Television and Social Behavior; Reports and Papers, Volume II: Television and Social Learning.

Concentrating on television and social learning, this second volume in the series of technical reports to the Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior consists of an overview and the reports of five investigations. The studies included are: Leifer and Roberts, "Children's Responses to Television Violence"; Liebert and Baron, "Short-term Effects of Televised Aggression on Children's Aggressive Behavior"; Stein and Friedrich, "Television and Content and Young Children's Behavior"; Feshbach, "Reality and Fantasy in Filmed Violence"; and Stevenson, "Television and the Behavior of Preschool Children." The overview reviews the field, points out agreements and inconsistencies among the studies, and concludes that "At least under some circumstances, exposure to televised aggression can lead children to accept what they have seen as a partial guide for their own actions. As a result, the present entertainment offerings of the television medium may be contributing, in some measure, to the aggressive behavior of many normal children. Such an effect has now been shown in a wide variety of situations." (SH)