The Effect of Network and Public Television Programs on Four and Five Year Olds' Ability To Attend to Educational Tasks.

Examines the effect of network and public television programs on children's: ability to attend to a task, time on task, and engagement in rough-and-tumble play. Sixty-two children were assigned to one of three groups that watched: (1) a public television program; (2) a network television program; and (3) no television and instead played with instructional materials. Discusses implications for children's programming and environmental influences on attention. (AEF)