2) to decrease students' exposure Eg_television violence. Past research on mediation of the harmful effects of television on children focused primarily on the role of; : d .1. * ‘ ,5» "f“1 (.f .. 1“. .4 . - rsmcuw' ~mwA" 2 parents. In essence, it hasgbeen demonstrated that discus- sion with parents regarding the reality of television por- trayals and other undesirable aspects of the medium can have a dramatic impact on the amount and kind of learning that takes place in front of the television screen. Unfortunately, such parental intervention has been neither widespread nor consistent. The rationale for this research study was essentially a pragmatic one. Given, on one hand, data indicating a positive relationship between amount of exposure to television violence and personal aggression and, on the other hand, the paucity of parental mediation routinely practiced, an Nancy Buerkel-Rothfuss alternative mediation strategy seemed necessary. At the time of this writing, several similar intervention curricula were in the develOpment stage, but virtually no research evidence existed which either confirmed or denied the effi- cacy of such an approach. This study was an exploratory step in the direction of formulating and evaluating such a curriculum intervention strategy. Module I, Content Realism, attempted to demonstrate that dramatic television does not portray a realistic image of the world. The ultimate intent of this module was to de- value television as a viable source of "real world" informa- tion for the student. Module II, Decision-Making, attempted to guide students toward making conscious, criteria-based decisions regarding television viewing. The central focus of this module was on deveIOpment of personal awareness and control of behavior regarding television. One hundred thirty-six fourth and sixth grade students in Haslett, Michigan, comprised the sample for the experi- mental study. Intact classrooms were assigned by principals to three experimental conditions: (1) Module I instruction plus Module II instruction; (2) Module II instruction only; and (3) Control (no instruction). Each module required five, forty-five minute sessions of regular class time to complete. All material was presented by an elementary teacher hired and trained for the study. Nancy Buerkel-Rothfuss Multiple-item indices were constructed to measure dependent variables at three levels: (1) general level vari- ables, which could be affected by either Module I or Module II instruction; (2) variables specific to Module I instruc- tion; and (3) variables specific to Module II instruction. All hypothesis testing took the form of analyses of covariance using a two-group (one experimental and one con- trol) by two-grade (fourth and sixth) factorial design. In all, twenty-one research hypotheses were tested. Findings suggested that neither module alone had dra- matic impact on students' attitudes and behaviors regarding television violence, although twenty-eight out of thirty- five changes examined were in the posited directions. Grade level was found to be an important consideration for many variables of interest. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Financial support for this study was provided by Project CASTLE, a three-year research program funded by the Office of Child Development (HEW) and directed by Dr. Bradley S. Greenberg and Dr. Charles Atkin. Thanks go to my advisor and dissertation director, Dr. Bradley S. Greenberg, for his advice and assistance throughout the research process. Thanks also go to Ms. Sandra Korzenny and Ms. Rebecca Henry for their tireless effort in designing and implementing the curriculum modules, without which there would have been no experiment. Also instrumental in leading me through the academic maze were the members of my guidance committee: Dr. Erwin P. Bettinghaus, Dr. Cassandra Book, and Dr. Jane E. Oyer. They provided ideas, assistance, and moral support when I needed them most. Special thanks go to the clerical staff at Michigan State University for their persistence in helping me to overcome the paperwork involved in receiving this degree. Without their input into my academic experience, I would probably still be there. ii Finally, sincere thanks go to the members of my family and to my friends who gave me many opportunities to curse when frustrated and to brag when things were going well. You know who you are. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I MEDIATING EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE THROUGH CURRICULUM INTERVENTION . . The Problem Area 2 . Viewing Habits of Young Children Social Learning from Television . Changing Attitudes toward Television Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget Summary . . . . . . II THE MEDIATION STRATEGY AND CURRICULUM MODULES . . . . . Mediating the Impact of Television Violence . . . . Parental Mediation . . . Social Mediation . . . 1. Murray and Ahammer. 2. Doolittle . . . . . 3. Roberts . . . 4. Anderson and Ploghoft . 5. National Parent Teachers Association and 6. Singer and Singer . . Summary . . . . . The Proposed Intervention Strategy Design and Implementation Considerations . . . Grade Levels . . The Mediation Strategy: Goals, Objectives, and Hypotheses . General Level. . . . Module I: Content Realism . Module II: Decision Making . Other Research Questions . . Summary . . . . . . . iv Page H Ht“ \DxlmCthN 22 22 23 25 26 27 30 32 37 38 39 39 41 42 46 47 56 61 61 Chapter III METHODS . . . . . . . Pretests of Curriculum Instruments and Modules . . . . . . The Experimental Design . . . The Sample . . . . . Questionnaire Administration . . Protection of Human Subjects . . Operational Variables and Index Construction. . . . . General Level Indices. . . Module I Indices: Content Realism . . . . . Module II Indices: Decision- Making . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . IV ANALYSIS AND RESULTS . . . . . Analysis Procedures . . . . General Level Hypotheses . . . Module I Hypotheses . . . . Module II Hypotheses . . . . V SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION . . . . APPENDICES Summary . . . . Internal Validity of the Study . The Experiment . . . . External Validity of the Study . Theoretical Considerations . . Appendix A: Activities for Module I REFERENCES and Module II Instruction B: Show Included in the Violence Viewing Index for Three Data Collection Time Po1nts (01, O2 and 03) . C: Pretest Scores for Treatment Group . . . Page 63 63 66 69 70 71 72 72 78 90 101 Table 3.1 LIST OF TABLES Description of Sample by Grade and Experimental Condition . . . . Means for Three Dimensions of Anti- Social Behavior Associated with Video- tape Segments and Assignment to Data Collection Time Point . . . . Items and Descriptive Statistics for Liking Index. . . . . . . Items and Descriptive Statistics for Manipulation Check . . . . . Descriptive Statistics for General Level Indices . . . . . . Items and Descriptive Statistics for Perceived Reality of Videotape Scene. Items and Descriptive Statistics for Real World vs. Television World Comparisons . . . . . . . Items and Descriptive Statistics for Perceived Real World Violence . . Items and Descriptive Statistics for General Perceived Reality . . . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Situation Level Perceived Reality Index . . . . . . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Character Level Perceived Reality Index . . . . . . vi Page 69 73 75 76 77 78 80 8O 81 82 83 3.15 3.16 3.18 3.19 Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Scene Level Perceived Reality Index Items and Item Statistics for Identification with Television Characters . . . . . . . Items and Item Statistics for Modes of Conflict Resolution . . Descriptive Statistics for Module I Indices . . . . . . . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Importance of Television Index . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Other Leisure-Time Activities . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Time Allocation . . - . . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Criteria-Based Television Viewing Index . . . . . . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Habitual Viewing Index . . . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Perceived Violence on Television Index. . . . . . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Desire to View Violent Shows Index Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Criteria-Based Violence Viewing Index . . . . . . Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Habitual Violence Viewing Index . Descriptive Statistics for Module II Indices . . . . . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Liking for Violent Videotape Segment . . . . . . . . vii Page 84 87 88 89 91 92 93 94 95 97 98 99 100 101 Table 4.2 Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Liking for Violent Videotape segment 0 O O O O O O 0 Analysis of Covariance for Module I and Module II on Liking for Violent Videotape Segment . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Violence Viewing . . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Violence Viewing . . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module I and Module II on Violence Viewing . Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Perceived Reality of Videotape Scene . . . . . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Real World Violence vs. Television Violence . . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Perceived Real World Violence. . Analysis of Covariance for Module I on General Perceived Reality of Television . . . . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Situation Level Perceived Reality. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Character Level Perceived Reality. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Scene Level Perceived Reality. . Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Composite Index of Perceived Reality Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Identification with Television Characters . . . . . . . viii Page Table Page 4.16 Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Identification with Female Television Characters . . . . . 125 4.17 Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Identification with Male Television Characters . . . . . 126 4.18 Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Modes of Conflict Resolution . . . 127 4.19 Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Importance of Television Viewing As a Leisure-Time Activity . . . . 129 4.20 Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Importance of TV Viewing as a Leisure-Time Activity (Index) . . . 130 4.21 Adjusted and Unadjusted Means and Analyses of Covariance for Module II on Perceived Importance of Four Leisure-Time Activities . . . . . 131 4.22 Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Time Spent Watching Television . . 133 4.23 Unadjusted and Adjusted Means and Analyses of Covariance for Module II on Time Allocated to Other Leisure- Time Activities . . . . . . . 134 4.24 Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Criteria-Based Television Viewing. . 135 4.25 Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Habitual Television Viewing . . . 137 4.26 Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Perceived Violence of Television . . 138 4.27 Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Desire to View Violent Shows . . . 139 4.28 Analysis of Covariance for Module II II on Criteria-Based Violence Viewing . 141 4.29 Analysis of Covariance for Module II ix Table 4.16 4.21 4.22 4.23 Analysis of Covariance for Module on Identification with Female Television Characters . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module on Identification with Male Television Characters . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module on Modes of Conflict Resolution . Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Importance of Television Viewing as a Leisure-Time Activity . . Analysis of Covariance for Module on Importance of TV Viewing as a Leisure-Time Activity (Index) . Adjusted and Unadjusted Means and Analyses of Covariance for Module on Perceived Importance of Four Leisure-Time Activities . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module on Time Spent Watching Television Unadjusted and Adjusted Means and Analyses of Covariance for Module II II II II on Time Allocated to Other Leisure-Time Activities . . . . . . Analysis of Covariance for Module Criteria-Based Television Viewing Analysis of Covariance for Module Perceived Violence of Television. Analysis of Covariance for Module Desire to View Violent Shows. . Analysis of Covariance for Module Criteria-Based Violence Viewing . Analysis of Covariance for Module Habitual Violence Viewing . . II on II on II on II on II on Difference Scores for General Level Variables . . . . . . 02 - 0 Difference Scores for Module I Variibles O - 0 Difference Scores for Module II Variables xi Page Figure 1.1 LIST OF FIGURES Page Theoretical Input for Design of Curriculum Modules . . . . . . . 21 Schematic Relationships Among Instructional Objectives, Intervention Goals, and the Types of Assessment Associated with Each . . . . . . 43 Conceptual Variables by Content Area . . 62 xii CHAPTER I MEDIATING EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE THROUGH CURRICULUM INTERVENTION The relationship between a child's exposure to tele- vised aggression and subsequent anti-social behavior has been a major research issue for over twenty years. Al- though some controversy persists in the academic community, concern regarding the potentially harmful effects of indis- criminate television viewing is widespread in American society. In response to the growing alarm, considerable interest has been generated regarding the efficacy of teaching children to be more informed, more critical con- sumers of the medium. Researchers in many parts of the country are pres- ently developing and testing in-school curriculum modules designed to teach children about television. The study described herein presents an experimental test of one of the first such social mediation strategies. This chapter begins with a discussion of the problem area and the rationale for the experimental study. Three theoretical issues are discussed in relation to children's learning from television: (1) social learning theory; (2) l 2 attitude formation and change; and (3) cognitive develop- ment. These three areas provide the groundwork for the proposed intervention. The Problem Area flIn a mere thirty years, television has emerged as the most pervasive medium in American society today. About 700 privately-owned, profit-oriented television stations combine to broadcast 4 million hours of commercial program- ming per year. In addition, another 250 stations Operate on funds contributed privately, accounting for 1.4 million hours of noncommercial fare (Comstock, 1978). The penetration factor for television is virtually one hundred percent, since only thggg households out of one hundred report owning no working television set. Forty- three percent of all American households own two or more working sets, and about seventy percent of American fami- lies watch their favorite programs in color (Nielsen, 1976).' Viewinngabits of Young Childreni; It would appear that television consumption begins at an early age. In a survey study of young viewers, Schramm, Lyle and Parker (1961) found that over one-third of the children interviewed made "regular use" of the medium by age three; over ninety percent were regular viewers by age six-. In a similar study, Lyle and Hoffman (1972) reported that first graders watch slightly less than twenty-four hours of television per week; 3 sixth graders watch about thirty hours; and tenth grade children watch about twenty-eight hours. ’More recent Nielsen data (1976) suggest that children aged two to eleven years old watch television an average of twenty-six hours per week. Using this somewhat more conservative estimate, the "average" American child consumes approximately 1300 hours of television per year and spends about one-fourth of his or her waking hours in front of the television set.§ What is the child watching? Naturally, individual viewing patterns vary along a number of psychological and environmental dimensions (Comstock, 1975). Some children are heavy indiscriminate viewers; others are more selective or are restricted in their viewing preferences. Further, television is not a perfectly homogeneous medium, owing to the fact that content varies according to the day of the week and time of day. Nonetheless, it is possible to make some generalizations about persistent content elements to which children are regularly exposed. First of all, Saturday and Sunday mornings are de- signed to be preferred viewing periods for children, because this is when most cartoon and child-oriented programming appears. According to Nielsen data (1976), this time period accounts for only sixteen percent of the total viewing time for children aged two to eleven years and is not the pre- dominant time period for any age group. For the two to five year olds, most television viewing (30%) occurs week-day 4 mornings and afternoons prior to 4:30 P.M. Early evening hours (4:30 - 7:30 P.M.) make up twenty-seven percent of their viewing week, and prime-time hours (7:30 - 11:00 P.M.) account for another twenty-four percent. For the older children, most viewing takes place during prime-time (36%), followed by the late afternoon and early evening hours (30%). It would appear that young viewers sample the entire spec- trum of television fare aired before 11:00 P.M. To fully describe the average child's exposure to television, it is necessary to specify content prevalent during viewing hours. The content category of central con- cern at the present time--violence--has been analyzed more extensively than any other. Early findings suggest that physical aggression and other forms of violence have always been prominent in many types of television programs (Head, 1954; Whalen, 1959; Greenberg, 1969). y}? In a two-year study for the Surgeon General's Scien- tific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior, Gerbner (1972) analyzed violence--"the overt expression of force intended to hurt or kill"--in both prime-time and Saturday morning offerings. Findings indicate that some form of violence occurred in eight of every ten shows, and an average of eight violent episodes appeared per hour of regular programming. Most violent acts occurred in a dra- matic rather than humorous context, and cartoons were found to be especially violent. In all, at least 790 characters 5 were seriously injured or killed in two weeks of content analysis. Because cooperation, compromise, debate and other nonviolent forms of conflict-resolution were not identified with any important frequency, the Gerbner data suggest that violence is virtually the only form of conflict-resolution presented on television.! In a more recent content analysis of pro-social and anti-social behaviors on television, Greenberg, Atkin, Edison and Korzenny (1977) reported similar findings. Satur- day morning cartoons were found to contain the highest rate of physically aggressive (violent) acts-~28.8 per hour--of all program categories. Action-crime shows were second with 17.4 acts of physical aggression per hour. Five behaviors were found to comprise ninety-three percent of all physically aggressive acts: (1) forceful restraint; (2) hitting; (3) shooting; (4) physical threats; and (5) abridging one's privacy. In an analysis of only those shows viewed weekly by forty percent or more of a sample of fourth, sixth and eighth graders, 42.4 acts of anti-social behavior were re- corded in an average hour. Considering that subsample of shows preferred by young viewers, Greenberg et a1. concluded that there is "a preference for shows in which physical ag- gression is more prominent" (pp. 56-57). Clearly, young viewers are exposed to considerable anti-social behavior on television. Using the 42.4 anti- 6 social acts per hour estimate, the average child may view up to 1100 acts of anti-social behavior in a single week of television! The carryover of this observed violence to the child's daily life deserves special consideration. Social Learning from Television At the present time, one theoretical perspective seems to dominate the literature regarding children's social learning from television: social learning theory (Bandura, 1977). An outgrowth of behaviorism (see Miller and Dollard, 1941; Mowrer, 1950), the central assumptions associated with this approach to learning are the following: 1) children can and do learn appropriate behaviors through observation of models without direct reinforcement; and 2) children attempt to maximize personal rewards, usually in the form of rein- forcement for imitation of or identifi- cation with a model (Bandura, 1977). Because social learning theory predicts behavior re- sulting from imitation, it is especially applicable to learn- ing by observation of either a live or a filmed model. According to Bandura (1977), children's learning will be affected by observation of the reward-cost contingencies associated with the model's behavior. Observation of tele- vised models may impact on learning in two ways: (1) it may provide new behaviors for the child's repertoire; and (2) it may induce the child to perform or not perform certain be- haviors based on consequences portrayed. Greatest impact is 7 to be expected when (1) models and behaviors are perceived to be realistic; (2) models are positively reinforced for their behaviors; (3) motives for aggression are portrayed as legitimate and justified; and (4) the child is attentive to the stimulus and retains that information. *During the past two decades, hundreds of studies were conducted to investigate the effects of viewing televised or filmed violence on aggressive "modeling" behavior in chil- dren. Early work (Bandura, 1963; Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1963; Hicks, 1965) demonstrated that young children imitate specific aggressive acts following observation of a filmed model behaving aggressively,especially if the model is re- warded in some way for the behavior. In a typical study, children exposed to a filmed model were as likely to imitate the aggressive behaviors portrayed as another group of chil- dren who had observed a live model engaged in the same aggres— sive activity. Both treatment groups typically displayed more aggressive imitation than a control group receiving no exposure. Reviewing the literature in this area, Atkin, Murray and Nayman (1971) provided the following overview: _ More than 20 published experiments show 1' that children are capable of imitating filmed violence, although a variety of situational and personal factors combine with exposure to determine actual imitation. Another 30 published experiments indicate that violence viewing increases the likeli- hood of subsequent aggressive behavior, at least in the laboratory context (p. 23).' 8 In accordance with the previous summary statement, the Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Tele- vision and Social Behavior (1972) expressed the following conclusion regarding television violence: There is a convergence of the fairly substantial experimental evidence for short-run causation of aggression among some children by viewing violence on the screen and the much less certain evidence from field studies that extensive violence viewing precedes some long-run manifesta- tions of aggressive behavior (p. 10). Although the terminology contained in this summary report has been criticized for being ambiguous and heavily- tqualified, the conclusion reached is no less important: '1. av. exposure to television violence may result in increased ag- gression in some children under some circumstances. Given the sheer volume of violent television content discussed earlier, the potential for inclusion of violent behaviors in a child's personal repertoire is very great indeed. ;,x" Changing Attitudes toward Television To effectively mediate the potentially harmful effects of television, consideration must be given to the child's basic liking for the medium. Children who express negative affect toward the medium would not be expected to watch as much as children who genuinely lite television. For this reason, the theoretical framework for development of the intervention strategy tested in this study is most closely aligned with the literature on attitude development and change. 9 Three general goals were provided for development of instructional modules: 1) The curriculum intervention should make students aware of their current viewing patterns and attitudes toward television violence. 2) The curriculum intervention should decrease liking for television violence; and 3) The curriculum intervention should result in decreased viewing of tele- vision violence. These goals correspond to the conceptualization of "attitude" developed by Rosenberg and Hovland (1960). Specifically, three component dimensions of attitude are incorporated into the construct: (l) a cognitive or belief dimension; (2) an affective or liking dimension; and (3) a behavioral dimension. The cognitive component takes the form of belief statements the individual makes regarding the stimulus object (e.g., beliefs the child holds about tele- vision content or about possible effects from viewing such content). The affective component refers to emotional re- sponses to the stimulus, such as expression of liking for the stimulus or sympathetic nervous system responses (e.g., arousal produced by television content or expressions of liking for that content). Finally, the behavioral component of attitude refers to overt actions regarding the stimulus object or verbal statements of behavioral intentions related to that object (e.g., actual viewing of violent television 10 or predictions about future viewing patterns). Because atti- tudes are conceptualized as learned predispositions rather than innate (Zimbardo, Ebbesen, and Maslach, 1977), they are subject to change as a result of new information. Consequent- ly, learning plays a central role in any attitude change theory. According to Zimbardo, et_gt., "all the techniques relevant to learning any material should be relevant to learning and changing attitudes" (p. 21). Although a number of persuasive strategies and theories have been presented in the literature (see Schachter and Singer, 1962; Kiesler and Kiesler, 1969; Abelson and Karlins, 1970), two approaches appear especially well-suited to the goal of changing attitudes toward television violence: (1) providing the child with E2! information regarding violent content; and (2) creating dissonance for the child by point- ing out inconsistencies in his or her present attitudes toward television violence. The first approach is most closely associated with educational strategies (Treffinger, Davis and Ripple, 1977). The teacher is established, by social convention, as the "credible source" in the classroom. From that status posi— tion, he or she transmits knowledge or information to the students. This information may take at least two forms: (1) factual or value-free (e.g., the sum of "2+2" or the longitude and latitude of Sydney, Australia); and (2) value- based information (e.g., the opinion that violent shows are ll inappropriate for children or the social mgté that harming others is inapprOpriate in most circumstances). Both types of information have potential for inducing attitude change. Bettinghaus (1972) described this potential for change in terms of "reference frames." As the child acquires new information about his or her world, this information is assimilated into a cognitive structure--the reference frame-- which organizes the information and, subsequently, guides perception. The nature of the new information about a stimu- lus and the degree of complexity of the reference frame re- lated to that stimulus impact on attitude change in the following ways: 1) If the individual's frame of reference is extensive and relatively complete, new information that is contrary to that frame will produce few noticeable changes in behavior.... 2) If a frame of reference is extensive and relatively complete, new information that is not contrary to the frame serves to strengthen the frame.... 3) If an individual's frame of reference is sketchy and still incomplete, new infor- mation contrary to the frame serves further to increase the entropy, or un- certainty level that the individual holds toward the message.... 4) If a frame of reference is sketchy and incomplete, new information that is not contrary to the frame serves to decrease entrOpy or uncertainty about the frame. The new information may serve to complete the frame... (Bettinghaus, 1972, pp. 32- 33). 12 Applying the above principles to the problem at hand, it would appear that new information about television--infor- mation which expresses negative affect toward aggression on television--cannot be expected to readily result in attitude change. Depending upon the developmental level of the child's cognitive structure (Piaget, 1952) and the experience the child has had with television, the child's reference frame regarding television violence will be more or less extensive. Assuming that most children begin regular viewing by the age of five or six (Schramm, Lyle and Parker, 1961), considerable information regarding that medium should have accrued by age nine. For children who are heavy viewers of violent tele- vision, affect toward the medium tends to be highly positive (Baker and Ball, 1969); information contained in a curriculum intervention program would run counter to those attitudes. Clearly, such counter information must be well-supported by evidence credible to the child and presented with considerable frequency to be effective (Zimbardo, Ebbesen and Maslach, 1977). A second approach to attitude change--arousal of cog- nitive dissonance--should supplement the mere presentation of new information regarding aggression on television. Accord- ing to early work by Festinger (1957), "dissonance" results whenever two stimuli are perceived to be inconsistent or inversely related. Cognitive dissonance is especially preva- lent in any situation in which an individual must make a l3 choice between two beliefs, consumer goods, behaviors, or related stimuli. Selection of one necessarily precludes selection of the other. Similarly, inconsistencies are always present in an individual's cognitive "map of reality," but this information is not dissonance-arousing until he or she is made aware of the disparity. In a classic study with college students, Rokeach (Rokeach and Rothman, 1965) demonstrated that recognition of such inconsistency can result in attitude change which is both dramatic and enduring. Following a pretest of student attitudes toward "equality" and "freedom," Rokeach reported to the class that many students had ranked "equality" as their first priority while at the same time ranking "freedom" much lower and indicating little interest in "civil rights activities." Several weeks later, a posttest indicated a shift in attitudes in favor of freedom and civil rights demon- strations--an indication that attitudes were changed in response to a need for dissonance reduction. This attitude change was found to persist to an even larger degree three months later. The notion of introducing dissonance into the system is well-suited to classroom instruction. Assuming that the teacher is well-liked and perceived to be a credible informa- tion source (Schmuck and Schmuck, 1975), information present- ed by the teacher which is inconsistent with beliefs possess- ed by the child should be dissonance-arousing. Furthermore, A\ \l \‘ /, \.._/ through interaction with the child, the teacher is often able to point out areas of inconsistency in the child's thinking or actions. With regard to the problem at hand, pertinent infor- mation may take many forms: (1) viewing of televised vio- lence can be harmful to children; (2) television portrayals of aggressive behaviors do not depict real life; (3) modeling certain behaviors seen on television may result in injury; or (4) violence on television is merely a dramatic device for creating and holding interest. For children whose reference frames regarding television are incomplete, such information would be novel and would, therefore, have potential for atti- tude formation. For those children who see no harm in view- ing television violence, who believe television portrayals to reflect reality, and so on, such counter-information could be dissonance-arousing. Finally, for the child who believes that viewing violence can be harmful but watches anyway or who agrees that modeling is inappropriate but c0pies his or her favorite television character nonetheless, such informa- tion should be especially dissonance-arousing. Presentation of novel or inconsistent information may not suffice to change attitudes, however. Some consideration must be given to differential abilities and entry level skills present in the classroom situation. Discussing why learning takes place in some instances and not in others, Bettinghaus (1972) presented the following 15 variables involved in responding to a message: 1) Individuals differ in their ability to respond. 2) Individuals differ in their readiness to respond. 3) Individuals differ in their motivation to respond. 4) Reinforcement is helpful in establishing a response. 5) In learning, active participation is better than passive participation. 6) Meaningful responses are learned more easily than meaningless ones (pp. 36-39). Naturally, individual differences are an important consideration in the classroom, especially differences in mastery levels and cognitive abilities prior to instruction (De Cecco, 1968). Such differences are difficult to antic- ipate when designing a curriculum intended for short duration, however. Of special importance are items 4, 5, and 6, be- cause they provide prescriptions applicable to the classroom situation as a whole. In presenting information about vio- lence on television to the class, gt tggst two goals should be met: (1) some degree of dissonance should be created regarding the students' cognitive pictures of television; and (2) positive consequences of acting on the new information should be made apparent (i.e., reinforcement should be pro- vided for adOption of the new beliefs presented; see also Bandura, 1977). To foster adOption of the new information, children should be actively engaged in some form of r 16//2 participatory learning experiEHce; that is, children should be provided with hands-on experience with the new ideas pre- sented to them (see also Schmuck and Schmuck, 1975). Further, the students should be provided with information in a form that is both relevant and meaningful to their daily activi- ties. Abstract information, terminology, and activities can- not be expected to result in optimal conditions for attitude formation 0 nge. /,/ -x \ /5Ifi summary, there are a number of issues which must be considéredwprifir to development of an instructional module aimed at attitude development and change./(Eif§t7fit‘is ' - ./ attitudes characteristic of the audience interestI/as Portant for the teacher or researcher to(::aitgte present well as entry level skills pertinent to the subject matter. In this way, he or she obtains information nesteg110fldeter_ mine which aspects of the intervention will provide new .fl -——-~"’“'”~ information and which will provide information counter to I ,, -Mmlllllsil present attitudes, providing a stimulus for dissonance- arousal gt resistance to the message. Next, this information should be packaged in a form which is both interesting and meaningful to the age group of interest. Given the basic activities, strategies should be developed for actively engaging students in participation, and provision should be made for positive reinforcement for such participation. Before any of the above goals can be reasonably met, however, it is necessary to consider the general cognitive limitations and abilities of the audience of primary interest. 17 Of particular relevance in this area is the work Of Jean Piaget. Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget As mentioned earlier with regard to reference frames, cognitive development is an important issue in the acquisi- tion of information. The theory Of cognitive development advanced by Piaget is especially appealing because Of its generality and consequent applicability to virtually all children. Furthermore, its heuristic value has given direc- tion to researchers in allied areas, particularly education and moral develOpment. Piaget argues that cognitive development progresses through four sequential, hierarchical stages: (1) sensi- motor (birth to two years old); (2) preoperational (two to seven years); (3) concrete Operational (seven to eleven years); and (4) formal Operational (eleven years to adult). During the sensimotor stage, the child progresses from an initial dependence on reflex activity to a basic mastery Of psychomotor skills. Although behaviors are totally ego- centric during this phase, the child begins to realize that he or she is one Of many Objects in the environment. The period Of preoperational thought is commonly associated with an evolution from cognitions based primarily on senses and movement to the ability to function using concepts and sym- bols. The child becomes increasingly social toward the end of this period and begins to recognize that others have 18 Opinions and needs which may differ from his or her own. The move to concrete Operations permits the child to deal logically with problems for the first time and to make decisions based on symbolic representations of concrete problems. A concrete Operation involves under- lying systems Of thought; e.g., classifi- cation, seriation, numbering, combining, separating, repeating, dividing, and sub- stituting . . . but these can be applied only to Objects considered real (concrete), and not to hypothetical Objects; i.e., the internal manipulations of Objects that are, or have been, perceived (Stewart, 1973, pp. II-48-49). Finally, during the stage Of formal Operations, the child becomes cognitively able to solve all classes Of problems, concrete and symbolic. Structures Of intelligence do not improve after this period; the child has attained the struc- tural equipment equivalent tO that Of an adult. Although Piaget did not intend his theory to be a guiding principle for education, many others have adapted his original work tO meet this end (Wadsworth, 1971; Sigel and Cocking, 1977). The relevance Of the theory lies in its ability to predict the develOpmental stage most appropriate for specified instructional goals and Objectives. Teaching motor skills such as hand - eye coordination would be most apprOpriate during the sensimotor stage; teaching concepts which require adoption Of another's point Of view would probably not be possible in either the sensimotor or pre- operational stages. 19 Since the curriculum strategy discussed herein requires--at the very 1east--the ability to recognize atti- tudes of self and others, children at developmental levels lower than concrete Operational would probably not possess the requisite skills. Since the other variable Of importance is degree Of completeness Of the reference frame associated with television, children in the formal Operations phase may have attitudes tOO firmly established to make much change possible. It would appear that the concrete Operational or very early formal Operational stages Of cognitive development would be best—suited tO such an intervention strategy (fourth, fifth and sixth grades). Summary v’Three theoretical areas would appear to be of special importance to the design Of an in-school intervention strat- egy focused on children's learning from television violence: (1) social learning theory; (2) attitude formation and change theories; and (3) Piaget's theory Of cognitive development. Social learning theory describes the process through which exposure to television violence leads to aggressive behavior and, as such, provides the dependent variables Of interest to this study. Theories Of attitude development and change explain how information acquired in the classroom can influence a child's attitudes, and helps to predict when such a change is most likely to occur. Finally, considera- tion Of develOpmental stages Of cognition provides 20 information regarding the appropriateness of a specific age group for the Objectives Of an intervention strategy. Figure 1.1 diagrams the Specific input provided by each Of the three theoretical areas just discussed and defines the steps taken to design the instruction modules to be presented in Chapter II. 866E =3:ng mo :3me 68 6:66 ASSESS. A A 8:96 6.436663 69.9.8 695364 «86 gflgom 6336.6 . e 32803268 9:863 65 Shag 633 6636HH6> MO .5362 63» 66.8. 66965 656369: fl cfiofimfi 93 can. 866m 633960 63.3: Ixm 6Q 3500 56.3: 6950650 :08 m0 @565. 6.6563 63.36650 mo 60363.6...86mm . poem“; , .669 Sub 8H§H> 668.). 8 326m a sham Hflmimwumwm 66150650 no 6669605 53.x? ”50569 69 6.396663 05 66636668 6:6 64.5566 63868.5 3 396080 mo 6036OHMHO6mm I .638 6838 96 69... £689 3.689 no 8386668 69 3 «6569.60 65 How 4 3368.339” £5631 6636893 6605 696.5 66.333 666 656096 65 no 606% £6.55 63 66. no 83866868 6968 So no 83636686 8386> 60 838666.668 L a hmoaozhommm 6836658 . @065. gang H6floom CHAPTER II THE MEDIATION STRATEGY AND CURRICULUM MODULES This chapter will examine the empirical literature pertaining to mediation of television and will detail the two curriculum modules used in the experimental study. Hy— potheses associated with each module will also be presented. Mediating the Impact of Television Violence Evidence is beginning to accumulate which suggests that social or parental intervention may be effective in mediating the negative impact of television violence on young viewers (Chaffee and Tims, 1976; Atkin and Greenberg, 1977; Anderson and Ploghoft, 1977). In particular, three aspects of parent-child interaction may play an important role in this mediation process: (1) on-going attitudes and behaviors regarding aggression; (2) parental control over viewing; and (3) parental interpretation of television vio- lence. With regard to social intervention, a number of our— ricular approaches are currently being assessed for potential utility. The rationale for intervention via the school system stems from empirical support for the efficacy of parental influence. Both forms of mediation are 22 23 discussed in the following sections. Parental Mediation. Because the family environment is an important source of social information for the young child, it follows that family attitudes and interaction patterns should impact on the acquisition of aggressive be- haviors. In their survey of adolescent television use, McLeod, étkin, and Chaffee (1972) found that, when parental emphasis on nonaggression was present, the expected relation- ship between high violence viewing and aggression was greatly diminished. In a similar study, Dominick and greenberg_ (1972) found family attitudes toward aggressive behavior to be the most consistent predictors of aggressive attitudes in children. In middle-class homes, ambiguous family attitudes toward aggression, in combination with high violence viewing, resulted in the highest correlations with measures of aggression. Another area of potential influence is the degree to which parents control their children's viewing. At least three strategies come to mind: (1) restricting certain types of programs or specific shows deemed too violent; (2) en- couraging children to view pro-social programs; and (3) designating time limits for television viewing. Research evidence suggests that such control is neither widespread nor consistent, however (Hanneman, Dordick, et_a1., 1976). Where control does exist, it is most commonly in the form of rules about how late to watch (Greenberg, Ericson and Vlahos, 1972). 24 Finally, parents may mediate the impact of violent television by responding to or interpreting such content for their children. Possible strategies include the following: 1) explaining the nonrealistic nature of television portrayals; 2) pointing out eventual negative con- sequences of violent acts; 3) interpreting the motives behind the violent actions portrayed; 4) expressing disapproval of televised violence; and 5) encouraging pro-social modeling and warning against aggressive modeling (Atkin and Greenberg, 1977). Such interpretation and evaluation strategies have received considerable empirical support in recent years. In an investigation of the impact of Sesame Street, Ball and Bogatz (1972) found that children who viewed and dis- cussed content with parents learned and retained more than children viewing alone. “htkin and Greenberg (1977) report- ed that children whose parents make comments oriented to- ward minimizing the influence of televised violence have children who behave less aggressively than children whose parents do not make such comments. Further, their study indicated that parental comments aimed at maximizing pro- social impact were positively correlated to children's altruism and affection. A recent unpublished study by this author (with Greenberg and Atkin, 1978) indicated that 25 children's learning about family roles from television is directly affected by the valence of parental comments re- garding the medium. Naturally, most parental mediation of television is an outgrowth of on-going parent-child interaction, not a mediation strategy, per se. Nonetheless, such empirical findings provide support for the notion that some form of intervention can be effective in minimizing children's learning of aggressive behaviors from television and conse- quent modeling of such behaviors. Social Mediation. A number of special interest groups have emerged in response to the controversy over vio- lence on television. In recent years, primary goals of such groups have been to create awareness of the problem in the general population and, subsequently, to put pressure on the television industry for change. Among the most active of these groups are the following: Action for Children's Tele- vision (Boston); National Association for Better Broadcast— ing (Los Angeles); Committee on Children's Television (San Francisco); Citizens Communication Center (Washington, D.C.); and United Church of Christ, Office of Communication (New York).§nypical protestations to broadcasters have resulted / x in a minimal decline in the amount of aggression portrayed on television, however (Greenberg, Korzenny, and Fernandez- Collado, forthcoming; Gerbner, 1978). 26 Current interest in social mediation has taken the form of curriculum intervention strategies aimed at teaching children to be more critical, responsible consumers of tele- vision.. Although most of the major projects are in the planning phase at this time, the expressed goals and objec- tives have particular relevance for this study. Six of these projects are discussed in the following sections. 1. Murray and Ahammer Interested in the nature of altruism and the ways in which it might be fostered in young children, Murray and Ahammer (1977) experimentally tested four training programs, each designed to teach altruism at the preschool level. The four programs were implemented in combination with two con- trol groups to form the experimental design. In the first training program, children engaged in a variety of tasks which required assuming another's point of view, but no effort was made to highlight emotional awareness. In the second group, training was similar, except for the addition of empathy. The third condition contained elements of the prior two but added the opportunity for the child to engage in helping activities. Finally, the fourth training program focused on pro-social television programs. Children in this group received no formal instruction but were exposed to a diet of regular television fare. Shows selected for this treatment were determined to be high in concern for others, sympathy, task persistence and other pro-social behaviors but 27 low in all forms of anti-social behavior. The two control conditions consisted of one group which viewed neutral tele- vision--lacking both pro-social and anti-social content to any important degree--and another group which received the pretest and posttest measures only. All treatment groups were found to impact on children's expression of altruism, with the condition stressing both cognitive and social aspects of altruistic behavior resulting in the greatest posttest change. The authors concluded that altruism among preschool children is dependent upon the child's understanding of complex social and cognitive skills: (1) understanding that others have feelings and perceptions different from one's own; (2) showing concern for the feel- ings of others; (3) expressing willingness to aid others; and (4) displaying knowledge about the appropriate course of action that will aid the other (p. 8). Even viewing pro- social television was found to have an impact, albeit weaker, on development and expression of altruistic behavior. !. m r", . I 5 / : . V 1 ’ i _ w' ‘ l ' -‘ : in“ v (ffifl'A 2. Doolittle .I H ‘ I l I ‘ h I '4 ‘ '4'. .- - . r” ; N.LL Al x j--. Results of a more tentative experimental test of a curriculum intervention were reported by Doolittle (1977). The general goal of the curriculum was tthelp children c0pe with the effects of television. {In particular, two modules - ! J- _.. ' were designed to do the following: "‘”m3“ J""w 2 F . . . 13 'qi ~mrhelp children cope With Violence on tele- _ . vision by providing them with an orienta- ’“VHHIV tion toward this type of television,content. I -" —. . 28 ;A In effect, the goal of the study wasgto test the feasibility of improving Chil- dren' 3 television or media 'literacy' . (introduction). , ;_ a ’ ‘ . . . g 7"}:0. .. ‘1 X «a: 47‘“: M ‘ ' Of special interest to Doolittle's intervention were two variables: (1) arousal produced by viewing violent con- tent; and (2) the child's perceived reality of television portrayals. According to the théoretidal model presented, television viewing produces arousal (the intervening con- dition) which is either facilitated or inhibited by the amount of perceived reality of the content (contingent con- dition). The greater the perceived reality, the greater the probability that arousal will be expressed aggressively. {if 1"} ?:-4' The theoretical intent of the Curriculum was to "inoculate" children against the potentially harmful effects of television by building up their defenses prior to exposure? g}\This approach was based on data from inoculation studies by l\ McGuire (1964) in which respondents were found to build re- sistance to attitude change following mrld "attacks" on cur- ? rently held cultural truisms. ) The basic gprOposition predicts a decrease in persuasibility following such an immunization treatment. Specifically, it was predicted that demonstrating to children the unrealistic nature of television drama would (1) reduce the probability of aggressive behavior following viewing of aggressive content; and (2) lower levels of arous- a1 related to viewing of such content. 29 . Two pilot study modules were developed to test the feasibility of such a curriculum intervention. In Study One, the immunization treatment took the form of assertions by the experimenter that the violence observed on television should not be applied to real life situations. Reasons provided for rejecting violent solutions to conflict were the following: 1) violence on television is unrealistic because we rarely see its harmful ef- fects, such as serious injuries or aggressors going to jail; 2) violence often instigates greater violence in retaliation; and 3) violence is not the best way to handle most confrontations (p. 26). Fifteen nine-year-old boys were assigned to three treatment groups: (1) violent film plus immunization mes- sage; (2) violent film without immunization; and (3) neutral film--control. Following the immunization message (if appli- cable) and exposure to a violent or nonviolent film, the boys were frustrated by a confederate in their attempts to perform a simple task. Later, the subjects rated the con- federate using a paper-and-pencil aggression scale. Obtain- ed results were not statistically significant, but changes were in the expected direction. Subjects in the condition which received immunization messages prior to the violent film displayed less aggression than subjects in the condition which saw only the violent film. Naturally, the small sample 30 size detracted considerably from the power of the experi- mental test. Study Two examined the potential applicability of the second module involving two types of immunization techniques: cognitive and behavioral. Cognitive treatments stressed the disparity between television portrayals and events in real life, especially with regard to consequences of violent acts. The behavioral treatments were comprised of role-playing activities in which subjects acted out conflict situations using violence as the solution to the problem. Following the activity, alternative methods of conflict-resolution were discussed. Due to small sample size and lack of a control group, results of this second pilot study are largely incon- clusive. Pretest/postest differences scores indicated some decrease in inclination toward verbal aggression, but no decrease was reported for physical aggression. 3. Roberts A third study of importance focused on teaching children to discern the intent and persuasive techniques characteristic of advertisements for breakfast cereals, toys, junk food, and similar products directed at young television viewers (1978). Roberts, a researcher at Stanford University, experimentally tested the effectiveness of two fifteen- minute films for teaching children about television adver- tising. In the first test, a sample of fourth, sixth and eighth graders was assigned to two treatment groups. One 31 group was exposed to the instructional film ("The $6 Billion Sell"), and the other group saw some unrelated films. Both groups were surveyed regarding television viewing habits, parental control over viewing, and attitudes toward tele- vision advertising. Ten days after viewing the film, both groups were shown a series of five television commercials and asked to analyze them with regard to believability of the claims, quality of the product, and honesty of the pre- sentation. Children exposed to the instructional film were found to be significantly more skeptical of the television ads than were children in the control group. This finding was especially true for fourth graders. In a modified replication of the first study, three groups were formed using younger children--second, third and fifth graders. One group saw "The $6 Billion Sell," a second group saw another instructional film ("See Through Commercials"), and the third group served as the control, viewing several unrelated films. Both instructional films were judged to be effective in mediating the effects of tele- vision advertising, although different aspects of the process were stressed in each. Of particular interest is the con- clusion that both films had greatest impact on heavy tele- vision viewers, presumably because the heavy viewer is initially the least skeptical of the medium. 32 4. Anderson and Ploghoft The most comprehensive curriculum intervention available to date was developed by Anderson and Ploghoft (1977) in conjunction with Ohio University's Broadcast Center and Cooperative Center for Social Studies. Six instructional modules are available for implementation at the elementary level, and related materials have been intro- duced across a range of grade levels from early elementary to undergraduate college. DevelOpment of these materials has been on-going since 1970. Design of individual curriculum modules and materials was guided by the following six instructional goals: 1) To raise the levels of understanding about the nature and uses of tele- vision in the U.S. 2) To provide the young person with analytical tools that will be useful in the evaluation of the content of entertainment programming, so that the young viewer will be increasingly sensitive to those uses of violence and explicit sex which contribute little or nothing to the development of a plot, to the reasonable resolution of a prob- lem, or to the esthetic quality of a program. 3) To provide youngsters with concepts and skills that enable them to analyze the persuasive messages of commercials; to discriminate between product appeals and affective appeals; and to become sensi- tive of the subtle persuaders.... 4) To provide youngsters with concepts that will enable them to use television news with understanding of its limitations, to understand that television news can not offer the referability, the depth, or 33 the scope of print news. The young viewer will see considerable violence and conflict in television news; the peaceful, harmonious aspects of the news do not offer the action, excite- ment, and entertainment that popular television seems to demand. 5) To provide youngsters with the oppor- tunity to learn about their own per- sonal uses of television; what they like and dislike, how much they watch, when they watch, why they watch. Tele- vision self-awareness with youngsters. 6) To prepare young viewers to identify the value conflicts that are imbedded in much entertainment program content, and to provide experiences in value clari- fication and the consideration of reason- able alternatives to the problem solutions presented in television programs (p. 13). As such, the overall curriculum package deals with a wide range of topics associated with social learning from television and utilization of the medium for information and entertainment. The curriculum also promotes learning about the individual child's habits and preferences associated with television programming, the underlying assumption being that self-awareness is a necessary precursor to change. Following the basic instructional goals detailed above, five major skill areas were identified: I. Comprehending the Message Grasping the meaning of the message Comprehending language discriminately Comprehending images discriminately Interpreting "hidden" meanings Specifying the working element of the message Understanding to whom the message is directed 34 II. Perceiving the Elements of the Message Noting details of the message Noting sequence of the elements Perceiving relationship of elements Identifying character traits Noting integration of aural and visual elements III. Evaluating the Message Assignment of credibility to statements Identifying fact, Opinion, imaginative writing and images Identifying affective appeals Evaluating logic, reasoning, and "montaged" relationships IV. Reacting to the Message Personally Recognizing intended affective re- actions and motives Relegating personal value (utility) to the message Identifying emotional satisfactions and their sources Relating other experiences to message Drawing conclusions, inferences, or predictions - V. Comprehending the Impact of the Medium Understanding the role of television in one's life and impact of this role on message Understanding impact of television gua institution on message (1977, pp. Combining behavioral objectives with the instruction- al objectives, six curricular modules were created for im- plementation at the elementary level. These modules were designed to be presented sequentially in conjunction with the basic elementary curriculum. 35 Module 1 is based on a textbook entitled, Television and You. In all, seven tOpics related to television are discussed: (1) the mechanics behind the medium--how it "works"; (2) the origin of programming; (3) the intent and function of commercials; (4) the nature of news programs; (5) the potential effects of television on the student; (6) ways in which the student can influence television program- ming; and (7) the nature and utility of cable television. In Module 2, students complete a nine-day diary of television viewing and report their motivations for watch- ing. The outcome of this experience is a personal case study narrative which describes the individual child's uses and gratifications related to the medium. In Module 3, students learn how to identify value- laden statements made in the context of "plot-based" enter- tainment programs (as Opposed to variety shows, for example). The child is given the opportunity to identify such state- ments and code them using a provided coding scheme. Class discussion centers on determining the consequences of adopting values advocated in such programming. Module 4 deals with the persuasive elements inherent in television commercials. Two commercials were prepared especially for this module--one stressing rational appeals and the other, emotional appeals. Students have the oppor- tunity to compare the approaches and draw conclusions about persuasive techniques. 36 In Module 5, students discuss the role of news and documentaries in American society. In particular, atten- tion is focused on sources of bias in televised news pro- gramming and the ways in which television news reports differ from those of other media. Finally, Module 6 provides guidance in manipulation of videotape equipment and creative expression through that medium. Children learn how to imitate present television programming and then consider alternative, innovative uses of videotape. Assessing the impact of the elementary curriculum, Anderson and Ploghoft (1977) report the following: Early experience with the television viewer skills instructional modules has indicated that there is strong interest in this subject area, and that children ages 10 - l4 possess the capacity to deal with the concepts and skills of the program. In Eugene, Oregon, the modules have been integrated into the regular social studies curriculum where communication, consumerism, and citizenship education interface with the content of the television viewer skills program. In East Syracuse, New York, inte- gration has been with the language arts/com- munication skills program (p. 17). Although the receivership skills program has been introduced into the school systems cited above, evaluation of the program's effectiveness is not presently in published form. Initial feedback regarding the program has been highly favorable, however (Anderson and Ploghoft, 1975). 37 5. National Parent Teachers Association; and 6. Singer and Singer. Two other curriculum projects of considerable mag— nitude are in initial phases of development at the present time. The National Parent Teachers Association is raising funds for the design and implementation of four curricula-- one for kindergarten through second grade, one for grades three through five, a third for grades six through eight, and the fourth for high school students. Three years have been allocated for design, field testing and implementation of the program; the materials will be disseminated national- ly at the end of that time period. According to a UPI description of the proposed curricula, The curriculum material will be fashioned to educate youth about the operation of the television industry and the problems and challenges faced by the industry. Technical film methods will be re- viewed, with particular emphasis on the use of the camera to create an image, convey an emotion and imply a value. Materials will include lesson plans, discussion questions, instructions for script deve10pment and videotapes of actual programs and interviews with members of the television industry (Detroit Free Press, 3/29/78). The second major curriculum project is being develOped by Singer and Singer, two Yale researchers, in conjunction with Yale's Family Television Research and Consultation Center. The expressed goal of the eight-lesson course to be implemented at the third through fifth grade levels is to 38 shift the emphasis of children's viewing of television from essentially a passive role to a more active, adaptive role (1978). Both the PTA and Yale projects are receiving finan- cial support from national networks--CBS and ABC respectively. Summary. Although the six curriculum intervention projects described above vary in specific approach, all have a common focus: to mediate potentially harmful effects of television violence viewing on young children. The defined approaches require modification, refinement, and experimental testing before claims can be made regarding their efficacy. Nonetheless, all represent innovations in the area of chil- dren's social learning from--and learning about--television. According to Workshop IV of the Television and Children Conference (sponsored by the Ford Foundation, The Markle Foundation, and the National Science Foundation): Basic research is needed to develop the content for a media literacy curriculum. The curriculum could include such subjects as production conventions, analysis of media appeals, the character and role of non-verbal cues . . . major concerns about negative effects of programming, analysis of the values portrayed in television con- tent, standards for criticism of television content. . . . (Ford Foundation, 1976; quoted in Anderson and Ploghoft, 1977, p. 12.) The six curriculum intervention programs, in con- junction with parental mediation strategies discussed earlier, provide the groundwork for the curriculum intervention modules. 39 The Proposed Intervention Strategy The following sections will present the background, goals, objectives and hypotheses associated with the cur- riculum modules. Issues pertaining to the intervention are discussed at three levels: (1) general level goals and objectives; (2) goals and objectives specific to Module I; and (3) goals and objectives specific to Module II. Design and Implementation Considerations. Returning to the earlier discussion of social learning theory, it is necessary to understand how the child acquires knowledge from television before it is possible to design materials which will mediate that learning process. It is also neces- sary to consider cognitive levels and their association with learning. As discussed earlier, Bandura (1977) asserts that a child's learning will be affected by observation of the re- ward-cost contingencies associated with a model's behavior. Observation of televised models may add new behaviors to the child's present repertoire and may suggest those which are and are not appropriate, based on the presence or absence of reinforcement. Greatest impact is likely under the following conditions: 1) when models and behaviors are perceived to be realistic; 2) when models are positively re- inforced for their behaviors; 3) when motives for aggression are portrayed as legitimate and justified; and 40 4) when the child is attentive to the stimulus and retains that information (Bandura, 1977). According to Atkin and Greenberg (1977) TV characters and plotlines provide somewhat ambiguous modeling stimuli for the young viewer, who may have difficulty understanding unclear motives, be unable to link acts and delayed consequences, or be unsure which behaviors should be enacted in real life. This is particularly the case for younger children who are at a relatively unsophisticated stage of cog~‘ nitive development; their capacity to com- prehend and process complex and~subtie sequences portrayed on television is limited by their level of cognitive struc- ture, which progresses from concrete to abstract modes of understanding.and from idiosyncratic to systematic representation- al ability (pp. 4-5). v/’ It would appear that parents or teachers should be able to mediate the impact of television on children most effectively by engaging in activities such as the following: 1) demonstrating the lack of correspondence between television portrayals and real life (i.e., reducing the child's per- ceived reality of television content); 2) pointing out those instances in which a model is punished for behaving aggres- sively on television (e.g., illustrating consequences of anti-social behavior); 3) teaching children that few motives are ever truly justified for physical aggres- sion and other, more suitable, means of conflict—resolution are readily available (referring to principles of moral develop- ment); and ~ 4) providing the child with experience in "dissecting" television episodes into mechanistic and technical productions, rather than exciting storylines. 41 In addition, because Bandura (1977) posits identification with television characters to be rewarding for the child and an important incentive for modeling behaviors associat- ed with that character, a mediation strategy should address the issue of identification.C:§ nally, underlying all strat- egies for mediating the effects of violent television on children is the implicit assumption that the child should be made aware of his or her present attitudes and behaviors re- garding violent television content.wfl.fi {a 4“ Based on previous prescriptions for parental or social mediation, two intervention strategies were designed for introduction into a typical fourth, fifth or sixth grade classroom. Module I--Content Realisme-permits the child to content analyze violent programming in an attempt to dissi- pate identification and perceived reality. Module II-- Decision Making--focuses on the child's present behaviors related to television and reasons behind those behaviors. Grade Levels. Fourth and sixth grades (nine and eleven year olds) were selected for the curriculum inter- vention because they represent the mid-phase of the concrete operational level and beginning phase of the formal Opera- tional level of cognitive development (Piaget, 1952). Chil- dren in lower grade levels may not possess the cognitive skills requisite for an analysis of outcomes, motives and morality (Kohlberg, 1976). Furthermore, research evidence suggests that children in the preoperational and early 42 concrete operational stages may not be capable of compre- hending concepts such as “reality" or "identification," nor can they grasp principles linking such concepts (De Cecco, 1968). On the other hand, older children in the formal operation stage may possess reference frames regarding tele— vision too complete to be easily influenced by the inter- vention, resulting in some learning but no attitude change. Selection of two cognitive levels permits a closer examination of the "fit" between this curriculum interven- tion and cognitive SOphistication. The Mediation Strategy: Goals, Objectives, and Hypotheses. Goals for evaluation of the intervention were provided at two levels: (1) ggneral level goals which would be met by either Module I or Module II instruction; and (2) goals specific E9 the content of individual modules (Content Realism and Decision-Making goals). These goals were then broken down into desired modular outcomes and instructional objectives related to these outcomes. Figure 2.1 presents the schematic relationships among instructional objectives, intervention goals, and the types of assessment associated with each. Beginning at the theoretical level, one module (Con- tent Realism) was designed to incorporate issues central to social learning theory: perceived reality, identification, modeling and consequences/reinforcement. These are the variables of central interest to the parental mediation .503. 5“; 035.033 acne—mama mo mama. 3:035 again“! Eggmfi cosh; name moocflagmcoo 9-... can m3 835335 9:3ng .550 . Sumafiwuafia: a“ . Rifles on E. mgm: {gamma 383952: 95:: 23 150» no 8.3 3- IE EEU ff: 8 9315339. ufisflum 4.” 233m 13035 LEE—9392 mega "ucflzmmwmfl , Bguflfi 2.82m E0353 333 was 9:82 83638 BEES , as 338 we 30% / Q saunas Al ugufifiuz , “.08: .«o nguflfia 3 ugaflfio >33 amigos A. .huoofi. 92:3 150m 8 1.350 353» 83332. £0.33 .«0 Edda—58 Egg 93» A5655 E0: guano $33306 £045 a g gum. 0» 54:21.82 3 .558. E 3 33:2 22.0583 9:3 39. Swap 3&0:qu 939.099,». .0356: mwaguuuw ucmu L09: 89 .3905; mum—floggouucmu cur—u 0.33.39 80: En a. :0 a; ICB Econ "wfimwgim . 96m “3905.5 93¢?! .3905an mag? “51» mo on: 52.: $9.30 mo 9543.23 5950 1.53:8 2. Lisa gunmuzmqoa -- . . . .. £3.35“. 3: 33 AI madam: .goflfi "mg n. . " £339 "a 3:0on BE 44 strategies and curriculum intervention strategies discussed in Chapter I. The second module (Decision-Making) was de- signed to focus on the present attitudes and behaviors of individual children in an attempt to stimulate change. This module built primarily upon the work of Anderson and Ploghoft (1977) regarding self-awareness and self-control. Instructional objectives were written for each module, most pertaining to cognitive or belief changes. Concurrently, expected attitudinal outcomes (cognitive, affective and be- havioral) were posited for each module. As such, two levels of assessment emerged: (1) specific learning, which per- tains to the child's ability to perform specified tasks (see De Cecco, 1968, for a discussion of terminal objectives); and (2) generalized learning, which describes the degree to which the child has incorporated the instruction into his or her attitudes about television and the real world. It is the latter category of learning which provides the central focus for this study. Consider the three examples presented in the diagram. In Example 1, the concept of particular interest is realism, with related concepts being television content, real life behaviors, and consequences of behaviors. The principle to be demonstrated (i.e., the relationship between or among concepts of interest) is that some consequences portrayed on television are fairly realistic, while others are extremely unrealistic. One means of assessing whether or not students 45 learned the principle of interest would be to have them demonstrate skill in classifying videotape segments accord- ing to degree of realism (from "real" to "unreal," for example). Another related assessment might require students to suggest alternate, more realistic, consequences for specific videotaped segments from television. On the general- ized level, the desired outcome would be a decrease in the child's perceived reality of the medium-—at least with re- gard to the portrayal of consequences. That is, this level of assessment would measure the degree to which the child generalizes from specific classroom activities (classifying some subset of television behaviors) to the broader class of stimuli: television behaviors in general. In Example 2, the concepts to be taught are identifi- cation and modeling. The principle of special interest is that modeling the behaviors of aggressive television char— acters can be dangerous. To specifically assess the degree to which students have learned this principle, the child could be asked to give reasons supporting the principle or could provide examples of dangerous consequences. On the generalized level, the expectation would be that the child's desire to model favorite characters will diminish. In the third example, concepts are related to the child's use of free time: importance, leisure-time, activ- ities, and use of time. The principles to be taught are (1) that leisure-time activities 1331 in importance, and (2) that the more important an activity is to an individual, the 46 more time it usually deserves. To assess these principles on the specific learning level, the child could be required to rank order activities by importance and justify his or her ranking. On the generalized level, the expectation would be a reallotment of leisure-time in accordance with stated importance of activities. That is, increased time should be devoted to highly-ranked activities, with a sub- sequent decrease in time allocated to those activities re- ceiving low ranks. As indicated by the two boxes on the right-hand side of the diagram, all instruction should eventually lead to attainment of the two general level goals: decreased liking’ and decreased viewing of violent television. Objectives, activities, and generalized level hypoth- eses are presented in the following sections. General level goals are presented first, followed by Module I and Module II goals. General Level. At the general or most abstract level, goals of the intervention pertain to children's atti- tudes toward viewing of television violence: 1) The child will enjoy viewing violent content less; and 2) The child will actually View fewer hours of such violent content. Since both instructional modules focus on the undesirability of violence on television, it was felt that each should 47 contribute in some way to attainment of the general goals, without addressing either specifically. In essence, attain- ment of these two goals represents the ultimate test of success for any curriculum intervention strategy of this nature. The hypotheses associated with the general level goals are the following: H1: Children exposed to either Module I or Module II instruction (or both) will eXpress less liking for violent segments of television programming than children receiving no instruction. H : Children exposed to either Module I or Module II instruction (or both) will view less violent content than children recéiving no instruction. Module I: Content Realism. The central focus of Module I is on the perception of "reality" a child is likely to hold if he or she believes the world to be accurately de- picted by television (i.e., if his or her perceived reality of television is high). The overall goal for this module is to teach children that television does not usually present people, situations and problem solutions realistically-- especially where consequences of violent acts are concerned. The underlying mediation strategy for this module is to permit the child to consciously compare segments from television with information about the real world. The de- sired outcome is to create enough dissonance in the child's mind to force him or her to devalue television as an 48 accurate source of real-world information. Five objectives were written to deal with content realism, covering the following four conceptual areas: 1) the degree to which individuals, 2) 3) 4) problems and consequences are portrayed realistically on television; the degree to which the frequency of violence on television (e.g., murders, robberies, assaults) cor- responds to incidence of violence in real life: the potential harm involved in modeling aggressive behaviors observed on television; and alternatives to the use of violence in conflict situations. These objectives and the activities and hypotheses associat- ed with each will be discussed in the remainder of this section. Activities are presented in greater detail in Appendix A. Objective 1: Students will make evaluative judgments regarding the realism depicted in selected television segments. Specific assessment: Students will rate realism of consequences of violent acts portrayed in terms of the following: a) effect on the victim b) effect on the aggressor c) effect on the families of each (if applicable) Objective 1 addresses the perceived reality issue at the situational level. Children are led to think about the 49 degree to which television omits consequences of violent acts in specific situations. In the classroom, students view selected segments involving such omissions and discuss possible alternative outcomes not shown. Since the activity is essentially tied to viewing of a specific segment or situation from television, the hypothesis (or generalized learning assessment) associated with this objective also relates to viewing: H3: Children exposed to Module I instruction will rate a violent scene from videotape as lower in perceived reality than children receiving no instruction. As discussed earlier, the hypothesis is framed at a more general level than the module objective, the assumption being that the child will generalize from a series of con- crete examples of nonrealistic consequences to the broader theoretical concept of television reality. Objective 2: Students will demonstrate knowledge that the frequency of anti-social behaviors on television is not commensurate with real-life behaviors. Specific assessment: Students will count the number of violent acts in a segment from television and state the relationship of this frequency to real world violence. Thiéobjective addresses the issue of real world and television world comparisons. Television has been found to distort reality for the heavy viewers by placing exaggerated 50 emphasis on novel, exciting, controversial or violent fare to the relative exclusion of the more mundane day-to-day activities¢(Lovibond, 1967; Bogart, 1969; Rabinovitch, 1972; Gerbner, 1978). Given the findings of content analy— ses described earlier (Greenberg, Atkin, Edison and Korzenny, 1977; Gerbner, l978),mif the child is consuming high levels of aggressive.ao§%ggt, the reasonable assump- tion is that the child is viewing a television world full of beatings, robberies and murderuglgai: second objective attempts to impress upon the child the degree to which tele- vision presents an inordinate amount of physical aggression. To do so, children are asked to estimate the frequency of violent acts that occur in their community within a week. Following discussion, the teacher presents the number of violent crimes portrayed in a "typical" week of television in contrast to the number of violent crimes occurring in a "typical" week in a large city. During the activity, stu- dents are provided with a coding form and are inStructed to "count" the number of violent acts within a vision. Two hypotheses are associated with this objective: H : Children exposed to Module I 4 . . . . . instruction will indicate greater awareness g: exaggerated incidence g: violence on television than children receiving no instruction. H : Children exposed to Module I instruction will perceive less violence $3 the real world than children receiving no instruction. 51 Essentially, the research hypotheses examine a two-stage process. First, the child recognizes that there is a dis- parity between television portrayals and the incidence of violence in real life. In turn, the child should alter his or her perceptions of the real world in response to that disparity. Objective 3: Students will demonstrate knowl- edge that some television por- trayals of physical aggression are more realistic than others. Specific assessment: Students will classify television segments containing physical aggression on a continuum from "real" to "unreal" in terms of each of the following: a) attributes of characters b) behaviors portrayed c) situations d) conflicts or problems Objective 3 deals with the general reality of tele- vision portrayals on a number of levels: characters, be- haviors, situations and conflicts. This range of levels pf reali y--from general to specific--is necessary because emr pirical findings suggest that perceived reality is strongest at the individual character level (i.e., the degree to which Kojak or Kotter are perceived to behave as "real" people) and much weaker for television in general (Reeves, 1977; Greenberg and Reeves, 1977). The activity associated with this objective entails viewing segments from videotape and rating them on a scale from "unreal" to "real." The intent is to permit the child to dissect specific segments 52 so that he or she may analyze the literary and mediatory devices which underly them. Four hypotheses regarding per- ceived reality are associated with this teaching objective: H6: Children exposed to Module I instruction will express lower per- ceived reality of television i2 general than children receiving no instruction. Children exposed to Module I instruction will express lower per- ceived reality of problems, conse- quences and/or behaviors presented on television than children receiv- ing no instruction. Children exposed to Module I instruction will express lower per- ceived reality of specific television characters than children receiving no instruction. H : Children exposed to Module I instruction will express lower per- ceived reality of specific television scenes than children receiving no instruction. Although all the above hypotheses deal with the issue of perceived reality of television, each looks at a different level of this variable. Hypothesis 6 pertains to reality of the medium as a whole; Hypothesis 7 considers perceived reality of a class of activities presented on television (behaviors, problems and consequences); and Hypothesis 8 and Hypothesis 9 predict changes in very specific aspects of the medium--specific characters and specific situations. Objective 4: A) Students will demonstrate understanding of the concept "identification"; 53 B) Students will explain why modeling behaviors of ag- gressive television char- acters may be harmful to themselves or others. Specific assessment: Students will (a) state the difference between identifying with and modeling all the behaviors of a television character; and (b) identify from a list of behaviors associated with a character those he or she would and would not want to model and will explain u- This objective deals with the problem of identifica- tion, hoping to dissuade children from modeling the behaviors of physically aggressive characters they perceive to be attractive. The activity designed to meet Objective 4 in- volves specification of several characters held in esteem by a majority of the class. Using these characters as examples, the teacher enumerates behaviors commonly associated with each (e.g., fast, wreckless driving with Jim Rockford; phy- sical combat with Starsky and Hutch; daring leaps and jumps with Jaime Sommers). Students discuss personal consequences involved in imitating such behaviors in their daily activities and evaluate the appropriateness of such behaviors in terms of their own experiences. One hypothesis is associated with this objective: H Children exposed to Module I instruction will express less desire to model aggressive television characters than children receiving no instruction. 10‘ 54 Creating a negative attitude toward identification with, and subsequent modeling of, behaviors of television characters is especially important to mediation of anti- social learning from television. As discussed earlier, the more "desirable" or rewarding the child perceives a behavior to be, the more likely that behavior will be internalized. Behaviors associated with valued characters tend to be per- ceived as rewarding to the child (Bandura, 1977). Further, Meyer (1973) found that aggressive behaviors characteristic of certain valued television characters (e.g., the Bionic Woman or the Six Million Dollar Man) may be perceived as pro-social and highly appropriate by virtue of the associa- tion. Objective 5: Students will increase their repertoire of pro-social solu- tions to conflict situations, and will recognize the inter- changeability of such solutions. Specific assessment: Given a television segment in which con— flicts are resolved through phy- sical violence, students will state alternative pro-social means for resolving those conflicts. The intent of this objective is to build the child's pro-social repertoire of problem-solutions and to stress the positive aspects of each. As a result of this discussion, the child should place higher value on pro-social solutions, which require thought and negotiation, than he or she does on anti-social solutions, which require physical strength. 55 The classroom activity consists<1f viewing specific conflict .situations taken from popular programs. The tape is stopped just short of the conflict resolution and students engage in speculation about how the scene might end. After a number I of alternatives have been discussed and evaluated, the re- mainder of the videotape segment is shown. Discussion then centers on the desirability or undesirability of the mode of conflict resolution selected by the program writers and pro- ducer. One hypothesis is associated with this objective: H : Children exposed to Module I instruction will express more positive attitudes toward pro- social solutions to conflict situations than children receiv- ing no instruction. ll For the desired outcome to be obtained, the child must not only verbalize convictions regarding pro-social solutions to problems, but he or she must also apply what has been prac- ticed in front of the television screen to his or her personal life. In summary, Module I attempts to deal with content realism along four conceptual dimensions: 1) reality of portrayals; 2) the disparity between the world of television and the real world; 3) identification with television characters; and 4) modes of conflict resolution por- trayed. 56 The global intent of this module is to decrease the child's perceived reality of television and the degree to which he or she relies on television content for information about the real world. Module II: Decision—Making. The central focus of Module II is on the individual child as a "consumer" of television. Children receiving this curriculum intervention engage in activities geared to the following objectives: 1) making children aware of their tele- vision viewing patterns; 2) making children aware of their reasons for watching television; 3) providing children with the Opportunity to develop decision-making criteria for choosing to watch or not watch; and 4) providing children with the Opportunity to develop decision-making criteria for program selection, given the initial decision to watch. The overall goal for this module is to prompt chil- dren to view television on the basis of deliberate (pre- specified) criteria (e.g., "I watch a show if the preview sounds good" or "I watch a show if a friend tells me it's good") rather than viewing out of boredom or habit. The underlying intervention strategy engages chil- dren in comparing their cognitive and affective orientations toward television with their actual overt behaviors regard- ing the medium. In particular, children are encouraged to define and clarify their reasons or criteria for (l) choosing 57 between television viewing and other valued leisure-time activities; and (2) choosing between violent and non- violent programming after the decision to watch has been made. Specific behavioral objectives and hypotheses are presented below. Objective 1: A) Students will identify activities they engage in daily; B) Students will recognize that some activities are more important to them than others; C) Students will recognize the relative importance of television viewing vis-a- gig other leisure-time activities. Specific assessment: Students will rank-order leisure-time activities, including tele- . vision, from most to least important. Objective 1 predicts a three-stage change in the child's behavior. First of all, the child expresses aware- ness of the activities which currently occupy his or her free time. In the classroom, students discuss leisure-time activities and discuss their preferences for each; tele- vision viewing is included in the set of activities dis- cussed. Through the interaction,_the child is able to identify those activities perceived to be more important or more enjoyable than television watching. The child then compares the amount of time spent involved in each. The 58 desired outcome is a reduction of television viewing in favor of other more valued (and probably less utilized) activities. Four hypotheses are associated with this objective: Children exposed to Module II instruction will perceive tele- vision viewing 39 pg less impor— tant than Children receiVing no instruction. 12 13: Children exposed to Module II instruction will perceive other leisure-time activities 39 pg more important than children receiving no instruction. Children exposed to Module II l4 instruction will allocate less time 39 television viewing than children receiving no instruction. H15: Children exposed to Module II instruction will allocate more time to other lesiure-time activities than children receiv- ing no instruction. Again, the hypotheses are designed to test phases of attitude change. The first two predict a shift in importance from television viewing to other free-time activities; the latter pair test for a change in overt behaviors regarding time allocation. Objective 2: Students will be able to articu- late personal reasons for watching television programs. Specific assessment: Given a list of television shows, students will list personal reasons for viewing those they watch. 59 Objective 2 is directed at teaching children to utilize criteria when selecting television programs, rather than turning on the set as a habitual response. In the classroom, personal reasons for watching television are dis- cussed, with no attempt made to evaluate them as appropriate or inappropriate. During the course of the discussion, the teacher divides the set of obtained responses into two sub- sets: (1) those that indicate viewing out of boredom or habit (e.g., "I watch television because there is nothing else to do" or "I watch because it's on"); and (2) those reasons which indicate some form of decision-making (e.g., "I watch because I like the main characters" or "I watch a show if the preview sounds good"). Two hypotheses are as- sociated with this objective: H Children exposed to Module II instruction will indicate a higher frequency of criteria-based tele- vision vieWing than children receiv- ing no instruction. 16‘ Children exposed to Module II instruction will indicate a lower fre uenc pf habitual viewingthan c i ren receiving no instruction. 17‘ Habitual viewing and criteria-based viewing are assessed in separate hypotheses, because an increase in one does not necessarily require a decrease in the other. Objective 3: Students will be able to articu- late personal reasons for watch- ing violent television programs. 60 Specific assessment: Given a list of television shows containing sub- stantial frequencies of physically aggressive behaviors, students will list personal reasons for viewing those they watch. As a necessary precursor to meeting this objective, the teacher must define and illustrate exactly what is meant by the concept "violence," possibly creating a reinterpre- tation of the child's definition of the content of his or her favorite programs. Reasons for watching violent pro- grams are discussed, and alternative means of reaching the same goals (i.e., entertainment, escape from boredom, ex- citement) are suggested by the teacher. Finally students construct a television guide to help other students not participating in the curriculum determine which shows to watch and which to avoid. Four hypotheses are associated with this objective: H Children exposed to Module II instruction will perceive more violence on television than children Esceiving no instruction. 18‘ H : Children exposed to Module II 19 . . . instruction Will express less desire pg view violent shows than children receiving no instruction. Children exposed to Module II instruction will indicate a higher frequency 9: criteria-based violence viewing than children receiving no instruction. 20‘ 21 Children exposed to Module II instruction will indicate a lower frequency pf habitual violence viewin than children receiving no instruction. 61 Other Research Questions. Because empirical evidence demonstrating the efficacy of such a curriculum intervention strategy is lacking, much of this research deserves examina- tion from a purely exploratory viewpoint. In particular, one research question will be examined in conjunction with the hypotheses specified: 1) Of the two grade levels receiving instruction (fourth and sixth), which appears to be best-suited to the modules in their present form? Summary In response to current public interest in mediating potentially harmful effects of television violence viewing on young children, this chapter presented goals and objec- tives underlying the design of two curriculum intervention modules. In Module I, activities are geared to reduction of the child's perceived reality of television, the ultimate goal being to devalue television as a viable source of in- formation about real world aggression. In Module II, in- structional efforts focus on develOpment of criteria-based decision-making skills in an attempt to decrease habitual viewing of television violence. Both modules address two general goals: (1) decreasing liking for violence on tele- vision and (2) decreasing viewing of violent television fare. Conceptual variables of interest are presented in Figure 2.2; Operationalizations for each will be presented in Chapter III. 62 General Level Variables Liking for Violent Content Viewing Violent Content Module I Variables: Content Realism Perceived Reality . . . . . . of Specific Videotape Segments . . . of Television in General . . . of Problems and Behaviors . . . of Specific Characters . . . of Specific Scenes Perceived Television Violence Perceived Real World Violence Identification with Television Characters Modes of Conflict Resolution Module II Variables: Decision-Making Priority of Leisure-Time Activities Priority of Television Viewing Time Allocation Criteria for Television Viewing . . . for Viewing Violent Shows Perceived Violence on Television Desire to View Violent Content Figure 2.2. Conceptual Variables by Content Areas CHAPTER III METHODS This chapter describes the operational variables, the experimental design, and the data collection procedures. Index construction is detailed for variables associated with each module, and descriptive statistics are provided for each index. Pretests of Curriculum Instruments and Modules Initial interviews to construct questionnaire items for Module I were conducted in one fourth/fifth and one sixth grade class in Grand Ledge, Michigan, in December, 1977. During the first phase of the pretest, Open-ended questions were asked to elicit responses to the following: 1) the degree to which children perceived television in general, television situ- ations and problems, and specific tele- vision characters to be realistically portrayed; 2) the names of television characters they felt they might "want to be like" someday or whose behaviors they felt they might want to "c0py"; and 3) the degree to which they perceived vio- lence to exist in the "real world." 63 64 Responses were tape recorded for the purpose of instrument construction. From the tape recording, items were constructed which reflected (l) a range of situations, problems, and characters portrayed on television which the children seemed to agree were familiar and realistic; (2) a set of aggressive char- acters pOpular with the children interviewed; and (3) differ- ences between real world violence and television violence. These items comprised a pretest instrument administered to one fourth and one fifth grade class in Grand Ledge in Jan- uary, 1978. Frequencies were obtained for these items to identify (1) general levels of variables of interest already in the population; and (2) items already at the "desired" end of the scale, providing little or no variability. Fol- lowing administration of this questionnaire, children were asked to identify questions which gave them difficulty or questions they felt were unclear or unfair. Appropriate modifications were made to accommodate those suggestions. The information regarding attitudes toward variables of interest was incorporated into development of Module I objec- tives and activities. Initial interviews for Module II instrument construc- tion took place in one fourth and one sixth grade class in Grand Ledge in January, 1978. Open-ended questions were used to elicit responses to the following research questions: 65 1) why children watch television; 2) how they choose between watching television and engaging in some other activity; and 3) what they like about "violent" programs (shows with "lots of hitting, shooting and fighting in which someone usually gets hurt"). Responses were once again tape recorded. Those received several times were incorporated into a second pretest instru— ment, which was administered to one fourth and two fifth grade classes in February, 1978, in Grand Ledge. As before, frequencies were used to describe current levels of the de- pendent variables in the pOpulation and to identify items lacking variability. Following pretest administration, chil- dren were asked to report on ambiguous or otherwise trouble- some questions. Appropriate modifications were made before administration of the final instrument. Objectives and activities associated with Module I (Content Realism) and Module II (Decision-Making) were written by Ms. Rebecca Henry and Ms. Sandra Korzenny, both graduate students in Educational Psychology at Michigan State Univers- ity. Faculty assistance was provided by Dr. Stephen Yelon of Learning and Evaluation Services and Drs. Bradley S. Greenberg and Charles Atkin of the Department of Communica- tion (all at Michigan State University). 66 Activities, handouts, and teaching methods to be used in Module I were pretested in one fourth grade classroom in Grand Ledge two weeks prior to their presentation in Haslett, Michigan. Based on feedback received, appropriate modifica- tions were made in all aspects of the instruction. In par- ticular, efforts were made to contain all activities within a forty-five minute time frame and to better adapt module content to needs and interests of the students. Elementary teachers in Grand Ledge provided suggestions and insights which were incorporated into the module design. Module II instruction content was pretested in the same fourth grade classroom two weeks later. Once again, modifications were made in content and teaching strategies before introduction to students in Haslett. The Experimental Design The design for the research reported herein took the form of a pretest-posttest control group experimental design (Campbell and Stanley, 1963) minus randomization. The experiment was conducted in a normal school environment in Haslett, Michigan, during regularly-scheduled fourth and sixth grade classes. Several modifications were made to the basic design to permit investigation of hypotheses of interest. Two grade levels were used, making it necessary to replicate the basic design at each level--fourth and sixth grade. In addition, two modules were presented--two "levels" of the treatment 67 variable. Finally, the experiment was conducted "in the field" rather than in a controlled laboratory setting more commonly associated with experimentation. The experimental design took the following diagram- matric form: GROUP 1 01 (Module I) 02 (Module II) 03 04 GROUP 2 ---- O2 03 04 GROUP 3 O1 02 03 04 Figure 3.1 The Experimental Design At 0 material to be presented in Module I (Content 1: Realism) was pretested. In addition, information was collect- ed regarding present viewing habits, parental control over television viewing, and demographic characteristics of chil- dren in the sample. Finally, behavioral and attitudinal items common to both modules were pretested. Since Group 2 (herein referred to as the Module II group) received Decision-Making instruction only, children in this group did not receive a questionnaire at 01. In all cases, Group 3 (Control) received instruments identical to those received by Group 1 (Module I and Module II). The second data collection point, 0 provided the 2! posttest of the Module I material, as well as the pretest for Module II content, in Groups 1 and 3. Children in Group 2 received an instrument containing pretest information for 68 Module II and the two-page instrument measuring present viewing habits, parental control and demographic character- istics. At the third data collection point, 0 Module II 3! information was posttested for all groups. The common be- havioral and attitudinal items were also posttested. Finally, 0 served as the test for the combined ef- 4 fect of Module I and Module II on those items common to both. In addition, both Content Realism and Decision-Making items were posttested for Groups 1 and 3. Group 2 received the Decision-Making and common items only. Data collection took place during a three-month time period beginning in February and ending in April, 1978. Dates for each data collection point and implementation of instructional modules were the following: February 2........... ......... .......01 February 9-15..... ....... .....Modu1e I February 23 ..... . ........ ............02 March 2-8.....................Module II March 16.............................03 April 20.............................04 To eliminate possible contamination due to variation in teaching styles, an elementary school teacher on leave of absence was hired and trained for this experiment. Although she was encouraged to present the material in a style most 69 comfortable for her, she was constrained to specific objec- tives, activities, and processing strategies designed for each module by the research team. The same teacher, Ms. Susan Lockwood, was in charge of all instruction. Regular classroom teachers did not participate in any way during presentation of the curriculum modules and were instructed to avoid all discussion of television content with students during the experimental time periOd. The Sample One hundred thirty-six children in the fourth and sixth grades in Haslett, Michigan, provided the data base for this study. Intact classrooms were assigned by princi- pals to the three experimental conditions (Module I and Module II; Module II only; and Control) at each grade level. English Literature classes were used at the sixth grade level to guard against overlapping enrollment in more than one classroom. The composition of the final sample by grade is pre- sented in Table 3.1 below. Table 3.1. Description of Sample by Grade and Experimental Condition Fourth Sixth GROUP 1 20 23 N= 43 GROUP 2 21 21 N= 42 GROUP 3 26 25 N= 51 N= 67 = 69 70 Questionnaire Administration. Questionnaires were administered in the regular class- rooms by the same four female investigators for all four data collections. Questions were read aloud to fourth graders; sixth graders completed the instruments independently, with assistance from researchers as needed. The combined Module I/Module II instruments (for data collection points 02 and 04) took approximately 40 minutes to complete; the instruments containing only Module I items (01) and only Module II items (03) took approximately 25 minutes each. Following completion of the written instrument, stu- dents viewed a five-minute television segment from a portable videotape monitor provided by the researchers. Viewing took place in the classroom, and children were requested to "watch quietly so that everyone can hear" to minimize discussion. Apart from an initial identification of the actors or program (e.g., "That's Starsky and Hutch!"), most viewing situations were quiet. At the conclusion of the videotape segment, stu- dents completed a two-page instrument evaluating what they had just seen. This questionnaire was attached to the larger instrument. At the end of the testing period, the researchers collected the questionnaires, thanked the class for their co- operation and left. Following the fourth and final data col- lection, classes were debriefed regarding the intent of the study, and questions were answered. 71 During the experimental period, every effort was made to disassociate data collection from implementation of the two instructional modules. At no time did any researcher attend a session during the curriculum, and no one involved in classroom instruction took part in any phase of data collection. Protection of Human Subjects Prior to commencement of Module I, notices were sent to parents describing the study about to take place. Parents were given the opportunity to prohibit their children from participating, and children were given the option to refrain from participation, as well. No parent requested that his or her child be excused; one student was necessarily excluded from discussion because of a severe hearing handicap. To protect the identity of students involved in this project, the only identification requested on the question- naire were first name and birth date. This information was not retained when data were punched on cards for the analyses. At no time were students singled out in the classroom for any comment other than positive reinforcement. No ques- tions were asked during the course of instruction which would be considered of a private nature or which required dis- closure of potentially harmful information. School administrators were provided with copies of proposed objectives, classroom activities, and instrument items two months prior to commencement of the first module. 72 Final copies of all materials were approved by school offi- cials prior to their introduction into the classroom. Operational Variables and Index Construction The following section presents a discussion of indices constructed to measure variables of interest at the general goal level and for Module I and Module II. Descriptive sta- tistics and reliability estimates are also provided. General Level Indices. To test liking for television violence (Hypothesis 1), videotape segments were created to be shown in conjunction with the test instrument. Eight such segments, each approximately five minutes in length, were selected from television programs aired during the 1975-76 and 1976-77 seasons. These segments were pretested in a classroom setting with twenty-six Grand Ledge fifth graders along three dimensions: (1) violent--not violent; (2) excit- ing--dull; and (3) kind--mean. Students were trained to make judgments about a sample videotape using a 10 point ratio scale (i.e., 0 equals "no violence at all" and 10 equals "extremely violent"). The children were then asked to evalu- ate the eight segments and several nonviolent segments along the three dimensions Specified. Means for each of the eight segments tested appear in Table 3.2. The four segments scoring highest on the three dimen- sions of interest were selected for the test instruments. All involved murder attempts. These segments were then random- ly assigned to data collection time points; assignment Table 3.2 73 Means for Three Dimensions of Anti—Social Behavior Associated with Videotape Segments and Assignment to Data Collection Time Point Time Point 01 Scene Violence Excitement Meanness Knifing scene from Starsky and Hutch 8.2 8.0 8.0 Shooting scene from The Deadly Tower 8.9 7.5 9.4 Man is forced over cliff on Barnaby Jones 8.2 7.4 9.2 Shooting and drowning scene from Quincy 8.0 8.3 7.0 Fire bombing scene from Police Woman 7.4 6.0 6.6 Physical conflict with gun scene from Matt Helm 5.6 6.3 4.9 Gun fight scene from Baretta 5.4 4.2 6.8 Gun fight scene from Kojak 5.5 4.0 6.0 information is also presented in Table 3.2. Two variables in the questionnaire examined the child's evaluative reaction to viewing the violent videotape segments: (1) an index composed of items asking about the child's liking for or affect toward the scene; and (2) a two-item index de- signed to check the manipulation (i.e., the perceived violence in the segment). 74 Eight items comprised the Liking index. Of these, six used response categories ranging from 1 to 5, and the remain- ing two ranged from 1 to 4, for a composite index range of 8 to 38. Individual items, descriptive statistics and inter- item correlations are presented in Table 3.3 below. Item statistics were computed at time point 01 using data from Group 1 (Module I and Module II) and Group 3 (Control). Con- sequently, the N for these anlayses is based on 94 subjects. All tabled means for individual items are above the midpoint, indicating a generally positive response to the 0 videotape 1 segment. Two items were included in the questionnaire to assess the degree to which the videotape segments were perceived to be violent, as intended. The first measured how "mad" (in the sense of angry) the people in the segment were perceived to be, and the second measured how "mean" people were per- ceived to be. Both items ranged from 1 to 4, for an index range of 2 to 8. Descriptive statistics for these items appear in Table 3.4. Once again, analysis results are based on data from Groups 1 and 3 at time point 0 As is evident 1' from the low correlation (+.l4), the two items do not appear to provide a reliable check of the intended manipulation. To test the hypothesis that children would actually gig! less violent fare (Hypothesis 2), items were included in each instrument to measure the total viewing behavior of the child during the previous Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 75 Table 3.3 Items and Descriptive Statistics for Liking Index 1. How much did you like watching this scene? 2. How much do you want to watch the rest of the show? 3. Was it exciting? 4. Did you like what was happening? 5. Would you want your friends to see this? 6. Is this a good show for someone your age to watch? (Response categories: not at all, not much, just a little, a lot, really a lot-- coded l to 5, respectively) 7. Was it ............ A great show? A pretty good show? A pretty bad show? A terrible show? 8. Was what you saw a show like ........ You really like to see? You You You (Responses coded from 1 to sometimes like to don't like to see don't like to see 4, positive items see? very much? at all? rated highest) Item Statistics Correlation Matrix mean sd. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 l. 3.58 1.32 --- .83 .78 .67 .67 .44 .77 .71 2. 3.78 1.30 --- .65 .61 .64 .46 .67 .61 3. 3.73 1.10 --- .57 .74 .46 .60 .54 4. 2.83 1.37 --- .57 .40 .60 .64 5. 3.24 1.18 --- .53 .63 .52 6. 3.22 1.08 --- .53 .45 7. 3.05 1.00 --- .45 8. 2.76 1.01 --- 76 Table 3.4 Items and Descriptive Statistics for Manipulation Check 1. Were the people in the show........ ' Extremely mad Very made A little mad Not mad at all 2. Was what you saw................... Extremely mean Very mean A little mean Not mean at all (Responses coded 1 to 4, positive items rated highest) Item Statistics Correlation Matrix mean sd. 1 2 1. 3.38 3.95 --- .14 2. 3.50 .64 --- evenings (testing always took place on a Thursday). Beginning at 8 PM and ending at 11 PM, all shows available for viewing on the three networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) were listed. The child was asked to indicate those shows he or she actually watched (coded 0 for "less than half of it" or "not at all" and l for "more than half" or "all of it"). A Violence View— ing index was created using those shows comprised substantially of violent content, based on prior content analyses. Several shows were omitted from the index because insufficient infor- mation was available for classification by content.1 (See Appendix B for specific shows included; indices for all four time points are presented). 77 (Nuaprocedure by which the Violence Viewing index was constructed involved addition of all available shows and adjustment for number of hours of such content available. First, a list of shows was created using only those deemed to be high in aggressive content. Each show was then weight- ed by its length in minutes (e.g., "The Six Million Dollar Man" was multiplied by 60). For each child, those shows in- dicated as being viewed were summed for the four days of viewing specified. Then, that sum was divided by the 32331 number of minutes of specific content available during that time period, which varied from week to week. The result was a mean score of violence viewing for each child. Descriptive statistics for all General Level indices are presented in Table 3.5 below. Table 3.5. Descriptive Statistics for General Level Indices Igggx Mean .gg. Raggg Test/retest Liking 25.82 7.55 8 - 38 .81 Manipulation 6.67 2.61 2 - 8 .14 Violence Viewing .17 .15 0 - 1 .54 As before, these statistics were computed at time point 01 using Group 1 and Group 3 data. Test/retest reli- ability estimates were obtained by computing the correlation and at 0 coefficient between the index at 0 using only 1 2' data from the control group (Group 3). The reliability esti— mate for Violence Viewing is low, as is the coefficient for 78 the manipulation check.2 Reliability for the Liking index appears to be sufficiently high at .81. Module I Indices: Content Realism. Four conceptu- al areas comprise the bulk of instruction in Module I: (1) perceived reality of television; (2) perceptions of real world violence; (3) identification with television char- acters; and (4) modes of conflict resolution. To assess the degree to which specific scenes from videotape would be perceived as realistic (Hypothesis 3), three items were summed to form a Realipy of Videotape index. Response categories ranged from 1 to 5, for a sum- mative range of 3 to 15. Item statistics and inter-item correlations are presented in Table 3.6 below. Table 3.6. Items and Descriptive Statistics for Perceived Reality of Videotape Scene 1. Are the people you just saw like people in real life? 2. What, do you think, are the chances this could happen in real life? 3. What are the chances you might be in a situation like this one someday? (Response categories: not at all, not much, just a little, a lot, really a lot-- coded l to 5) Item Statistics Correlation Matrix mean sd. 1 2 3 l. 2.78 1.06 --- .43 .30 2. 3.02 1.06 --- .44 3. 2.00 .91 --- 79 Mean scores for two of the three items are above the mid- point; the mean for predicting personal involvement in a similar situation did not reach the midpoint of the scale. To test the child's perceived disparity between real world aggression and the incidence of aggression on tele- vision, two items were summed to form a Real World vs Tele- vision World index (Hypothesis 4). In the test instruments, three items were included to measure this variable: two forcing a comparison regarding physical aggression (murders and fighting) and one calling for a comparison regarding a more mundane, day-to-day activity (writing traffic tickets). Since the third item measured a related but conceptually different variable, it was dropped from this index. Item statistics and the simple correlation for the murder and fighting items are presented in Table 3.7 below. Both item means (3.58 and 3.60 respectively) are above the midpoint for the range of response categories (3.00), indicating a moderate level of awareness at the outset of the experiment. Seven items were summed to measure children's per- ceived incidence of violence in the real world (Hypothesis 5). All seven required the child to estimate the number of peOple out of ten who are either perpetrators or victims of crime, resulting in a percentage for that form of crime in this country. (Two examples were discussed with fourth graders prior to their completion of these items.) Four item means, provided in Table 3.8 below, exceeded the mean 80 Table 3.7. Items and Descriptive Statistics for Real World vs. Television World Comparisons l. {Hemeayxmltolxauorermnflens(xxTv-uunzin2nxfl.lifiL 2. tfimmesxemstx>belmneefhfiufingmum .H oa ma oH ma NH HA oH o o o o m o m m H xauumz.:oaumampuoo mmW Mmmmm mmmmmmmmw 88.8.85 889689 58 5383883 How Baumfifim 23H 68 Bmfi .2 .m «Emu 88 Table 3.14. Items and Item Statistics for Modes of Conflict Resolution 1. It is always better to talk things over than to fight. 2. It is (not) OK to hit people if you're really mad at them. 3. There are better ways to solve a problem than to fight. (Response categories: strongly disagree, disagree, don't know, agree, strongly agree--coded l to 5) Item Statistics Correlation Matrix mean sd. 1 2 3 l. 4.00 .87 --- .48 .46 2. 2.66 1.33 --- .35 3. 4.02 1.06 -—- The test/retest correlations and alpha coefficients reported for Module I indices cast some doubt on the reli- ability of the dependent variables to be used in the analyses. It should be noted, however, that the correlations were com- puted on a very small sample population (n = 51) and are, therefore, all significant at p = .05. Only three of the nine alpha coefficients presented reach .8 or higher, however. No independent measures were obtained as validity tests for the Module I indices (e.g., parent reports, teacher reports, etc.). Multiple items were summed for each dependent variable of interest in an effort to increase validity, how- ever. 89 Table 3.15. Descriptive Statistics for Module I Indices Index Mean Sd. Range Test/retest Alpha Reality of Videotape 7.76 2.36 3 - 15 .48 .68 Real World vs Tele- vision World 7.18 1.75 2 — 10 .38 --* Real World Violence 35.27 15.10 0 - 70 .73 .88 General PR 5.20 1.80 2 — 10 .64 --* Situation Level PR 8.72 2.32 3 - 15 .64 .65 Character Level PR 12.04 2.36 4 — 20 .59 .46 Scene Level PR 11.00 2.63 4 - 20 .64 .47 Identifica- tion--All 10.64 6.09 0 - 32 .56 .74 Identifica- tion-- Female 3.94 3.96 0 - 12 72 92 Identifica- tion--Male 6.70 4.89 0 - 20 66 .89 Modes of Conflict Resolution 10.70 2.09 3 - 15 .35 .24 * Cronbach's alpha cannot be computed for indices containing only two items. 90 Module II Indices: Decision-Makipg. Seven conceptu- al variables were examined in Module II: (1) the degree to which television is perceived to be more important than other leisure-time activities; (2) priority of other leisure-time activities; (3) time allocation; (4) criteria used for tele- vision viewing; (5) perceived violence on television; (6) desire to view violent programs; and (7) criteria used for violence viewing. Statistics for all items contained in Module II indi- ces were computed using data from Group 2 (Module II only) and Group 3 (Control) at data collection point 0 All 2. statistics are, therefore, based on a total sample N of 93. The first dependent variable associated with this module is the child's perceived importance of television viewing as a leisure-time activity (Hypothesis 12). Two op- erationalizations of this variable were used in the analyses. The first operation consisted of a single item which asked the child to rate the "importance" of television watch- ing to him or her on a scale from 0 ("not important at all") to 10 ("extremely important"). The second measure of the importance of television in- volved choosing between watching television and some other (specified) activity. First, the child was asked to circle the preferred activity from the pair, as indicated in Table 3.16. The child was then asked to indicate "how MUCH more" important the selected activity was over the other. The index included only those pairs in which television was selected as 91 the preferred activity. For such pairs, the degree to which television was preferred (i.e., responses to the "how MUCH more" item) provided the variability for the index. That is, for those pairs in which television was indicated as being more important, the intensity responses were summed to create the index. Range for the index was from 0 (television never preferred) to 20 (television "really a lot more" important in all cases). Since item statistics would be misleading, they are not included in the table. Table 3.16. Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Importance of Television Index WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU? 1. watching television or playing indoor sports like basketball or gym- nastics? (TV always coded 1) (alternative always coded 0) How MUCH more? really a lot more a lot more just a little more they are the same (coded 4 to l) 2. reading for fun or watching television? How MUCH more? 3. watching television or doing your homework? How MUCH more? 4. watching television or going shopping? How MUCH more? 5. listening to music or watching_te1evision? How MUCH more? 92 Four items were provided in the questionnaire to assess the importance of gtheg leisure-time activities (Hy- pothesis 13). Activities included reading, helping parents, playing outdoor winter sports, and playing games. Once again, response categories ranged from 0 ("not important at all”) to 10 ("extremely important"). One example was includ- ed in the questionnaire to provide children with practice in using the scale. Items were treated separately in the analy- ses, since a summative index of such items could mask changes of interest. This claim is further substantiated by the low inter-item correlations indicated in Table 3.17 below: Table 3.17. Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Other Leisure-Time Activities 1. How important to you is reading for fun? 2. How important to you is helping a parent with work around the house? 3. How important to you is playing outdoor winter sports like skiing, sledding or skating? 4. How important to you is playingygames like checkers or monopoly? (Response categories: 0 to 10) Item Statistics Correlation Matrix Mean sd. 1 2 3 4 1. 5.58 3.40 --- .13 .12 .18 2. 6.18 3.26 --- .13 .08 3. 6.67 3.12 --- .11 4. 4.62 2.91 —-- l 2 3 4 5 ~ 93 To determine the amount of time allocated to tele- vision viewing (Hypothesis 14), children were asked to circle a number which best corresponded to the number of hours spent engaged in that activity "yesterday." This scale ranged from 0 (no time at all) to 8 (more than 4 hours). In the same fashion, the child was asked to indicate how many hours were devoted to other activities (Hypothesis 15). Activities included reading, doing homework, helping parents, doing things with friends, and doing "something Item statistics and inter—item correlations are pro- else." vided in Table 3.18. As before, these items were analyzed Table 3.18. Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Time Allocation YESTERDAY . . . 1. How much time did you spend reading? 2. How much time did you spend doing your homework? 3. How much time did you spend doing things around the house to help your parents? - 4. How much time did you spend doing things with your friends, other than watching TV? 5. How much time did you spend doing something else, like taking music lessons, going to a movie or shopping? (Response categories: half-hour intervals from 0 to 4 plus "more") Item Statistics Correlation Matrix mean sd. 1 2 3 4 5 l 1.86 2.38 --- .08 .27 .13 .17 2. 1.65 2.29 --— .23 —.01 .02 3 2.65 2.43 --- .08 .02 4. 2.70 2.60 --- .26 5 2.00 2.52 --- 94 individually to prevent possible loss of information due to index construction. Two items were summed to create the Criteria-Based Viewing index (Hypothesis 16): one pertaining to use of a TV guide and the other indicating adherence to interpersonal advice. A third iteme-indicating preference for certain types of shows--was included in the test instruments but was dropped from the index due to very low correlations with the other two. Item statistics for this index appear in Table 3.19 below: Table 3.19. Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Criteria-Based Television Viewipg Index 1. I usually read about shows in the TV magazine or newspaper before I watch TV. 2. I will not watch a show if a friend tells me it is bad. (Response categories: strongly disagree, disagree, don't know, agree, strongly agree--coded l to 5) Item Statistics Correlation mean sd. 1 2 l. 3.10 1.27 --- .25 2. 2.78 1.12 --- To assess the degree to which the child engaged in habitual television viewing (Hypothesis 17), five items were written which describe noncriteria-based "reasons" for watch- ing television. Comparing means for these items (presented 95 in Table 3.20) with means for items in the Criteria-Based index above, it would appear that habitual viewing was most common at the outset, particularly viewing with family and flipping channels to select shows. Table 3.20. Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Habitual Viewing Index l. I try to watch TV almost every night, no matter what's on. 2. I watch TV whenever I am bored, just to have some- thing to do. 3. If someone else in my family is watching, I am usually tempted to watch, too. 4. If I see a preview of a show on TV that does NOT look very interesting, I may end up watching it anyway. 5. After a show is over, I usually flip around the channels to decide what to watch next. (Response categories: strongly disagree, disagree, don't know, agree, strongly agree-~coded l to 5) Item Statistics Correlation Matrix mean sd. 1 2 3 4 5 1. 2.56 1.10 --- .29 .27 .32 .31 2. 3.15 1.19 --- .31 .24 .24 3. 3.49 1.02 --- .19 .30 4. 2.96 1.03 --- .17 5. 3.76 1.19 --- To assess the amount of violence perceived on tele- vision, eight shows found to be especially aggressive in pre- vious content analyses (Greenberg, Korzenny and Fernandez- Collado, forthcoming) were included in the test instruments. 96 Children were asked to estimate "how violent" each show was, using a scale from 0 ("not violent at all") to 10 ("extreme- ly violent"). Specific shows and descriptive statistics for each are presented in Table 3.21. Although most obtained means were at the midpoint of the scale or above, two shows were perceived to be notably lower in violence: "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman." Desire to view violent programming (Hypothesis 19) was measured using 11 shows rated as high in physical aggression by content analysis data. The child was provided with the following hypothetical situation: Which of these shows would you watch, if you had no rules about TV watching and could stay up as late as you want? He or she was then asked to circle "yes," "maybe" or "no" for each of the shows listed to indicate hypothetical viewing behavior (coded 3, 2, 1). A11 eleven shows were summed to create the Desire to View Violent Shows index . Item statis- tics and the correlation matrix for these items are provided in Table 3.22. Of the eleven shows tabled, means for six were above the midpoint of the response scale. One show--"Charlie's Angels"--was near the tOp of the range of that scale (3.00). Twelve shows were included in the questionnaires, but one show was drOpped prior to index construction because it was no longer being broadcast. To examine the degree to which children were using criteria-based reasons for viewing aggressive television Table 3.21. 97 Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Perceived Violence on Television Index (Response categories: Charlie's Angels Hawaii Five-O Baretta The Bionic Woman Police Woman Item Statistics me an 4.75 6.81 5.97 4.06 6.66 5.70 3.96 6.08 sd. Starsky and Hutch The Rockford Files The Six Million Dollar Man 0 to 10) Correlation Matrix 2 3 4 5 .57 .50 .34 .46 --- .55 .35 .58 --- .27 .34 6 7 8 .47 .31 .32 .55 .15 .37 .54 .16 .43 .43 .72 .17 .50 -.06 .36 (Hypothesis 20), two items Based Violence index. were summed to form The two items pertained the Criteria- to viewing for excitement and viewing because of liking for the characters. This index is described in Table 3.23. 98 -- ss. sm.m topaz cam sxmumum .HH so. -- mo. sH.~ cases oHaon was .oH mm. oo. -- mo. oH.m enemxoom .o oH. Hm. oH. -- mo. mH.~ cm: aoHHHHz om mas .o oH. Ho. mo. mo. -- mo. oo.~ socHso .s mm. om. oH. Hm. om. -- ms. mo.H cases moHHom .o oo. mm. HH. mo.- mo. mm. -- mo. oo.~ mHmm:< m.mHHHmeo .m oH. mm. mm. Hm. so. om. oH. -- ms. om.H mmcoo snmcumm .o mm. NH. om. om. om. om. oo. oo. -- ms. oo.H o-m>Hm HHmsmm .m om. No.- om. oH. Hm. om. oo.- om. so. -- mo. om.H xmsox .~ om. so.- om. oo. om. oo. oH. om. om. sm. -- om. mo.H maumumm .H HH oH o o s o m o m N H om some seem xmch msonm ucmaofl> 3mfl> 0» chance How mosumfiumum m>wumwuomma EOUH can mEmuH .m~.m magma 99 Finally, one index was constructed to measure the amount of Habitual Violence Viewipg (Hypothesis 21) taking place. Two noncriterion items-~"nothing else good is on" and "my family usually watches" were summed to create this index. This time, comparing criteria-based items (Table 3.23) with noncriterion items, the criteria-based items ob- tained generally higher mean scores. Item statistics for habitual violence items are presented in Table 3.24. Table 3.23. Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Criteria-Based Violence Viewing Index l. I like to watch these shows because they are exciting. 2. I watch these shows because I like the characters. (Response categories: strongly disagree, disagree, don't know, agree, strongly agree--coded l to 5) Item Statistics Correlation mean sd. 1 2 1. 3.26 1.11 --- 42 2. 3.16 1.01 --- Descriptive statistics for all Module II dependent variable indices are provided in Table 3.25. Means and stand- ard deviations were computed using Group 2 (Module II only) and Group 3 (control) data at time point 0 Cronbach's 2. alpha coefficients were also computed using these data. Test/retest reliability correlations were computed for the 100 Table 3.24. Items and Item Descriptive Statistics for Habitual Violence Viewing Index l. I watch these shows because nothing else good is on. 2. I watch these shows because that's what my family usually watches. (Response categories: strongly disagree, disagree, don't know, agree, strongly agree--coded l to 5) Item Statistics Correlation mean sd. 1 2 l. 2.84 1.15 --- .27 2. 2.66 1.12 --- control group only, using data collection time points 02 and 0 The N for statistics computed for Groups 2 and 3 was 93; 3. the N for test/retest reliabilities was 51. With the possible exception of the single item measur- ing TV importance, all test/retest reliability estimates are low. Based on a sample size of 51, all are significant at p = .05, however. The reliability of dependent variable indices is further called into question by the low alpha coefficients, ranging from .48 to .77. Apart from the inclusion of multiple indicators for a number of the dependent variables, no independent measures were made to determine validity of the questionnaire items. 101 Table 3.25. Descriptive Statistics for Module II Indices Index Mean Sd. Range Test/retest Alpha TV Importance (single item) 5.71 3.21 0 - 10 .76 --* TV Importance (index) 5.76 4.64 0 - 20 .41 .48 Time to Television 4.73 2.90 0 - 8 .39 --* Criteria-Based TV Viewing 5.88 1.88 2 - 10 .59 -—* Habitual Viewing 15.93 3.59 5 - 25 .62 .64 Violence on TV 43.69 15.49 0 - 80 .67 .84 Desire to View Violence 21.65 4.65 11 - 33 .43 .77 Criteria-Based Violence Viewing 6.41 1.79 2 - 10 .52 --* Habitual Violence Viewing 5.48 1.80 2 - 10 .43 --* * Cronbach's alpha coefficient cannot be computed for indices containing fewer than three items. Summary This chapter detailed the methods and operations asso- ciated with the experimental study. The experimental design was presented, along with descriptions of pretests, instru- ment construction, and data collection. Operational vari- ables were described for three levels of the analyses: (1) 102 general level variables; (2) Module I variables; and (3) Module II variables. The following chapter presents the analysis procedures used to test the hypotheses of interest and the results of those statistical tests. 103 ENDNOTES, Chpt. 3 1 For shows not included in the 1977-78 anti-social con- tent analysis (Greenberg, Korzenny and Fernandez-Collado), violent/neutral/pro-social assessments were made by four CASTLE researchers acquainted with the coding scheme. Such programming included movies, specials and mini-series. Shows containing ambiguous content or shows not viewed by a CASTLE coder were eliminated from the indices (four in all). 2Much unreliability can be attributed to confusion over the word "mad." Although researchers stressed that the term was meant to refer to "anger," many students continued to interpret it as meaning "crazy." In addition, confusion resulted regarding how "mean" the portrayal was meant to be. Obviously, the recipient of the anti-social behavior would not be classified as "mean." CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND RESULTS This chapter begins with a description of the analy- sis procedures used to test the research hypotheses. Re- sults are then presented in three sections, which follow the order of presentation of hypotheses in Chapter II: (1) General Level; (2) Module I; and (3) Module II. Analysis Procedures All hypothesis testing was completed using a two- factorial analysis of covariance procedure. The first inde- pendent variable (The Treatment Effects factor) refers to the instructional modules. In all, four levels of this factor appear in the analyses: (1) Module I instruction only; (2) Module II instruction only; (3) the combination of Module I and Module II instruction; and (4) the Control group. Data were collected at sequential points in time, and only subsets of data were collected at any given time point. Therefore, the experimental design did not permit examination of the four levels simultaneously. As such, all analyses took the form of a two-group (one experimental and one control) by two-grade (fourth and sixth) factorial design. 104 105 Pretest scores were used as covariates for the de- pendent variables of interest to permit statistical adjust- ment for initial between-groups differences (Keppel, 1973). Adjustment by pretest scores was especially appropriate for this study, because several between-groups differences approached statistical significance. Unadjusted and adjust- ed means are reported in the table for each covariance analysis; pretest means are reported in Appendix C. The a priori research hypotheses were tested by means of F tests based upon the Mean Square Error term from the covariance analyses (see Keppel, 1973; also, Namboodiri, Carter and Blalock, 1975). The criterion for statistical significance was set at alpha of .05. General Level Hypotheses The general level hypotheses refer to variables deemed susceptible to influence from either Module I or Module II instruction. Two hypotheses were presented at the general level: H1: Children exposed to either Module I or Module II instruction (or both) will express less liking for violent segments of television programming than children receiving no instruction. H2: Children exposed to either Module I or Module II instruction (or both) will View less violent content than children receiving no instruction. Tables 4.1 through 4.3 present the results of the co- variance analyses conducted to test Hypothesis 1. In Table 106 4.1, the analysis of covariance presents the influence of Module I instruction on the students' liking for a specific violent segment viewed from videotape. The significant F value for the covariate merely reflects the strong multi- collinearity between the pretest and posttest scores and has no relevance for the hypothesis test. The Main Effects for Treatment and Grade are nonsignificant, as is the Inter- action. Consistent with this outcome, adjusted group means differ only slightly. Although the difference is nonsignifi- cant, the adjusted mean for the experimental group is some— what lower than that for the control group, as predicted by the hypothesis. The covariance analysis for assessing the impact of Module II instruction on students' liking for violent con- tent is presented in Table 4.2. Once again, the F values for Main Effects and for the Treatment by Grade Interaction are nonsignificant. In this case, the experimental group mean is actually slightly higher than the adjusted control group mean. With regard to the Main Effect for Grade--which is nearly significant at p = .06-u-sixth graders expressed less enjoyment of or liking for the violent scene presented than did fourth graders. Finally, Table 4.3 examines the impact of Modules I and II in combination (a contrast between the group receiving 295g instructional modules, Group 1, and the control group at data collection point 03). No significant differences 107 Table 4.1. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Liking for Violent Videotape Segment Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 02** Treatment Epagg Module Control 4 6 23.66/23.33 23.86/24.11 22.86/22.82 24.66/24.70 (n = 38) (n = 49) (n = 43) (n = 44) SOURCE OF VARIANCE _si_ _d_f__ _M_§_ __F_‘__ _p_ Covariate (Pretest) 2183.59 1 2183.59 41.70 .001 Treatment 10.56 1 10.56 .20 .655 Grade 76.30 1 76.30 1.46 .231 Treatment by Grade Interaction 78.94 1 78.94 1.51 .223 Error 4294.02 82 52.37 Total 6643.40 86 77.25 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) *5! indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first point; 02 refers to the second, etc.) were obtained, the adjusted mean for the treatment group being slightly higher than that for the control. As such, the data do not permit rejection of the null hypothesis. With regard to students' actual viewing of violent content (as measured by a summed score of violent television shows viewed in a four day period divided by total violent programming available), Table 4.4 presents the covariance 108 Table 4.2. Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Liking for Violent Videotape Segment Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* _ * T — 03* Treatment Ggagg Module Control 4 6 23.71/23.95 22.95/22.75 24.11/24.62 22.45/21.90 (n = 38) (n = 47) (n = 43) (n = 42) SOURCE OF VARIANCE _s_s_ _g_f__ MS __F___ _p_ Covariate (Pretest) 2354.94 1 2354.94 55.90 .001 Treatment 22.58 1 22.58 .54 .466 Grade 151.42 1 151.42 3.60 .062 Treatment by Grade Interaction .72 l .72 .02 .896 Error 3369.99 80 42.12 Total 5899.65 84 70.23 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 02 refers to the secoHd, etc.) analysis for Module I instruction. Although the Treatment Main Effect is nonsignificant, the Main Effect for Grade is significant at p = .02. Referring to the adjusted mean scores, it would appear that sixth graders in the sample viewed significantly more violent television shows than did 109 Table 4.3. Analysis of Covariance for Module I and Module II on Liking for Violent Videotape Segment Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 03** Treatment .EEEQE Module Control 4 g 24.52/24.29 22.78/22.97 24.66/24.65 22.48/22.49 (n = 38) (n = 47) (n = 42) (n = 43) SOURCE OF VARIANCE __s_s__ _<_i_f__ £ _F_ _p__ Covariate (Pretest) 2478.88 1 2479.88 66.61 .001 Treatment 32.20 1 32.20 .86 .355 Grade 98.67 1 98.67 2.65 .107 Treatment by Grade Interaction 9.70 l 9.70 .26 .611 Error 2978.45 80 37.23 Total 5598.89 84 66.65 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 0 refers to the secofid, etc.) 2 the fourth graders. In Table 4.5, the group receiving Module II instruc- tion is contrasted with the control group, resulting in neither significant Main Effects nor Interaction. Deviations among mean scores are slight, as would be expected from the 110 Table 4.4. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Violence Viewing Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 03** Treatment Epggg Module Control 4 g 0.16/0.16 0.16/0.16 0.12/0.12 0.20/0.20 (n = 38) (n = 39) (n = 38) (n = 39) SOURCE OF VARIANCE is; df MS _F__ _p_ Covariate (Pretest 0.18 l 0.18 11.98 .001 Treatment 0.00 l 0.00 .00 .944 Grade 0.12 l 0.12 8.17 .006 Treatment by Grade Interaction 0.03 l 0.03 1.94 .168 Error 1.06 72 0.02 Total 1.39 76 0.02 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) . ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 02 refers to the secofid, etc.) analysis results. Finally, Table 4.6 presents the covariance analysis results for the combined effect of Module I and Module II on students' viewing of violent content. Examining the adjusted means, fourth graders once again scored lower on incidence of violence viewing than did sixth graders. 111 Table 4.5. Analysis of Covariance for Module II on Violence Viewing Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 0** Treatment EEEQE Module Control 4 g 0.18/0.18 0.16/0.16 0.15/0.17 0.19/0.l7 (n = 33) (n = 40) (n = 38) (n = 35) SOURCE OF VARIANCE _§§_ _g§_ _M£_ _F_ _p_ Covariate (Pretest) 0.54 l 0.54 23.13 .001 Treatment .01 l .01 .23 .632 Grade .00 1 .00 .00 .964 Treatment by Grade Interaction .00 1 .00 .03 .964 Error 1.59 68 .02 Total 2.14 72 .03 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 02 refers to the secohd, etc.) The covariance analysis substantiates this observation, re- sulting in a Main Effect for Grade significant at p = .02. Neither the Treatment Main Effect nor Treatment by Grade Interaction is significant. Although Significant differences were found with re- gard to Grade, Treatment Main Effects are nonsignificant for 113 reality, desire to model behaviors of aggressive television characters, and modes of conflict resolution. In all, nine hypotheses were presented for empirical test. The first hypothesis investigated the students' as- sessment of the reality of a violent television scene viewed from videotape (measured as perceived reality of the scene, reality of the peOple involved, and likelihood of the stu- dent finding him/herself in a similar situation someday): H3: Children exposed to Module I instruction will rate a violent scene from videotape as lower 43 perceived reality than chil- dren receiving no instruction. Table 4.7 presents the analysis of covariance per- formed to test this hypothesis. Looking first at the ad- justed means, differences among groups are minimal. This observation is reflected in the nonsignificant Main Effects and Interaction. Once again, the data do not permit re- jection of the null hypothesis. The second hypothesis specific to the objectives of Module I dealt with the degree to which television exagger— ates the incidence of violence to the relative exclusion of more mundane day-to-day activities. In this case, the de- pendent variable index was composed of real world versus television world comparisons in the form of "There are more X on television than in real life." The hypothesis tested was the following: 114 Table 4.7. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Perceived Reality of Videotape Scene Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 02** Treatment EEEQE Module Control 4 g 7.88/7.84 7.90/7.85 7.75/7.74 8.02/8.03 (n = 42) (n = 49) (n = 44) (n = 47) SOURCE OF VARIANCE __s_§_ _d_f_ __n_4_s_ ___F__ _p_ Covariate (Pretest 163.15 1 163.15 26.88 .001 Treatment 0.09 l 0.09 0.01 .906 Grade 1.83 1 1.83 0.30 .504 Treatment by Grade Interaction 3.92 1 3.92 0.65 .424 Error 521.91 86 6.07 Total 690.90 90 7.68 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 02 refers to the secoAd, etc.) H : Children exposed to Module I instruction will indicate greater awareness g; exaggerated incidence pf violence on television than children receiving no instruction. Table 4.8 presents the results of the statistical test. The adjusted mean for the treatment group is higher than that for the control, indicating the greater awareness 115 Table 4.8. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Real World Violence vs. Television Violence Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 02** Treatment §£gge Module Control 4 g 8.07/8.01 7.24/7.28 7.71/7.73 7.54/7.52 (n = 43) (n = 50) (n = 45) (n = 48) SOURCE OF VARIANCE __s_s__ 3;; __M_S_ __l:_ _p_ Covariate (Pretest) 28.04 1 28.04 12.16 .001 Treatment 11.45 1 11.45 4.97 .028 Grade 1.02 1 1.02 0.44 .507 Treatment by Grade Interaction 0.50 l 0.50 0.22 .644 Error 202.82 88 2.30 Total 243.83 92 2.65 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 02 refers to the secofid, etc.) predicted. The Main Effect for Treatment is significant at p = .03; the Grade and Interaction effects are nonsignificant. In this case, the data permit rejection of the null hypoth- esis in favor of Hypothesis 4. Hypothesis 5 predicted a change in the students' per- ceptions of the violence prevalent in the real world (as 116 measured by estimates of the frequency of violent behaviors or attributes per 10 people in this county): H5: Children exposed to Module I instruction will perceive less violence 42 the real world than children receiving no instruction. The results of the covariance analysis conducted to test this hypothesis are presented in Table 4.9. Examining Table 4.9. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Perceived Real World Violence Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 02** Treatment Epggg Module Control 4 g 26.86/29.15 36.08/34.28 31.93/3l.29 31.76/32.44 (n = 41) (n = 47) (n = 42) (n = 46) SOURCE OF VARIANCE _s_._s__ if... __M_S_ _g__ _p__ Covariate (Pretest) 9353.29 1 9353.29 99.44 .001 Treatment 533.50 1 533.50 5.67 .020 Grade 28.53 1 28.53 0.30 .583 Treatment by Grade Interaction 294.26 1 294.26 3.13 .081 Error 7807.29 83 94.06 Total 18016.86 87 207.09 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 02 refers to the seCOHd, etc.) 117 the adjusted means for the treatment group and control, scores for students receiving Module I appear considerably lower than those in the control group. As such, students in the experimental group indicated lower perceived real world violence than did students in the control group. In line with this observation, the covariance analysis results indicate a significant Main Effect for Treatment (p = .02) but no effect for Grade or the Treatment by Grade Inter- action. Hypothesis 5 is, therefore, supported. The following four hypotheses pertain to increasing- ly more specific aspects of television content realism: H6: Children exposed to Module I instruction will express lower perceived reality of television in eneral than children receiv- ifig no instruction. H : Children exposed to Module I instruction will express lower perceived reality of problems, consequences and/or behaviors presented on television than children receiving no instruction. H : Children exposed to Module I instruction will express lower perceived reality of specific television characters than chil- dren receiving no instruction. H : Children exposed to Module I instruction will express lower perceived reality of specific television scenes than children receiving no instruction. In Table 4.10, the analysis of covariance is present- ed for the effect of Module I instruction on general per- ceived reality (measured as "hitting" and "pushing and 118 Table 4.10. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on General Perceived Reality of Television Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 02** Treatment Egagg Module Control 4 g 5.40/5.14 5.12/5.34 4.82/4.79 5.65/5.68 (n = 43) (n = 50) (n = 45) (n = 48) SOURCE OF VARIANCE _S_S_ g _145_ _F__ _p_ Covariate (Pretest) 50.79 1 50.79 25.08 .001 Treatment 0.32 l 0.32 0.16 .692 Grade 17.91 1 17.91 8.84 .004 Treatment by Grade Interaction 2.09 1 2.09 1.03 .313 Error 178.20 88 2.02 Total 249.31 92 2.71 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 02 refers to the secoHd, etc.) shoving" on television). Observing the adjusted group means, students in the control group expressed slightly more per- ceived reality than students in the experimental group, as predicted. This Treatment Main Effect is nonsignificant, however. The Main Effect for Grade is significant at p = .004. Referring to the adjusted means for Grade, it would 119 appear that sixth graders generally indicated a higher level of general perceived reality than did fourth graders. The Treatment by Grade Interaction effect is nonsignificant. Since Hypothesis 6 pertains to effects of the instruction, the data do not permit rejection of the null. Perceived reality of problem situations (the way prob- lems are solved, the consequences for criminals and the out- comes of car chases) is examined by the covariance analysis presented in Table 4.11. Glancing across adjusted mean scores, no differences are apparent among groups; this ob- servation is substantiated by the lack of significance for either Main Effects or Interaction. Hypothesis 7 is not supported by the data. In Table 4.12, the analysis of covariance is pre- sented for the effect of Module I instruction on perceived reality of specific television characters (Barnaby Jones, Starsky and Hutch, McGarrett and the Hardy Boys). Once again, no significant differences were obtained, making re- jection of the null in favor of Hypothesis 8 inappropriate. Finally, Table 4.13 presents the statistical test of Module I instruction on perceived reality of verbal des- criptions of very specific television scenes. Although the Treatment Main Effect is nonsignificant, the Main Effect for Grade is significant at p = .04. Referring to the adjusted mean scores, fourth graders expressed Significantly lower levels of perceived reality than did sixth graders. Owing 120 Table 4.11. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Situation Level Perceived Reality Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 02** Treatment §£3§g Module Control 4 g 8.36/8.16 8.43/8.60 8.54/8.51 8.27/8.30 (n = 42) (n = 51) (n = 45) (n = 48) SOURCE OF VARIANCE __S_S_ _g-_€__ _ps_ _g‘_ _p__ Covariate (Pretest) 79.20 1 79.20 28.93 .001 Treatment 4.50 1 4.50 1.64 .203 Grade 1.01 1 1.01 0.37 .545 Treatment by Grade Interaction 0.69 1 0.69 0.25 .617 Error 240.88 88 2.74 Total 326.28 92 3.54 * adjusted for covariate (pretest scores on dependent variable) ** indicates data collection time point (0 refers to the first time point; 02 refers to the secoHd, etc.) to the lack of Significance for the Treatment Main Effect, Hypothesis 9 is not supported, however. AS a sort of summary table, Table 4.14 presents the basic covariance analysis performed on an overall dependent measure of perceived reality, created by summing the individ- ual indices. Although the Grade Main Effect is nearly 121 Table 4.12. Analysis of Covariance for Module I on Character Level Perceived Reality Treatment by Grade Unadjusted/Adjusted Means* T = 02** Treatment EEESE Module Control 4 g 12.53/12.26 11.66/ll.89 11.75/11.97 12.33/12.14 (n = 43) (n = 50) (n = 45) (n = 48) SOURCE OF VARIANCE £73. _