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Children’s Interpretations of Good and Bad Television Characters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

David Goble  and
Ann Knowles
David Goble*
Affiliation:
Monash University
Ann Knowles
Affiliation:
Swinburne University of Technology
*
Department of Psychology, Monash University, Caulfield/Peninsula Section, Dandenong Rd, Caulfield Victoria Australia 3162, Telephone: (03) 9903 2475, Fax: (03) 9903 2501, e-mail: David.Goble@sci.monash.edu.au
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Abstract

While there has been much concern over television’s influence on children, few studies have investigated the way young children and adults differ in their ability to distinguish the behaviour of “good” and “bad” television characters. The present study investigated the extent to which preschool children, primary school students, and adults differed in their interpretations of the actions of a stereotypically good and a stereotypically bad character. An edited television drama programme was examined for comprehension and for the extent to which children and adults differed in their belief that the characters in the programme were real. Preschool children were found to evaluate characters similarly to adults, although significant differences were evident in their comprehension of the programme and their judgement of the reality of the television content.

Keywords

CharactersChildrenReality TestingSemantic DifferentialTelevision
Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , November 1996 , pp. 54 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1996

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