The Effect of Television on Children: Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Anderson, D.R. & Pempek, T.A. (2005). Television and very young children. American Behavioral Scientist, 48(5), 505-522.

The article “Television and Very Young Children” talks about the issue of young children, television exposure, and how they develop socially, etc. As well, it discusses how the television viewing habits of the parents will affect the children. There are both positive negative results from the monitoring of young children’s television viewing habits. Television can be detrimental, at times, to social or cognitive development, but in the right cases, television can be beneficial for the language skills of young children (24 months or younger). This is a very useful and reliable source because the topic is focused on the effect of children and television, and this is a study on television’s effect on very young children, which is not commonly explored in the general subject matter.

Bearison, D.J., Bain, J.M., & Daniele, R. (2002). Developmental changes in how children understand television. Society for Personality Research, 10(2), 133-144.

The article “Developmental Changes in How Children Understand Television” discusses the potential harms and benefits of television viewing on children and young adults. They note that television has the ability to teach children and to broaden their view of the world around, as well as knowledge about social skills. This is judged on the scales of emotional development and how children at different ages and stages are able to understand what is going on with the television and what they are currently watching. The primary study included allowing children at different stages to see two different television programs and testing their cognitive development and how well they are able to understand. It was not until the 7-10 year old stage that children had concrete operational knowledge. This is a very useful and reliable source because the topic of the paper is not just how children are when they watch little or too much television, but how watching television may affect their cognitive development. This article explores the possibility of positive or harmful effects that children may carry with them later in life because of their television viewing habits.

Brocato, E.D., Gentile, D.A., Laczniak, R.N., Maier, J.A., & Ji-Song, M. (2010). Television commercial violence: Potential effects on children. The Journal of Advertising, 39(4), 95-107.

The article “Television Commercial Violence: Potential Effects on Children” studies the effect of violence on television and in commercials on children of all ages. Television violence is defined as the intention to cause bodily harm and force onto another person, group, or organization. It is very emotional and can be dangerous when displayed on television for an unshaped mind to see. As the study notes, some children are simply too young to differentiate between real life and the world on television, and this is one of the reasons why violence programming should not find its place into the homes of young children. The primary study is meant to monitor how children and their parents perceive how violence in the media may influence them or their children. Although there was little precedence to go on, the results showed that those who watching programs with more violence reacted with more violence cognitions. The results say that violence does have an effect on children, as well as their parents, so it is important to monitor the media that your children are exposed to for violent behavior. This article is a very useful and reliable source because it is a common debate amongst those who think children should watch little or no television; many believe that most television programs are simply too violent and affect children later on with the potential to ruin lives. This is a topic that should at least be highlighted in a paper about the effect of television on children.

Carlson, L., Laczniak, R.N., & Walsh, A. (2001). Socializing children about television: An intergenerational study. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 29(3), 276-288.

The article “Socializing Children about Television: An Intergenerational Study” describes, through an intergenerational study of information, how mothers view television and how that then reflects upon their children and their own television viewing habits by age. It discusses the importance of the socialization of children at length, and the influence of consumer socialization. The topic of socialization discusses parental style and how this aspect affects the television viewing habits of children, etc. When parents are more involved in their children’s life and their interests, they are more likely to discuss television programs with their children, and this is one aspect of a more open communication between parents and children. One important part of this article is that it shows that, the more parents are involved in their children’s lives, the least likely the children are to take negative images and behavior from the media to re-create them in real life. This article is both useful and reliable because it shows how television directly affects children in their home environment, and does not simply reflect on the program, but also the parents and their interactions.

Christakis, D.A., Zimmerman, F.J., DiGiueppe, D.L., & McCarty, C.A. (2004). Early television exposure and subsequent attentional problems in children. Pediatrics, 113(4).

The article “Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems in Children” monitors children who have AD/HD and their television viewing habits, and the connections between the developing of an attentional disorder and the hours of television that children watch per day. Children between the ages of 1 and 3 were monitored on the amount of television that they watched each day, and this was measured and compared to attentional problems later in life. The results were that children who were exposed to television early (age 1) were more prone to developing attentional problems. Of course, problems like ADHD are also hereditary and caused by other things, so it cannot be stated as pure fact that television causes young children to develop attentional problems. However, the study does show that television irritates these problems, and at the very least, makes them worse. This source is useful and reliable because the topic is how television affects children, and although this study has small holes, it has very good information about how children are affected by how much television that they watch per day.