Edexcel GCSE Psychology - Topic C - Williams (1981) Does TV Affect Children's Behaviour

Aim

Williams wanted to measure children's behaviour before and after television had been introduced to the town (a remote town in British Columbia, Canada) and also to compare the children's behaviour with that of other towns that did have TV.

Similarities with Charlton (2000)

- Both studies were natural experiments - the experimenters did not control the introduction of TV - TV was naturally introduced. - Both studies were conducted in real-life communities. - The communities of St Helena and Notel had never had broadcast TV (as opposed to videos) and were introduced to satellite TV for the first time. - There were variables outside the control of both studies: other children or parents' behaviour. - Both Charlton and Williams conducted observations to measure the amount of aggression displayed. - Both studies used questionnaires to ask teachers and parents about their children's behaviour and viewing habits.

Strengths

- Conducted in a real place and TV was introduced naturally. Far greater realism than any other type of experiment. - Because the same children were followed over a two-year period, their behaviour before and after TV could be directly observed. - The children were observed in their natural surroundings; at school in the class and playground. The researchers also allowed the children time to get used to them being there.

Differences with Charlton (2000)

- St Helena is so remote that it had developed a unique culture of parental control. Notel was not unique in this way because it was a mainland town. - On St Helena most people knew each other - Notel was a normal town with inhabitants coming and going; not everyone knew each other well. - Notel was on the mainland, so had access to popular cultural trends whereas St Helena only had ferry visits every month to deliver supplies and so was isolated from popular culture. - The adults on St Helena may have been reluctant to admit the children had aggressive behaviour because it might create a negative image of the island. The same reluctance would be unlikely of a mainland town whose name was never disclosed.

Findings

- The children were twice as aggressive after TV was introduced to Notel - Children and adults spent less than half the time they had in the past on leisure activities - Children began to see increased gender differences between boys and girls after watching TV - Children became less creative - IQ scores dropped slightly after the introduction of TV Although aggression in all towns increased over the two-year study, aggression in Notel children increased far more in comparison. Unitel and Multitel were quite similar.

Weaknesses

- The researchers did not control what or how much TV the children watched, or the adult supervision and control of viewing. - Observations might be biased because the researchers see what they want to see. They might have reported higher levels of aggression because they expected it to happen after children started watching TV.

Conclusion

-Notel showed increased levels of aggression because of the introduction of television. -Television also reduced time spent on leisure activities, lowered creativity and intelligence slightly.

Procedure

NATURAL EXPERIMENT IV - television before and after its introduction DV = the children's behaviour -They measured a range of behaviours before and after the town received TV: 1. Aggression of children in the playground and classroom 2. Leisure activities the community were involved in 3. Intelligence level (IQ) of children 4. Creativity and reading ability of children -Two observers watched children in the school playground and classrooms but they didn't start recording until the children were used to their presence. This was to make sure the children didn't behave differently. -They measured the number of physically aggressive acts (e.g. hitting) and verbally aggressive acts (e.g. teasing) -They called the town 'Notel' (NO CHANNELS) and also studied two neighbouring towns with similar population and economy - 'Unitel' (ONE CHANNEL) and 'Multitel' (MULTIPLE CHANNELS ) -All three towns were studied before TV was introduced in Notel, and for two years after.