The interest in the effects of television violence on children has resulted in thousands of studies over the last 20 years. Previous research on laughter has generated many laughter theories and several studies show that laughter may influence mirth expressions and funniness ratings of material. The purpose of this study was to determine if a television laugh track affected children's perceptions of television violence. A review of the literature covered the areas of laughter and television laugh tracks, children's processing of television, and children's television violence perceptions. Forty-two children, aged 6 to 8 years old, were divided into two groups. One group watched a televised violent scene accompanied by a laugh track, and the other group watched the same scene without a laugh track. The children then answered questions on a Likert scale about their perceptions of the pain and violence in the scene. The data was analyzed using the t-statistic. At a .05 significance level, there were no significant differences between the control and treatment groups, supporting the null hypothesis. These results supported previous research showing that laugh tracks and laughter in general do not always increase funniness or other ratings, and that children may not be identifying closely with the characters. Suggestions for future research were presented. / Graduation date: 1993

The Lithuanian and foreign scientists state that media makes a huge impact to the opinion and habits of a society. Television provides the information in various formats using dynamic ways with special effects, which attract the attention of children. Thus television can be considered as most powerful and influential type of media affecting the behaviour of children and their social perceptions. This paper raises new a new problem such as lack of complex researches of media programs content and how they affect children’s behaviour and social perceptions. This area of research still needs more in depth studies because many scientist’s researches show the existence of a connection between violence seen on TV and aggressive behaviour however there have not been proved that particularly violence on TV has the most influence to the social skills development of teenagers. The research of legal basis has proved that broadcasters still can easily broadcast the TV programmes with violent acts in the prime time. The research of scientific literature discovered that violent TV shows have influence to psychological and physiological development of teenagers, their achievements in learning process. The research done by the author of this paper herself showed that half of 12-16 years old children spend 3 or more hours daily watching TV. According to the research done by the author, children who experience positive emotions watching violence on TV behaves more aggressively in their social... [to full text]

Thesis (M.S.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1997. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2712. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as preliminary leaves 2-3. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-94).

Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2005. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Feb. 2, 2006). Thesis advisor: Greer Fox. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Television has become the primary 'story teller' in our society today (Gerbner, et.al., 1986, 1994). It is an all pervasive technology that most of us aren't even aware of in our surroundings. From airports, bus terminals, restaurants, bars to our own lounges, television is constantly passing on its message to its audience. Its role might vary from just a background noise to active information source, its presence remains constant. However television itself is not static, it is a dynamic medium with a constantly growing presence in our lives. Therefore, there remains a constant need to understand the role television plays in shaping our 'stories' and the current study is a short step towards understanding the role and impact of news media on the emotional responses of news viewers in Pakistan. During the last decade there has been an exponential growth in Pakistan's private media industry. Over 80 channels have already started with a number in the pipeline. Of these channels the most prominent are the 16 24-hour news channels which, for the first time, provided the Pakistani public multiple options for seeking news and information (previously only Pakistan Television, a state owned channel was available) - the Pakistani public is now spoiled for choice. However this growth in the media industry also resulted in the over-exposure of issues as the channels vied for viewers. Consequently the audience is regularly exposed to sensational news and content - with coverage ranging from the graphic to the mundane - as networks compete for ratings. Observing the media's behavior and keeping media effects research on exposure to violence in mind, the researcher was interested in seeing whether regular exposure to violence news and violent acts leads to desensitization of the audience. The relationship between news and sensationalism is an old one, starting from the early tabloids in the early 1900s which focused on crime/violence to attract readers. The same trend can be seen in news channels in Pakistan and abroad. One main reason can be the low cost of covering and reporting a crime or act of violence. The event itself provides the reporter with images and information (no digging required!), the drama of the crisis, its aftermath and consequences provide news channels easy fodder for their news mill which needs to run 24-hours, 365 days of the year. Therefore the aim of the present research was twofold: one, to evaluate the amount of violence/violent content that is being shown on Pakistani news channels; and two, to try and assess the impact of this content on the emotional responses of news viewers. The study also aimed to extend the desensitization hypothesis by arguing that the continued presence of the stimulus responsible for desensitization will result in audiences' crossing the attention threshold; i.e. viewers will ignore the central issues on the media agenda and remove it from their socio-political discussions. The model further suggested that viewers will focus more on the peripheral issues rather than the primary issues in the media agenda. The results of the content analysis clearly show that in both public and private television news violent content is the 2nd highest type of news being reported (with domestic politics being the highest type of news content across both channels). Two types of news on violence were studied: violence resulting in fatalities and violence without fatalities; with the first one have almost twice the volume of the latter type of news content. The content analysis and the first part of the survey analysis provide the pre-requisite information for the attention threshold assumption. One, they confirm the continuous presence of a particular issue in news in large volume; and secondly, the survey analysis provides support for the presence of desensitization amongst the respondents. The tests run for the attention threshold assumption indicated that despite the presence of the issue of violence on the media agenda, it is no longer on the public agenda, and is not a part of the social discourse of the respondents with either their family or their friends. The current research shows that heavy consumers of violent news content tend to significantly have pro-violence attitudes. They also tend to have lower levels of emotional empathy for victims of violence and higher levels of compassion fatigue. While these results were not statistically significant for the sample tested, the results show a consistently low mean, indicating negative trend for both the variables. The respondents were generally in favor of harsher punishments and greater state/military control of the country. Results of the current study indicate that heavy viewers of news media tend to be more desensitized to the violence in society. Their emotional responses are numbed down. For a country like Pakistan, with a history of military intervention in domestic politics and governance, this is a matter of grave concern. Strong feelings of insecurity and mean world syndrome, fed on a steady diet of violent news programing, can further undermine faith in the political system - leading to greater acceptance (and at times active desire) of military sponsored or led control - a situation that is very troubling for Pakistan. While the current analysis is a starting place, news content in Pakistan needs to be studied in greater depth. Future research needs to also focus on the wider range of news channels in Pakistan. This would help identify the effects of different variables like ownership, political affiliations, language and location on the content of news channels. In terms of the survey itself, a broader, more inclusive research in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country would provide better evidence of the effects of news violence on Pakistanis. And finally, a lot more in-depth and extensive research is needed before on the "attention threshold" model for it to be verified and its results generalized. If verified, the model will help future researchers identify why issues of audience concern are no longer getting the requisite attention from viewers, despite having strong media presence.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Working from a child participatory perspective, the study aimed to explore children's perceptions and experiences of screen violence. Within this process there is an attempt to understand how children assign meaning to these violent screen images at an interpersonal and broader social level. / South Africa

Study one was designed to assess the relationship between television violence viewing and expectations of others physical aggression in conflict situations. Four hundred thirty one children, fourth and fifth graders, completed a television frequency survey and a conflict situations hierarchy. It was found that children who normally view a relatively large amount of television violence expected others to be physically aggressive in conflict situations more than children who normally view a relatively small amount of television violence. Study two was designed to assess the relationships between violence viewing, latency to seek help in the presence of real life violence, and physiological responses to real life violence. Thirty nine children who participated in study one, 19 high violence viewers and 20 low violence viewers, were recruited to serve as subjects. Subjects were led to believe that they alone were responsible for monitoring younger children in another room via a camera and television monitor. Subjects viewed a videotape of two children who initially play quietly, but become increasingly hostile, and the film culminated in a physical fight ending with the apparent destruction of the camera. Latency to seek help and heart rate were measured. High violence viewers took reliably longer to seek help in the presence of real life aggression than low violence viewers. However, when the distribution of latency scores was examined, group differences appeared attributable to the performance of a relatively small number of subjects. This study suggests that increasing levels of television violence viewing may be related to increasing latency to seek help in the presence of real life aggression, that the relationship may be modest, and that replication of the procedures is needed before strong conclusions can be made. High violence viewers and low violence viewers did not differ in their heart rate responses to the scene of real life violence. This study suggests that heavy violence viewing may not be associated with physiological desensitization to real life violence. However, further studies employing different indices of physiological arousal is clearly needed before strong conclusions are warranted. Differential research strategies to address these issues were discussed. / Ph. D.

No description available.

The SABC has embraced a mandate that advocates the promotion of cultural diversity within the broader ambit of national identity. Although SABC3 consitutes the commercial wing of the station, it too is required to produce programmes in accordance with the spirit of this mandate. With tight budgets, pressure for audience ratings and an assortment of individual producers with individual production agendas, it may be naIve to presume that the SABC could consistently give priority to this mandate. Nonetheless, this is what it has undertaken. Considering this unifying and optimistic mandate, how then are frightening, troubling or disillusioning social phenomena depicted? The representation of one such phenomenon, crime, has been selected here for examination as it appears in Special Assignment and Expressions programmes. The way in which the SABC tackles essentially negative material and puts it in documentary form for national consumption sends out a message to South African viewers. The nature of this message - and its relation to the broadcaster's mandate - forms the basis for this dissertation. Each of nine selected documentaries is analysed using a mixture of semiotic, discursive and contextual principles. The programmes are examined in terms of four sections. The first is global trends and theories. Criminological, documentary and other theories that are global in scope have been adapted to powerfully, but subtly, underscore all of the documentaries, with implications for the representation of national identity. Secondly, a sociological examination of the way in which the local has been depicted (and whether it is given much attention at all) has implications for the fulfilment of the part of the mandate relating to cultural diversity. Thirdly and fourthly, the overall portrait of national identity in the documentaries is largely dependent on the combined representation of national culture - including values, symbols, rituals and beliefs - and the nation-state. Both of these should be construed in an optimistic light, taking into account, nonetheless, the critical watchdog function of the media. The evaluation remains strictly textual and preferred meaning is determined through theoretically supported analysis rather than via audience research. Issues such as global neoliberalism and its impact on the SABC and newsroom values are touched on and acknowledged, but ultimately, their effect on the fulfilment of the mandate is not examined in this dissertation. The central thrust of the dissertation in thus, strictly, the way in which the levels of the global, national and local, as they are represented in the documentaries, constitute interlocking factors, which impinge on the manner in which the SABC complies with its mandate. The findings of the dissertation were unsurprising in many respects. Overall, there appeared to be no consistent pattern to which documentaries were produced. The immediacies of production pressures and deadlines appear to outdo the broadcaster's mandate in terms of priority. Having said this, however, certain features do recur, such as the prevalence of sensationalism or, on the positive side, the humanising of criminals in a way that offers hope. Consequently, the study isolates approaches that foster national identity and those that do not, noting the frequency with which they occur and thereby implicitly offering a roadmap for future productions. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

This study was designed to investigate the portrayal of violence on SABC Television News programmes, these being CCV News, presented at 19h.00 and TVI News at 20h.00. The literature reviewed reveals that Television News is an ideological construct that differs from one media organization to the other. This study focuses on the theories of media organizations which inform ideas about how Television News is produced. It is believed that to understand why Television News is presented the way it is, depends on ideologies applicable in the media organizations. It became difficult to write about violence without broadly looking at its producers. Data was obtained by comparative analysis between the SABC News broadcasts, CCV News and TV1 News, recorded at the Centre for Cultural and Media Studies at the University of Natal in Durban. The comparative analysis also included a reception study of the viewers from four areas. Two urban and three semi-urban areas were chosen as research sites using questionnaires, and interviews were conducted at Temba location which is a semi-urban area. The major findings of the study were that in its News broadcasts, the SABC appears strongly to favour certain parties, notably the African National Congress. There were few reports of ANC's involvement in the shooting of people. There was also a lack of consistency in the reporting of violent incidents. This is indicated by much reliance on the security forces and the police as News sources and the use of maps and graphics instead of showing video material of the actual incidents. The attitudes expressed by the respondents to the questionnaires reflected a dissatisfaction with the status quo and indicated that perhaps the SABC faced a mammoth task in covering both the election campaigns and violence. Some respondents suggested that the SABC could have extended its News programmes' duration to accommodate more crucial items. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1994.