Table Of ContentFAMILY\^EWS: THE EFFECT OF TRAINING PARENTS
TO MEDIATE THEIR CHILDREN'S TELEVISION VIEWING
ON CHILDREN'S COMPREHENSION OF COMMERCIALS
By
DENISE MATTHEWS
ADISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDAIN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOF FLORIDA
1994
This manuscriptis dedicated to the memory ofmyfather, Phathon James
Matthews, who taughtme to cherish my own creativity and originality.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My utmost gratitude goes to RogerJon Desmondwho provided the
major direction for this research and guidedme throughfrom its embryonic
stages toits finalform. His insight and dedication were invaluable to the
entire project.
John W. Wright remained optimistic andflexible throughout this
process while offeringexcellent advice as chair ofmy committee. Michael
Weigoldbrought methodto this madness and devoted crucial thought and
energy to this work farbeyond duty.
Kim Walsh-Childers suppHed important groundingin media effects
research with children as well as thoseintimations that the perils ofmy
personalPhD path were not unique.
PatriciaMillercrossed discipfines to provide me with the benefit ofher
highly respected knowledge ofdevelopmental psychology'. She also nurtured
my process with encouragement and much appreciated warmth.
Both Barbara Taylor and Evelyn Rooks-Weirbirthed my earfiest
interestin this subject. Their excellent community ties andreputation
opened doors. Because oftheir quafity work in the community, I received
exceptional cooperation from Bebe Fernside and the administration of
Alachua County Head Start.
My dearfriends Randi Cameon andBill Black came to my rescue in a
very dark hour to save the experimental integrity oftheproject when my
father died. My gi-aduate school soul mate, Lynn Dirk, provddedinvaluable
help throughout this projectfrom earliestconception to serving as a research
assistant on site. Helen Maltezos alwaysbelievedin this endeavor and
supportedme from thefirst.
I thank David Halpern, an excellent statistical consultant and a great
friend. I also thank workshop leader Barbara Youngforher enthusiasm and
extra help andthe many otherindividuals who actually toiledin thisproject--
the excellentinteiviewers, Martine Gauthier-Zotto, Ginny Reamy, andSam
Venus; food organizers Lisa Herd, Maria Masque; andchild care expert
Maria Azare. Also, I thank the dedicatedHead Startteachers who
cooperatedin every waypossible to make this project go smoothly. Finally, I
thank my mother whois a pohtical genius and a tirelesspublic servant, and
who really knew how to mediate my TVviewing.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
pagre
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iii
ABSTRACT vii
CHAPTERS
INTRODUCTION
1 1
ParentalMediation 1
Children's Television Viewing as a Public Issue 4
Research on Children andTelevision Advertising 5
The ChildMarket 7
Intervention to Increase ParentMediation ofChildren's Television
Vie\\ang 8
2 THE LITERATURE 10
Historical Context: FamilyVariables in the Study ofMedia
Effects and Children . '. 10
Parent-Child Interaction about Television 15
Theories that Help Explain How Parent-Child Interaction
Helps Preschool Children UnderstandTelevision
Commercials 39
Previous Interventions to Encourage ParentalMediation
ofChildren's Television Viewing 53
Parent Intervention 55
Rationale for an Intervention 60
The Hypotheses 62
3 METHOD 67
Rationale for this Study 67
Subjects 68
Design 71
IndependentVariables 73
DependentVariables 85
Scoring 94
4 RESULTS 95
Descriptive Statistics 95
ScaleProperties 98
TestoftheHypotheses 103
5 ANALYSISAND CONCLUSION 112
Research Problem andFindingsReviewed 112
Limitations ofthis Investigation 128
Conclusions 130
PubUc Policy ImpHcations and a CallforMedia Literacy 131
SuggestionsforFurtherInvestigation 134
APPENDICES
A VIDEO SCRIPT 135
B CONTROL CONDITION-BACKGROUND NOTES 140
C PARENT-CHILD QUESTIONNAIRE 146
D PARENTDISCIPLINE ORIENTATION 148
E CHILD MEASURE 149
F APPEARANCE-REALITYPRETESTONLYMEASURE:
HOWITWAS ADMINISTERED 154
G VISUAL CHOICES 157
REFERENCES
161
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 172
Abstract ofDissertation Presented to the Graduate School
ofthe University ofFloridain Partial Fulfillment ofthe
Requirements for the Degree ofDoctor ofPhilosophy
FAMILYVIEWS: THE EFFECT OF TRAINING PARENTS
TO MEDIATE THEIR CHILDREN'S TELEVISION VIEWING
ON CHILDREN'S COMPREHENSION OF COMMERCIALS
By
DeniseMatthews
December 1994
Chairman: John W. Wright
MajorDepartment: Mass Communications
The effect ofencouraging and traininglow-income parent/caretakers to
mediate theirpreschool (age 5) child's television viewing on children's
comprehension oftelevision commercials wasinvestigated. Children (n = 72)
from eight Head Startclassrooms were pretestedfor threelevels of
comprehension oftelevision advertising: ability to discriminate between
programs andcommercials, understandingofthe intent ofcommercial
messages, andunderstandingthe deceptive potential ofcommercials.
Subsequentto childpretesting, self-selectedparent/caretaker and
parent dyads (n = 45) attended a workshop about television viewing and were
randomly assignedto a control or experimental workshop. Parents in the
experimental treatment were encouraged and trainedin mediatingtheir
child's understandingofcommercials. Parents in the control treatment
receivedinformation aboutchildren'sviewing and discussed television
violence. Two to three weeks subsequent to theirparents' participatingin
one ofthese workshops, children were posttested.
Children ofparents whoparticipatedin the experimental workshop
demonstrated significantly greatertime 1 to time 2 increases fortwo open-
endeditems that measuredchildren's understandingoftheintent of
commercials than children ofcontrol workshop parents. Posttest responses
indicated that children ofexperimental workshop parents accurately
articulatedintent ofcommercials to induce buyingthe product significantly
more often than children ofcontrol workshop parents. No significant main
effects orinteraction effects for timeby treatment werefoundfor any ofthe
other dependent measures.
Children's pretest abilityvariedwidely amongthe three levels of
commercial comprehension. Ability to discriminate commercialsfrom
programmingwas relatively high andincreased only slightly on the posttest.
Pretestlevels ofunderstandingcommercials' deceptive potential was low and
remainedlow on theposttest. However, pretestmeasures ofunderstanding
the intent ofcommercials were mixed, \Ndth high scores for recognition items
andlow scores on free-responseitems. Significantposttestincreasesfor the
experimental group in articulatingintent ofcommercials suggest that
parents can be motivated to successfuDy apprentice theirchildren in
understandingtelevision content and thatthey willbe most effective when
tappingcomprehension within the child's zone ofproximal development.
vui
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
The intermixing ofmass andinterpersonal communication that occurs
when famihes watch television demands that we transcendthe narrow
theoretical hmits ofour subdiscipHnes. This arena offers opportunities
toformulate a more fundamental conception ofcommunication as the
basic social process defining, shaping, andcoordinatinghuman
interaction. (Alexander, 1990, p.223)
Communication between children andparents about television's
symbols acts as a powerful influence interveningbetween television content
andits effect on children (Alexander,1990; Desmond, Singer & Singer,
1990; McLeod, Fitzpatrick, Glynn, «& Fallis, 1982; Reid, 1979).
Parents/caretakers have the optimal opportunity to mediate the meanings
theirchildren constructfrom television contentbecause they are the adults
mostlikely to be presentbefore, during, and after children view television
(Bryce & Leichter, 1983; Corder-Bolz, 1980; Timmer, Eccles, & O'Brien,
1985).
ParentalMediation
In this study parent/caretaker'-child mediation implies two types of
parent/caretaker-childinteraction. One type involves the extent to which
parents and otherhouseholdmembers spontaneously answer children's
'The use ofthe term parent throughoutthis reportis inclusive ofany
adult or even an older sibhngwhois in the role ofcaretaking a youngchild.
1
2
questions about the world aroundthem and offer evaluations and
explanations ofpeople, events, objects, ideas, and messages like televised
content. Family mediation also refers tohow parents/caretakers create and
enforce standards ofbehavior andhow children are disciplined.
ParentalHmitation and restriction ofvie"wingselections implicitly
communicates values tochildren, while parents'comments abouttelevision
content explicitly shape children's perceptions ofreality (Lull, 1980). These
comments can serve to influence values andviews ofthe world and society
embodiedin television programming andcommercials (Buerkel-Rothfuss,
Greenberg, Atkin, & Neuendorf, 1982; LuU, 1980; Reid, 1979). Parents, by
modelinginterpretation ofthe meanings oftelevisedmessages andby talking
to theirchildren abouthow theyinterprettelevision, may help their children
to develop their own capacityforinterpretingtelevision fare (Corder-Bolz,
1980).
Family rules about what andhow much viewingis allowed and a
discussion-orientedfamily communication style arepositively associatedwith
children'slower totalviewing (Desmond et al., 1990), awareness ofprosocial
messages (Abelman, 1986; Buerkel-Rothfuss et al., 1982), understanding of
television's conventions, recall ofnarratives, and ability to distinguish
between reality andfantasy (Desmond, Singer, Singer, Calam, & Colimore,
1985; Singer, Singer, Desmond, Hirsch. & Nicol, 1988). Ward, Wackman,
and Wartella (1977) heldthat "parent-childinteraction can effectively
augment the development ofa 'cognitive filter' that even very youngchildren
can use in comprehending and evaluating advertising" (p.183).
