Intraprogram synopses for children's comprehension of television content

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the use of intraprogram synopses to improve children's comprehension of a television program. Second graders who viewed a television program with synopses placed after the commercials (postcommercial synopsis condition) recognized more central content than did second graders who viewed the same synopses before the commercials (precommercial synopsis condition) or those who viewed the program with commercials and without synopses (control condition). Further, the central content recognition scores of the second graders in the postcommercial synopsis condition did not differ significantly from those of fifth graders in any of the three conditions. Treatment conditions did not affect fifth graders' comprehension of central, peripheral, or implicit content. Intraprogram synopses, shown immediately after commercial breaks, offer promise as a method for improving young children's comprehension of television content without recourse to adult coviewing.