COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN TELEVISION PERCEPTION

The content of television, as perceived by researchers and other adults, is widely regarded as a major determiner of the effects of television on children. Yet the field of communications research has long since documented that it is not content per se but rather the audience perceptions of that content that functions as a major determiner of effects. A shift in research and analytic emphasis from adult‐defined content to audience perceptions of content becomes crucial when the audience consists of children. The literature of child development clearly indicated that children perceive their environment differently than do adults. In this article, Piaget's theory of cognitive stage is shown to be a predictor of children's perceptions of television.