11.4 Scholastic Achievement

Television viewing has gained the widespread reputation of being detrimental to scholastic achievement. This perception of many teachers, parents, and researchers stems primarily from the negative statistical relationship sometimes found between amount of time spent watching television and scholastic perforinance (Anderson & Collins, 1988). The relationship between television and scholastic achievement is much more complicated and complex than such a simple inverse relationship suggests (Beentjes & Van der Voort, 1988; Comstock & Paik, 1987, 1991; Neuman, 1991). A review of the research on scholastic achievement, focusing particularly on that produced since the early 1980s, reveals the likelihood of many interacting variables influencing the impact of television.

This section of the chapter will first discuss some theoretical assumptions and major theories about television's impact on scholastic achievement, including a brief review of the body of research and methodological issues. A summary of the intervening variables that have been studied with regard to the television/achievement association and the current conclusions about that relationship will follow.

11.4.1 Theoretical Assumptions

Research on television's impact on scholastic achievement hinges on two assumptions. The first is the belief that an objective measurement of television viewing can be obtained. The second concerns the assessment and measurement of achievement. The methods used to gather data on both are similar.

Television viewing is often defined by hours of viewing .per day or week. This information is primarily gathered through self-reporting instruments or parental diaries. Rarely is a distinction made about how the student is relating to the television set, whether or not others are in the room, or if there are concurrent activities being performed. A few studies record the type of programming watched, but again, these data are usually gathered from the subjects within a self-reporting context instead of by direct observation.

Scholastic achievement is overwhelmingly defined in the literature as reading. Reading assessments in the form of achievement tests on vocabulary and comprehension are the primary source of comparison. Some studies measure other school-related achievement such as mathematics but commonly discuss their study results mainly in terms of the reading scores. While this may belimiting in terms of our understanding of scholastic achievement, it has.allowed for more comprehensive meta-analyses and comparisons between studies than otherwise would have been possible.

11.4.2 Major Theories

Research in this arena of television's effects has had two major thrusts. Researchers first sought to discover if there was an association between television and scholastic achievement. Many, having concluded that there was such an association, expanded their studies to search for the nature of the relationship. A number of theories attempt to explain and account for the often conflicting and confusing results of studies.

11.4.2.1. Frameworks for Theory. Homik(1981)suggested a number of hypotheses for the relationship between television viewing and achievement. Television may (a) replace study time, (b) create expectation for fast-paced activities, (c) stimulate interest in school-related topics, (d) teach the same content as schools, (e) develop cognitive skills that may reinforce or conflict with reading skills, and (f) provide information concerning behaviors. Except for the first hypothesis, Reinking and Wu (1990), in their meta-analysis of studies examining television and reading achievement, found little research systematically investigating Homik's theories.

BeentJes and Van der Voort (1988) grouped potential theories by impact. The facilitation hypothesis asserts a positive association, while the inhibition hypothesis asserts a negative association, and the no-effect hypothesis asserts no association. They found the most support for the inhibition hypothesis but noted that heavy viewers, socially advantaged children, and intelligent children are most vulnerable to the negative impact of television.

In her book Literacy in the Television Age, Neuman (1991) examined four prevailing perspectives of the television/achievement relationship: the displacement theory,* the information-processing theory, the short-term gratifications theory, and the interest stimulation theory. Her analysis of the evidence supporting and refuting each of these hypotheses is one of the most accessible and comprehensive to date. She also includes practical suggestions to help parents and teachers delineate situations where television can be beneficial for scholastic achievement and literacy development. Through Neuman's framework, we can examine the body of literature on the association between television viewing and scholastic achievement.

11.4.2.2. Displacement Theory. The displacement theory emerged in the late 1950s out of studies demonstrating that children watch many hours of television weekly. The displacement hypothesis* has been proposed by many theorists and critics to explain the effect of television viewing On other activities. This hypothesis states that "television influences both learning and social behavior by displacing such activities as reading, family interaction, and social play with peers" (Huston et al., 1992, p. 82). Since children are not spending those hours doing something else, television is displacing other activities. Theorists suggested that the negative relationship sometimes found between television and achievement occurs because the activities being replaced are those that would enhance school performance (Williams, 1986). This theory is the most consistently present construct in achievement research.

Research supports the displacement hypothesis to some extent. The functional displacement hypothesis* holds that one medium will displace another when it performs some of the functions of the displaced medium (Himmelweit, Oppenheini & Vince, 1958, cited in Comstock & Paik, 1991). Therefore, television does displace other activities, but mostly similar activities such as use of other media (Huston et al., 1992). "Moreover, when children watch television together, their play is less active-that is, they are less talkative, less physically active, and less aggressive than during play without television" (Gadberry, 1974, cited in Huston et al., 1992, p. 86).

Trend studies, which analyze the change in scholastic (reading) achievement over the decades of television's diffusion into everyday life (Stedman & Kaestle, 1987; M. Winn, 1985), have generally supported the displacement theory. Their results provided weak evidence of the existence of a negative television/achievement relationship, since societal changes during the time periods studied include much more than the advent of television.

Another type of longitudinal research design uses surveys to measure a link between television viewing and achievement using measures of the same subjects' media use and achievement (Gaddy, 1986; Gortmaker, Salter, Walker & Dietz, 1990; Ritchie, Price & Roberts, 1987). Gaddy's analysis of 5,074 high school students during their sophomore and their senior years attempted to ascertain whether television viewing was impacting achievement by replacing more enriching activities. He found no significant correlations when other variables were controlled. Nor did television viewing rates predict 2-year reading-skill changes. Gaddy hypothesized that other researchers have found significant results due to their failure to consider important intervening variables.

The displacement theory received more rigorous support from quasi-experimental studies typified by the analysis of the impact of television's introduction into a community or the comparison of children.in households with and without a television set (Greenstein, 1954; Hornik, 1978). Corteen and Williams's 1986 study of three British Columbia communities, one without television (Notel), one with a single television channel (Unitel), and one with mulitiple channels (Multitel), is a classic example of this design. In the first phase, the 217 children in the communities attending grades 2, 3, and 8 were tested for reading fluency before Note] received television transmissions. Two years later, when the children were in grades 4, 5, and 10, they were retested. In phase 2, 206 new second-, third-, and eighthgraders were tested. In a connected data-gathering activity, a reading assessment of vocabulary and comprehension was administered to students in grades I through 7 in all three communities 6 months after television came to Note].

The cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of these data sets produced very complex findings: (a) Over the 2 years, those Notel children who started the study in second and third grades showed gains in reading fluency that were not significantly different from their Unite] and Multitel counterparts; (b) the eighth-graders showed less progress if they lived in Notel; (c) phase I second- and third-graders had higher fluency scores than phase 2 second- and thirdgraders; and (d) Notel's second- and third-grade scores were higher than those in Unitel and Multitel on the assessment of reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Corteen and Williams's somewhat conflicting results also epitomize the difficulty and complexity of studies of television effects. Although not unequivocal, as a whole their data suggested that television may hinder the development in reading skills for children at certain ages (Beentjes & Van der Voort, 1988). .

A number of correlational studies, which focused on the same two variables-amount of time spent watching television and cognitive development as measured by reading achievement test scores-have also found support for the displacement theory. However, the data, on the whole, from such simple correlational studies have been shown to be conflicting, finding negative, positive, or no significant relationship between television viewing and reading achievement (Bossing & Burgess, 1984; Quisenberry & Klasek, 1976; Zuckerman et al., 1980). Further analysis of more recent studies with larger sample sizes suggests that the relationship is likely to be curvilinear rather than linear, with achievement rising with light television watching (I to 2 hours per day), but falling progressively with heavier viewing (Anderson et al., 1986; Feder, 1984; Searls et al., 1985).

This curvilinear view of the negative association between television and achievement has been addressed by researchers using meta-analysis, a technique that attempts to discover trends through arithmetic aggregation of a number of studies. A key study of this type is Williams, Haertel, Haertel, and Walberg's 1982 analysis of 23 studies that examined the relationship between scholastic achievement and television viewing. The results of these meta-analyses were the basis for Comstock and Paik's discussion of scholastic achievement (1991). The five large-scale studies that became their major sources include:

A number of researchers augmented our understanding of the characteristics of television's impact on scholastic achievement by controlling for variables suspected of intervening (Anderson, Mead & Sullivan, 1988; Fetler & Carlson, 1982; Keith, Reimers, Fehrrnann, Pottebaurn & Aubey, 1986; Morgan, 1982; Morgan & Gross, 1980; Neuman, 1988; Potter, 1987; Ridley-Johnson, Cooper & Chance, 1982). In these studies, one or more third variables, often intelligence and socioeconomic status, are controlled. As a result, the relationship measured between achievement and television is not confounded by the third variable. For instance, controlling for intelligence tends to reduce the degree of negative association. However, the relationship remains intact for certain viewers and some content, such as adventure or entertainment programs (Beentjes & Van der Voort, 1988). Data from this form of research permit more precise analysis of variables that are involved in the complex interaction of television watching and scholastic achievement.

Neuman argued that the two pieces of evidence needed to validate the displacement theory, proof that other activities are being replaced and a demonstration that those activities are more beneficial to scholastic achievement than television, have not been adequately established in the literature (Neuman, 1991). Neither leisure reading at home nor homework activities have been consistently found to be displaced by television. Instead, functionally equivalent media activities such as movies or radio seem to be affected by television viewing (Neuman, 1991). Since other activities have not been proved to be more beneficial than television, Neuman finds the displacement theory unsubstantiated. The body of literature on achievement supports the need for a much more complex and sophisticated model than the simplistic one represented by pure displacement theory. Another trend in achievement research identified by Neuman is information-processing theory that examines the ways television's symbol system impacts mental processing. This theory was discussed in the section on message design and cognitive processing.

11.4.2.3. Short-Tenn Gratification Theory. Short-term gratification theory deals primarily with affective and motivational components of the learner. enthusiasm, perseverance, and concentration. Proponents of this theory, many of whom are teachers, believe that television's ability to entertain a passive viewer has "fundamentally changed children's expectations toward learning, creating a generation of apathetic spectators who are unable to pursue long-term goals" (Neuman, 1991, p. 105). They argue that students have come to believe that 0 activities should be as effortless as watching television and that students' attention spans are shorter due to such fast-paced programming as Sesame Street (Singer & Singer, 1983). This issue was presented in the section on mental processing and will be discussed in the section on "Programming and Utilization."

Writers in the 1970s claimed that the children's program Sesame Street had a number of undesirable unintended effects, namely, increased hyperactivity (Halpern, 1975) and reinforced passivity (Winn, 1977), especially when compared to its slower-paced competition Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (Tower, Singer, Singer & Biggs, 1979, cited in Neuman, 1991). These unintended effects gave credence to the short-term gratification theory and the general bias against the television medium. However, further investigations shed doubt on the accuracy of these conclusions (Anderson, Levin & Lorch, 1977; Neuman, 1991) by discovering that individual differences, famfly-viewing context, and other intervening variables were interacting within the association between television and achievement.

Salomon's theory of amount of invested mental effort (AIME*) suggested that children approach television as an "easy" source of information and, therefore, tend not to expend much mental effort to understand, process, and remember the information in television programs (Salomon, 1983, 1984). He explained that this caused most to Perform below their capabilities unless they were specifically directed or encouraged to learn from the source. He further speculated that this "effort-free" experience became the expectation for other sources of information as well.

Gaddy's (1986) theory of diminishing challenge concurred with the concept that as children grow older they find television less cognitively challenging; thus, they need less effort to understand the information. Typical teenagers will spend less time watching television. Gaddy concluded that those who continue to watch at high levels are therefore spending an inordinate amount of time in cognitive "laziness."

11.4.2.4. Interest Stimulation Theory. The fourth trend in achievement research discussed by Neuman is the interest stimulation theory. This hypothesis suggests that television can potentially spark a student's interest in or imagination about a topic, fostering learning and creativity.

Examples of television's initiating interest, as demonstrated by increased reading and study around a topic, can be taken from most of our lives. For instance, after the broadcast of the miniseries Roots, Fairchild, Stockard, and Bowman (1986) reported that 37% of those sampled indicated increased interest and knowledge about issues of slavery. Similarly, Hornik (198 1) has shown that adult book sales will boom after a special program airs on television. Morgan (1980) found that children who watch more television when they are younger are likely to read more when they are older. While this phenomenon has ' been measured, the arousal of interest and generation of incidental knowledge about subjects broadcast on television has been described as fleeting (Comstock & Paik, 1991; Leibert & Sprafkin, 1988; Neuman, 1991).

Neuman (1991) summarized three reasons to account for the ephemeral nature of incidental learning from ordinary entertainment viewing. First, most people who casually view television lack the intention to learn. Therefore, they do not engage in active cognitive processing of the material. Second, the redundancy of plot and character and the low intellectual level in most television programming increases the likelihood that any information intended for leariiing was previously mastered. Finally, unless the material has direct relevance to the viewer, any incidental information learned is quickly forgotten due to lack of reinforcement and practice. She suggests a series of concomitant strategies of parental and teacher mediation that can activate, broaden, and focus television's potential to stimulate interest in school-related topics under natural home-viewing conditions (Neuman, 1991).

11.4.2.5. Theories Related to Imagination. The idea of television as a stimulator of imagination and creativity has been an area of debate among scholars and researchers. Admittedly, studying the imagination is a difficult prospect at best. Techniques to do so have ranged from observations and self-reports to imagination tests using inkblots or inventories to teacher and parental descriptions. In his work Art, Mind and Brain: A Cognitive Approach to Creativity (1982), Howard Gardner recounts observations and research that support the idea that television is a * rich medium for imaginative activity. "The child's imagination scoops up these figures from the television screen and then, in its mysterious ways, fashions the drawings -and stories of his own fantasy world" (p. 254). He purports that television stimulates the sensory imagination of the young much more successfully than it generates the abstract, conceptual lines of thought important to older viewers' creativity.

Other researchers have found evidence of television's stimulation of imaginative play. Alexander, Ryan, and Munoz (1984) found brothers who used television-generated conversation to initiate fantasy play. James and McCain (1982) recorded children's play at a daycare center and observed that many games created by those children were taken from television characters and plots. They noted that the themes occurring in such television-activated play were similar to those in play not stimulated by television. Commercials in particular have been demonstrated in certain circumstances to contribute to imaginative activity (Greer, Potts, Wright & Huston, 1982; Reid & Frazer, 1980.)

A considerable amount of research in the area of television's impact on the imagination of the viewer, particularly that of children, has been conducted by Jerome and Dorothy Singer and various associates. They have concluded that television can present general information, models for behavior, themes, stories, and real and make-believe characters who are incorporated into creative play (Singer & Singer, 1981, 1986). This process is not guaranteed, nor is it always positive. Rather, a pattern emerges of a conditional association between television and developing imagination.

The first condition is the type of programming viewed. A number of studies have linked high-violence action adventure programs to decreased imagination, and low-violence situation comedies or informative programs with increased imagination (Huston-Stein, Fox, Greer, Watkins

• Whitaker, 1981; J. Singer & Singer, 1981; Singer, Singer

• Rapaczynski, 1984; Zuckerman, Singer & Singer, 1980). Singer and Singer have also argued that the pacing of television can impact the amount of imaginative play, with slower, carefully designed programs, such as Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, generating conditions for optimal creative thought and play (Singer & Singer, 1983). Dorothy Singer reported two studies on the effect of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on children's imagination (Friedrich & Stein, 1975, cited in Singer, 1978; Tower, Singer, Singer & Biggs, 1978). Mister Rogers'Neighborhood produced a significant increase in imagination. Sesame Street did not.

The type of programming watched may also affect the nature of fantasy activities. Rosenfeld, Huesmann, Eron, and Torney-Purta (1982) used J. Singer and Antrobus's (1972) Imaginal Processes Inventory to categorize types of fantasy. They found three types: (a) fanciful play around fairy tales and implausible events, (b) active play around heroes and achievement, and (c) aggressive negative play around fighting, killing, and being hurt. Children, chiefly boys, who demonstrated aggressive negative fantasy were those who tended to watch violent action adventure programs regularly (Singer & Singer, 1983). McIlwraidi and Schallow (1982, 1983) and Schallow and McIIwraitl. (1986, 1987) investigated various media effects on imaginativeness in children and undergraduates and found connections between programming genre and type of imaginative thinking. For instance, pleasant, constructive daydreams came from watching drama, situation comedies, or general entertainment programs.

The second condition of television's association with imagination is the amount of time spent viewing television. Heavy viewers have been shown to be less imaginative (Peterson, Peterson & Carroll, 1987; Singer & Singer, 1986; Singer, Singer & Rapaczynski, 1984). Children who watch television many hours weekly tend to also exhibit traits within their fantasies similar to those who watch action adventure programs. This is evidenced by the fact that they tend to be aggressive and violent in their play (Singer & Singer, 1983).

The final condition within the television and imagination association is that of mediation or family viewing context. Singer, Singer, and Rapaczynski's (1984) study found parental attitudes* and values about imagination to be a stronger indicator of child imaginativeness than type or amount of television viewing. D. Singer and Singer's (1981) year-long examination of 200 preschoolers within three treatment groups found that the greatest gains in imaginativeness were associated with adult mediation. The first group bad television exposure and teacher-directed lesson plans designed around 2- to 3-minute televised segments intended to improve the child's cognitive, social, and imaginative skills. The second group received the specialized lesson plans without television exposure. The final group received the ordinary school curriculum. The results from the first group showed gains in imagination and other social skills such as leadership and cooperation.

Though the results of these studies examining television's effects on imagination are not universal, they reveal a pattern of conditional benefit. Children who are exposed to a limited amount of television, who watch carefully selected programs in terms of content and pacing, and who engage in conversations with adults who mediate that exposure are likely to use their television experience as a springboard to positive, creative, and imaginative activities.

11.4.2.6. Future Directions for Theory. Neuman (1991) concluded that we need a conceptual model to account for (a) the many uses for television, (b) the "spirited interplay" between various media including television, (see 8.4), and (c) the impact of television on scholastic achievement. The writings of Comstock and Paik (1991), Beentjes and Van der Voort (1988), and Reinking and Wu (1990) support the need for a conceptual model that links research variables. The difficulty researchers have encountered in finding consistent, definitive evidence about the magnitude and shape of an association and a functional description of such an association between television viewing and scholastic achievement may be due to the presence of negative bias toward television. Additionally, there is the aforementioned difficulty of the lack of a conceptual model that adequately explains the complex interactions of variables such as age, socioeconomic status, family viewing context, and intelligence.

11.4.3 Methodological Concerns

While many early studies found significant negative correlations between television viewing and achievement, reviewers (Beentjes & Van der Voort, 1988; Homik, 1981; Neuman, 1991; Reinking & Wu, 1990) note that severe flaws in design shed doubt on the veracity of those early findings. These include: (a) small sample size, (b) lack of control for intervening variables, (c) less-powerful analysis techniques, (d) relative inattention to the content of programming, and (e) unreliable self-reporting instruments, whereas subsequent studies with larger sample sizes, better controls, and more rigorous analysis have continued to discover consistently significant relationships between television viewing and scholastic achievement (Anderson et al., 1986; Fetler & Carlson, 1982; Gaddy, 1986; Keith et al., 1986; Neuman, 1988).

Ritchie, Price, and Roberts (1987) postulated that television may have the most profound impact during the preschool years. Another concern they raise is the question of long-term exposure to the effects of television. This is a dilemma for researchers which can be addressed by more rigorous longitudinal studies.

Neuman (1991) itemized additional concerns about the television and achievement literature: (a) The majority of the research lacks a driving theory; (b) many studies purport to be qualitative but are actually anecdotal; (c) scholastic achievement has been narrowly defined and measured, focusing on reading achievement scores; and (d) due to an assumption that print is the intellectually superior medium, a negative bias pervades the literature.

11.4.4 Intervening Variables

A brief look at the variables that have been studied for their potential differential effects throughout the research will help illustrate the complexity of the interaction between the individual and television in terms of subsequent scholastic achievement.

11.4.4.1. Age. As with many other variables, there is conflicting evidence regarding bow the variable of age affects scholastic achievement. The literature suggests that the negative correlation between television viewing and achievement is stronger for older students, which implies that older students may replace study time with television viewing, while younger children are monitored more closely by parents with regard to studying (Anderson et al., 1986; Neuman 1988; Roberts, Bachen, Homby & HernandezRamos, 1984; Searls, Mead & Ward, 1985).

11.4.4.2. Gender. Studies comparing the effects of television viewing on the scholastic achievement of boys and girls have produced conflicting findings. Morgan and Gross (1980) found a negative relationship for boys between television viewing and scholastic achievement. In contrast, Williams, Haertel, Haertel, and Walberg's (1982) meta-analysis identified a negative relationship for girls.

11.4.4.3. Intelligence. Morgan (1982) and Morgan and Gross (1980) found that the negative association between television and achievement was strongest for children of higher abilities. They found no significant effect for lowand medium-levels of intelligence. As with older children, television may have a greater impact on highly intelligent students because it displaces more cognitively stimulating activities (Beentjes & Van der Voort, 1988).

11.4.4.4. Home-Viewing Environment. Researchers have found that television-watcbing and leisure-reading patterns of children often reflect those of their parents (Morgan, 1982; Neuman, 1986). Many factors of the home environment are statistically significant indicators of television watching, especially for younger children (Roberts et al., 1984). Behavioral patterns of leisure read-* ing and television watching seem to persist into adulthood (Reinking & Wu, 1990; Ritchie et al., 1987).

11.4.4.5. Reading Skills. Research on various levels of reading skill is inconclusive, due mainly to the habit of measuring reading skill with one overall score (Beenjes & Van der Voort, 1988). Corteen and Williams (1986) found a connection to comprehension, but not vocabulary, in their study of three Canadian towns.

11A.4.6. Socioeconomic Status. Although heavy viewers universally have lower scholastic achievement, for light and moderate viewers socioeconomic status seems to have a place in the interaction. Contrary to high socioeconomicstatus children who demonstrate a negative correlation, low socioeconornic-status children can improve achievement with television viewing (Anderson et aL, 1986; Feder, 1984; Searls et al., 1985). Combined with findings on the effect of intelligence, many scholars have reached a conclusion that supports the displacement theory in specific situations.

The pattern invites a proposition: television viewing is inversely related to achievement when it displaces an intellectually and experientially richer environment, and it is positively related when it supplies such an environment (Comstock & Paik, 1987, p. 27).

11.4.4.7. Type of Programming Watched. Purely entertaining television programming such as cartoons (see 11.7.1.3), situation comedies, and adventure programs (see 11.5.5.2) have a negative correlation with school achievement (Neuman, 198 1; Zuckerman, Singer & Singer, 1980). News programs (see 11.7.3) and other highly informative shows, on the other hand, have a positive relationship to achievement (Potter, 1987).

11.4.4.8. Various Levels of Viewing Time. Many studies have found different levels of viewing time (see 11.5.5. 1) to be an important element in television's relationship to achievement (Anderson et al., 1986; Feder, 1984; Neuman, 1988; Potter, 1987; Searls et al., 1985). In their discussion of Williams et al. (1982), Comstock and Paik concluded that there is a good possibility of curvilinearity at the intermediate and primary grades, especially for households of lower socioeconomic status or using tnglish as a second language (1987, 1991). For these groups, television can have a beneficial effect at moderate levels of viewing.

One of the problems of interpreting studies of the effect of viewing time on achievement is that the content or context of that viewing time is often ignored, yetmay have an effect. For example, in the early evaluations of Sesame Street, viewing time was positively correlated with learning outcomes when it was measured as an approximation of "time on task." If a more undifferentiated measure of iewing time--one unconnected with the content of sequences or programs-had been used, the findings may have been different. What is the relationship of intentionaland incidental-learning conditions to the interaction of viewing time and achievement? Is it important to distinguish between viewing as a primary activity and viewing as a secondary activity? Questions such as these need to be raised when researchers study the interaction of viewing time and achievement.

11.4.5 Summary and Reeommendations

Few researchers today doubt that there is a relationship between television viewing and scholastic achievement. The debate centers instead around the nature of that association. Regardless of the seeming disparity of results, some patterns are emerging:

It is a source of constant amazement to me that the television set, an inert, immobile appliance that does not eat, drink, or smoke, buy or sell anything, can't vote, doesn't have a job, can't think, can't turn itself on or off, and is used only at our option, can be seen as the cause of so much of society's ills by so many people in education (cited in Neuman, 1991, p. 195).

The last decade of research has shown that the relationship of television viewing to scholastic achievement is a complex proposition with many interacting variables, not just a simple, negative relationship. The impact of this medium on achievement remains far from clear. However, research continues to improve our understanding of how each individual may be influenced by television.

Future research should seek to avoid these obvious problems while building on the body of literature available. Emphasis on mulitvariate relationships through correlation and on meta-analyses seems the most direct route to increasing our understanding of the nature of the television/ achievement relationship.