Library

Notes: Preschool children's visual attention to nearly three hours of a heterogeneous sample of children's programing was examined in relationship to the presence of 37 simple visual and auditory attributes of television programs. A factor analysis of the attributes indicated that they were largely independent, with the exception of two factors, which were labeled “women and children” and “puppets.” Attributes and factors that were positively related to attention were the puppet factor, women and children factor, auditory changes, peculiar voices, movement, cuts, sound effects, laughter, and applause. Attributes that were negatively related to attention were adult male voices, extended zooms and pans, eye contact, and still shots. Other attributes had both positive and negative effects on attention depending on whether the child was looking at the TV at the time the attribute occurred. It is suggested that attributes are positive or negative to the degree to which they signal informative comprehensible content.

Notes: This is, we believe, the first investigation of the effects of experience with a particular program series on children's subsequent television viewing behavior and comprehension. Three- to 5-year-old, regular, experienced Blue's Clues viewers were compared to new, inexperienced viewers. In Study 1, experienced Blue's Clues viewers looked less but overtly interacted more with a new episode of Blue's Clues. This effect was most pronounced during recurrent format portions of the episode. They also showed greater comprehension of familiar content. Study 2 compared experienced and inexperienced viewers on viewing behavior and comprehension of an episode of a different series. Experienced Blue's Clues viewers looked less but overtly interacted more; there were no differences in comprehension. These results suggest that a television series can teach children a style of television viewing transferable to new episodes and to new series.

Notes: Videotapes of in-home television viewing of 50 individuals in five age groups (2-, 5-, 8-, and 12-year-olds, and adults), recorded over a 10-day period, revealed that 46% of time with television was spent in some activity instead of or in addition to looking at the TV. Social interaction was the most common nonviewing activity for all viewers, followed by playing and eating for children and reading for adults. Women were more likely than all other groups to do chores. Nonviewing behaviors occurred most often during programming that attracted less visual attention, particularly ads. Except for 2-year-olds, children's attention dropped during ads to a greater extent than did that of adults. The findings have implications for theories of television use and impact including uses and gratifications, displacement, and formal feature theory.

Notes: 1. Myocarditis may be an early indicator of or may subsequently lead to dilated cardiomyopathy in humans. This hypothesis has evolved from research on viruses that induce myocarditis, wherein the coxsackie B group viruses (CVB) in the family Picornaviridae are the most common known viral infectants of heart muscle.2. Many competing hypotheses exist as to the pathogenesis of CVB3-induced myocarditis, including direct virus-induced myocyte damage and immunopathological disease with autoimmune sequelae. Evidence to support the direct-damage and viral RNA-persistence hypothesis is derived from in situ hybridization and gene amplification studies.3. Recent use of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick-end labelling indicates that this injury in target organs is largely non-apoptotic in nature. Most apoptotic bodies in cardiac tissue are derived from immune cells.4. Beyond infection of heart muscle, CVB3 can also associate with, infect and persist in cells of immune origin. The CVB3 localizes to follicles in spleens and lymph nodes of the murine host and this particular localization may continue in mice susceptible to more aggressive myocarditis. Whether virus-immune cell association in these compartments is advantageous (or essential) to the host in the evolution of anti-viral immune responses or whether it is more advantageous to the virus in immunosuppression of the host is not known.5. We suggest that CVB3 can directly perturb or alter the immune response, thereby delaying viral clearance from vulnerable systemic organs. Both host and viral genetic factors can influence susceptibility, persistance and disease progression.6. Picornaviruses use a unique method for the initiation of translation, involving the internal binding of the ribosome on a sequence element of the 5′ untranslated region, termed an internal ribosome entry sit. (IRES).7. The IRES of CVB3 is located at approximately stem loops G, H and I, spanning nucloetides 530 and 630. Arrest of host translation is also a feature of picornavirus infection. Such regulation of host cell translation machinery no doubt fosters viral replication at the expense of the host cell.8. Differences between cell types in the mechanisms, along with those at other key steps in the viral life cycle and in signalling via kinase pathways, may determine viral tropism and cellular destruction and the physiological outcome of neighbourin. cells.

Notes: Abstract Although American television programs present highly stereotyped sex roles, no previous studies have shown in adults a relationship between sex-role stereotyping and TV viewing behavior. The present study assessed 78 college students' self-descriptions in relation to their TV viewing behavior. The results indicated that the amount of sex-role stereotyping in self-descriptions was positively correlated with amount of TV viewing of stereotyped programs. These findings were replicated with a group of 19 elderly adults.