A New Method for Studying Variables Controlling Television Viewing

Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 8-1971 A New Method for Studying Variables Controlling Television Viewing Diana Reda Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons Recommended Citation Reda, Diana, "A New Method for Studying Variables Controlling Television Viewing" (1971). Master's Theses. 2941. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/2941 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact maira.bundza@wmich.edu.

A New Method For Studying V ariab les C o n tro llin g T e le v isio n Viewing by.- 7, Diana.Veda A Thesis Subm itted to the F a c u lty of The Graduate College in p a r t i a l f u lf illm e n t of the Degree of Master of A rts W estern Michigan U n iv ersity Kalamazoo, Michigan August 1971 R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would lik e to express my sin c e re ap p re ciatio n to Dr. Richard W. M alott fo r h is in v alu ab le guidance and encouragement throughout the course of th is rese arc h. I am also g r a te fu l to Mr. Frank Jamison and Dr. David 0. Lyon fo r t h e i r co n stru c tiv e c r itic is m and advice in the com pletion of th is p r o je c t. My s p e c ia l thanks goes to the s t a f f of the te le v is io n stu d io w ithout whose p a tie n t support th is re se arc h would not have been p o ssib le. To Roger F riz in g e r and M ichael Zann of WIDR a lso goes a s p e c ia l note of thanks fo r t h e i r p a r tic ip a tio n as acto rs in the p roduction of a v id eo -tap e used in th is study. Diana Reda R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

MASTERS TH ESIS M -3 0 1 4 REDA, Diana Carole A NEW METHOD FOR STUDYING VARIABLES CONTROLLING TELEVISION VIEWING. Western Michigan University, M.A., 1971 Psychology, experimental University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, M ichigan R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

PLEASE NOTE: Some Pages have in d is tin c t p rin t. Filmed as received. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION... 1 STUDY 1 7 Method.... 7 R esu lts and D iscussion........ 8 STUDY 2... 13 M e t h o d... 13 R esu lts and D iscussion........ 15 STUDY 3... 35 M e t h o d... 35 R esu lts and D iscussion... 36 STUDY k... ^3 M e t h o d... ^3 R esu lts and D iscussion........ it-6 CONCLUSIONS... 57 REFERENCES... 59 R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

TABLE OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1 R e lativ e frequency of len g th of image exposure during sampled segment of "The Tonight Shov/".... 10 2 Percentage of su b je c ts looking a t the te le v is io n during each minute of tap es one and two... 17 3 Amount of time every su b je c t spent w ith "eyes on the te le v is io n screen" throughout tape o n e.... 20 k Amount of time every su b je c t spent w ith "eyes on the te le v is io n screen" throughout tape two..... 22 5 Percentage of su b je c ts looking a t the screen d u rin g each minute of tape t h r e e... 2H- 6 Amount of time each su b je c t spent w ith "eyes on the te le v is io n screen" throughout tape t h r e e... 26 7 R e la tiv e frequency of len g th s of image exposure on tap es one, two and t h r e e... 28 8 R elativ e frequency of len g th s of a u d ito ry stim u li during sample of tape o n e... 33 9 Percentage of su b je c ts w ith "eyes on the te le v is io n screen" during each minute of the ta p e. The a lte r n a tin g segments of tapes one and two are in d ic a te d. H orizo n tal lin e s in d i cate m e d i a n s... 38 10 Amount of time every su b je c t spent looking a t the screen during segments of tape one and tape two.... ^0 R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

TABLE OF FIGURES, c o n tin u e d FIGURE PAGE 11 Percentage of su b je c ts looking at the te le v is io n screen w hile s lid e s were a lso being p ro je c te d. Alte r n a tin g read in g procedures are in d ic a te d... ^8 12 Amount of time each su b je c t looked a t the screen during "alone" and "both" segments. S lid e s were also p r e s e n t e d... 5 13 Percentage of s u b je c ts looking at the screen when s lid e s were not being shown. Segments in d ic a te a lte r n a te read in g procedures.... 53 1*1 Amount of time each su b je c t spent w ith "eyes on the screen " d uring "alone" and "both" segm ents. No s lid e s were p r e s e n t e d... 55 R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

The in te n t of t h i s rese arc h was to in v e s tig a te the fa c to rs c o n tro llin g view er a tte n tio n to te le v is io n. Of prime concern was the e f f e c t th a t d u ra tio n of audio and v is u a l stim u lu s exposure has on the amount of time the view er w ill spend w atching the screen, and the developm ent of a method in which to b e st study th is e f f e c t. One of the p r in c ip le aims of te le v is io n is to m ain tain the v ie w e r's o r ie n ta tio n towards the screen. What he sees on the screen must be re in fo rc in g enough to s u s ta in t h i s view ing behavior throughout the length of the program. A review of the l i t e r a t u r e concerning te le v is io n view ing rev ealed th a t emphasis i s concen trated on the e f f e c ts of co n ten t on looking behavior. Although con ten t may be an im portant f a c to r governing view ing, o th er fa c to rs n o t d ir e c tly r e la te d to content a lso have a stro n g e f f e c t on the v ie w e r's looking beh av io r. Some programs by the n atu re of t h e i r content are not considered h ig h ly in te r e s tin g by the general audience. K lein (1971) s ta te s th a t view ers i n s i s t th a t they want to see programs on te le v is io n w ith more imp o rta n t c o n te n t, such as p u b lic a f f a i r s. Yet when p u b lic a f f a i r s is on, view ers u s u a lly fin d i t "too o b je c tio n a b le ", as K lein puts i t, as compared to the en tertain m e n t programs opposite i t. Given the content to be shown, the producer must p re se n t i t in a manner 1 R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

which w ill a t t r a c t and m aintain the la r g e s t audience p o s s ib le. The c r u c ia l v a r ia b le s, th en, are those th a t can c o n tro l the v ie w e r's response of looking a t the screen re g a rd le s s of the a c tu a l c o n ten t. What is most im p o rtan t, th e r e fo r e, to the people of the te le v is io n in d u stry i s developing e f fe c tiv e means of keeping the view er in fro n t of h is te le v is io n. This does not nece s s a r ily demand the p roduction of q u a lity c o n te n t. I t can be achieved by the p roper m anipulation of v a r ia b le s. Reinforcem ent derived from audio and v is u a l s tim u li can be e f f e c tiv e in m ain tain in g the d e sire d response. Even in cases in which the conveyance of info rm atio n is the u ltim ate g o a l, as in e d u c a tio n al programs, th is purpose is d efeated u n less these s tim u li provide adequate r e i n forcem ent f o r the evoking and m ain tain in g of the v ie w e r's looking b eh av io r. Some p relim in ary work in the area of e f f e c t i v e ness of v is u a l s tim u la tio n was done by B u tle r (1953? 195^) and. B u tle r and Harlow (195^; 1957)* These s tu d ie s in d ic a te a d iffe re n c e in the re in fo rc in g s tre n g th of v a r ious v is u a l s tim u li by changes in response r a t e s. They found th a t monkeys in a l i g h t - t i g h t t e s t cage would q u ick ly le a r n a co lo r d isc rim in a tio n in which the c o rre c t response opened a door allow ing a 30-second view of the la b o ra to ry. Response r a te s showed a d iffe re n c e in r e in - R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

fo rc in g e ffe c tiv e n e s s of s tim u li a lte r n a te ly a v a ila b le in the environment in the follow ing o rder (from most to le a s t re in fo rc in g ): 1) a monkey in an o th er cage, 2) moving e l e c t r i c t r a i n, 3) an a rra y of food, and *0 an empty tab le top surrounded by black c lo th screen in g. These data suggest th a t those o ffe rin g the monkey the g re a te s t degree of audio and v is u a l s tim u la tio n, pro vided by c o n tin u a lly changing sound and v is u a l p a tte rn s of a monkey and a t r a i n, were the most re in fo rc in g. - These s tu d ie s in d ic a te th a t the re in fo rc in g e f f e c t of te le v is io n may be r e la te d somewhat to sensory reinforcem ent. In a review of "Sesame S tr e e t", U lrich (1970) suggests th a t c e r ta in p h y sic a l p ro p e rtie s of stim u l i are la rg e ly resp o n sib le fo r the s u s ta in in g of the v iew er's looking response. S tim u li which are b ig, co lo r f u l, fast-m oving, and r a th e r complex tend to a t t r a c t more eyes to the te le v is io n than sim ple, bland s tim u li. "Sesame S tre e t" makes use of th is technique when " i t p resen ts a big R and when i t fla sh e s numbers on the screen in psychedelic p a tte r n s ". Through casu al o b serv atio n, i t was noted th a t c e r ta in elem ents fre q u e n tly p re se n t in in s tr u c tio n a l programs are a sso c ia te d w ith low r a te s of looking beh av io r in the stu d en t view er. These elem ents include graphs, diagram s, in te rv ie w s, and monologues. Such R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

fa c to rs o f fe r the stu d en t a very minimum of v is u a l r e i n forcem ent, thereby b rin g in g about a drop in looking beh av io r. These low r a te s of looking behavior are decreas ed s t i l l f u r th e r, however, as a fu n c tio n of d u ratio n of p re s e n ta tio n. The longer the u n in te rru p te d p re se n ta tio n of the graph, diagram, in te rv ie w, or monologue, the le s s re in fo rc in g i t becomes. R ein fo rcin g power of a stim ulus is g r e a te s t im m ediately upon p re s e n ta tio n. As exposure time in c re a s e s, the r e in fo rc in g s tre n g th of the stim ulus is g rad u ally l o s t. I t ap p ears, th en, th a t novel stim u li provide the g r e a te s t rein fo rcem en t. Berlyne ( i 960) contends th a t n o v elty is the o v e rrid in g stim ulus c h a ra c te r i s t i c a l l y e l i c i t i n g the o r ie n ta tio n re a c tio n, or the looking response. The re in fo rc in g e ffe c tiv e n e s s of v isu a l and au d ito ry s tim u li in v id e o -ta p e s could be m aintained with the use of a number of fre q u e n tly interch an g in g camera angles and b r ie f speaking segments. V ideo-tapes, th e re fo re, composed of v a rie d camera angles showing an image only a m a tte r of seconds before changing and of sh o rt, fast-m oving in d iv id u a l speaking segments would produce a high r a te of view er looking response. This seems to be the p rin c ip le follow ed by the highly succ e ssfu l nig h ttim e te le v is io n t a lk shows. I t has been found th a t a program can be rated R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

as to i t s re in fo rc in g value by m easuring the looking b ehavior i t gen erates in the view er. L indsley (1962) devised a b eh av io ral method whereby commercials could be judged as s u ita b le or n o t fo r te le v is io n p re s e n ta tio n. The s u b je c t was placed in a sm all room w ith a te le v is io n m onitor and a response b u tto n which c o n tro lle d the b rig h tn e s s of the p ic tu re and operated on a conjugate schedule of re in fo rc em e n t. On such a sch ed u le, the b rig h tn e ss of the screen was co n tin g en t upon the ra te of response. High responding m aintained a b r ig h t p ic tu re ; low r a te s faded out the p ic tu re. With t h i s tech n iq u e, re in fo rc in g commercial segments in d ic a te d by high r e sponse r a te s could be d istin g u is h e d from m inim ally r e i n fo rc in g p o rtio n s in d ic a te d by l i t t l e or no responding. Momentary changes in looking behavior are reco rd ed by f lu c tu a tio n s in response r a te s. A method of m easuring looking b eh av io r s im ila r to L in d sle y 's was used by Reeves ( I 97O) to measure the a tte n tio n of c h ild re n to te le v is io n program s. In th is case, however, the v ie w e r's looking b ehavior was observed and recorded continuously and m echanically by the e x p e rim enter. The dependent v a ria b le observed by the e x p e rim enter was "eyes on the te le v is io n s e t", A s im ila r measure of behavior can be obtained by observing and re c o rd ing the response of "eyes on the te le v is io n s e t" once R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

6 every m inute. This means p ro v id es an a c c u ra te, moment- to-moment record of the v ie w e r's changes in looking behavior. R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

STUDY 1 The frequency of au d ito ry and v is u a l image change on the te le v is io n screen may, to a g rea t degree, d e te r mine the r e in fo rc in g v alue of the program. Commercial te le v is io n makes use of e ffe c tiv e methods of c o n tr o llin g view er a tte n tio n to the screen re g a rd le ss of a c tu a l conte n t of the p re s e n ta tio n. The nature of te le v is io n comm ercials n e c e s s ita te s th a t the v iew e r's a t te n tio n be drawn and m aintained by what he sees on the screen. Study 1 sought to in v e s tig a te these a tte n tio n -h o ld in g techniques as employed in popular te le v is io n programs and commercials. METHOD "The Tonight Show", cartoon programs and v arious te le v is io n commercials were te s te d fo r the occurrence of the independent v a r ia b le s under study. They were chosen because of t h e i r p o p u la rity as a tte n tio n mainta in in g programs. Programs were viewed over a 23-inch te le v is io n. A clock w ith a second hand was used to time the frequency of stim u lu s change during the programs. The segment measured on "The Tonight Show" was the f i r s t fiv e m inutes of in terv iew follo w in g the monologue. During t h i s p e rio d, the amount of time each 7 R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

8 v is u a l image was on the screen was measured and recorded. V isual image change c o n siste d of s h if tin g camera angles although rem aining on the same ch a ra c te r or o b jec t and s h if tin g of camera d ir e c tio n from one c h a ra c te r or obje c t to an o th er. In m easuring v is u a l change during commercials and c a rto o n s, the le n g th of the p re se n ta tio n was timed and the number of v is u a l image changes were counted. From t h i s d a ta, the mean d u ra tio n of v is u a l stim u lu s exposure was determ ined. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The d ata obtain ed from "The Tonight Show" are presen ted in Figure 1. V isu al images l a s t i n g fo r fiv e seconds occurred w ith a frequency of 53% Frequency decreased to fiv e p e rc e n t fo r 15-second exposures. Twenty-second exposures a lso occurred w ith fiv e p ercen t frequency. The median d u ra tio n of v is u a l images was fiv e seconds. This ra p id change of v is u a l s tim u li provided a maximally r e in fo r c in g v is u a l p a tte r n. V isual s tim u li were changed w hile they s t i l l re ta in e d most of t h e i r r e in fo rc in g q u a l i t i e s. In th is way, lo s s of the looking response caused by lo ss of re in fo rc in g e f f e c t iveness of v is u a l s tim u li i s im probable. Reinforcem ent remains high c a rry in g the v ie w e r's o r ie n ta tio n through- R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. 1. R elativ e frequency of len g th of image exposure during sampled segment of "The Tonight Show". R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

10 5 10 15 20 DURATION OF IMAGE R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

out the p re s e n ta tio n. Rapidly paced au d ito ry changes are a ls o mainta in e d. In d iv id u a l speaking segments are very b r i e f, r a re ly exceeding 15 seconds. Persons attem p tin g to speak f o r a lo n g e r period are u s u a lly in te rru p te d by the h o st or an o th er g u est. Both v is u a l and a u d ito ry s tim u li are sw itched fre q u e n tly enough to keep looking behavior high. The r e s u l t of these m anipulations i s a q u ick ly paced program m aintaining the v ie w e r's eyes on the screen by co n tin u o u sly p re se n tin g novel sound and image s t i m u l i. The mean v is u a l image change obtained over a sample of s ix commercials was 2.9 seconds. In commerc ia ls th e re is an alm ost in c e ssa n t change in what is on the scree n. During the u su al 30-second com mercial, the p ic tu re on the screen changes approxim ately 10 tim es. The purpose of t h e i r p re s e n ta tio n, the s e llin g of a p ro duct, demands th a t the v ie w e r's eyes remain fix e d on the te le v is io n and not be d ire c te d elsew here a t i t s on set. In order to keep the v ie w e r's eyes on the sc re e n, the commercial i s designed to bombard him w ith e f f e c tiv e ly re in fo rc in g v is u a l p a tte rn in g. E x c e lle n t examples of th is s u c c e ss fu l programming are the Pepsi com m ercials. The mean v is u a l image change in cartoons was found to be fo u r seconds. Reeves (1970) found t h a t the R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

12 a tte n tio n le v e l of c h ild re n is near maximum durin g com m ercials. To reproduce th is response in c h ild r e n s ente rta in m e n t, carto o n s must d u p lic a te the fa c to rs e f f e c t in g t h is high ra te of response. This, th en, n e c e s s a rily involves the b r ie f exposure of v is u a l s tim u li. Since c h ild re n are o ften sa id to have a sh o rt a tte n tio n span, the lo ss of the r e in fo r c in g value of s tim u li as a functio n of exposure tim e may be in te n s if ie d w ith c h ild re n. The same p r in c ip le holds tru e in r e la tio n to the len g th of spoken segm ents. Like a d u lts, c h ild re n tend to r e spond more to how m a te ria l is p resented r a th e r than the a c tu a l co n ten t of th e m a te ria l i t s e l f. In summary, d a ta obtained from n o tab ly high a tte n tio n m a in ta in in g te le v is io n programs in d ic a te the presence of b r i e f l y p resen ted audio and v is u a l s tim u li as e s s e n tia l fo r s u s ta in in g a high le v e l of view er looking b ehavior. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

STUDY 2 Study 2 sought to determ ine the re in fo rc in g v a l ue of th re e e d u c a tio n a l v id e o -ta p es by measuring the moment-to-moment changes in looking behavior of view ers. V isual stim ulus d u ra tio n was a lso measured during each tap e. The two m easures could then be compared to d e te r mine i f in c re a se s in view ing behavior were a fu n ctio n of decreased stim ulus d u ra tio n s. METHOD S u b je c ts : E ighty-seven stu d e n ts e n ro lle d in an In tro d u c to ry Psychology course a t Western Michigan U n iv ersity served as s u b je c ts. They were divided in to three groups. Two groups, co n tain in g a combined 6k stu d e n ts, viewed the v id e o -ta p e s during c la sstim e. The o th er group, of 23 s tu d e n ts, viewed the tape on a v o lu n te e r b asis outside of c la sstim e. They had signed a l i s t and were given bonus p o in ts towards t h e i r course fo r p a r tic ip a tin g. One tape was shown to each group but stu d e n ts were allow ed to take p a rt in more than one group. S ubjects ranged in age from approxim ately 18 to 25. A pparatus: An Ampex VR 51 re c o rd e r was used to tr a n s f e r 13 R ep roduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

14 three film s to one-inch 3M v id e o -ta p e s. The film s used are p ro fe s s io n a lly produced, com m ercially a v a ila b le edu c a tio n a l film s but since i t is not the purpose of th is study to p re se n t a c ritiq u e on the film s, th e ir t i t l e s w ill be w ith h eld. The tapes were b ro ad cast from the campus te le v is io n stu d io and shown over Magnovox, 23- inch screen te le v is io n m onitors. A clock w ith a second hand was needed to measure one-minute in te r v a ls fo r reco rd in g s u b je c ts ' behavior during view ing. Data sh eets were used to manually record the b ehavior. P rocedure: The Ss were seated in a s e m i-c irc le around the m onitor s itu a te d ag ain st the fro n t w all. c le a r view of the screen from t h e i r s e a ts. A ll Ss had a The E sa t to the l e f t of the m onitor and could observe every S. S hortly before each of the th re e tap es began, the Ss were given the follow ing v e rb a l in s tr u c tio n s : In a few minutes a v id eo -tap e w ill begin. You w ill not be resp o n sib le f o r the m a te ria l p resen ted and w ill not be quizzed over i t. You are not re q u ire d to watch the tape i f you do not wish. You may slee p or study in stead but p lease do n o t ta lk or leave the room. The only book you may read is your te x t. I w ill be re c o rd in g your behavior d u rin g the course of the t a p e. The te x t they were allowed to read was t h e i r book fo r t h e ir psychology course, which they a l l had with them. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Any q u e stio n s Ss had were then answered. The method of rec o rd in g was the same fo r a l l p re s e n ta tio n s. With the s t a r t of the v id e o -ta p e, one- m inute in te r v a ls were tim ed. Once during every in te r v a l, E glanced a t each S and recorded w hether or n o t h is eyes were on the te le v is io n sc re en. This procedure was contin u ed to the l a s t minute of the tape a f t e r which the Ss were thanked and dism issed from c la s s. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The r e s u lts of tape one, a 50~rainute in terv iew, showed an o v e ra ll low ra te of looking behavior while tape two, a 40-minute dem onstration of teach in g v e rb al b eh av io r to psychotic c h ild re n, showed a high r a te. Of the 23 Ss who saw tape one, th ere was a low of 20$ of the Ss watching during the 26 minute and a high of 85% d u rin g the f i r s t m inute. During the r e s t of the ta p e, w atching flu c tu a te d between 25$ and 75$. Among the 36 Ss who saw tape two, looking responses v a rie d between 75$ and 100$. These r e s u lts are shown in Figure 2. As in d ic a te d, the p re s e n ta tio n of graphs on the screen during tape two are c o rre la te d w ith a d eclin e in a tt e n t i o n among Ss, w ith the exception of the f i r s t g rap h. There were larg e v a r ia tio n s in the amount of R ep rod uced with perm ission o f the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. 2. Percentage of su b je c ts looking a t the te le v is io n during each minute of tapes one and two. R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

17 - T A P E ONE TAPE TWO GRAPH G^AI^H GRAPH (praph >60 11 'u 't f l \I\ i n u f c f c \ i t : ' i 1 *t V 10 20 30 40 50 M INUTES R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

time Ss sp en t w atching the m onitor during tape one, as seen in Figure 3* A tten tio n r a te s ranged from 20# of the Ss w atching 0 to 10# of the tim e, and 10# w atching 91# to 100#. As in d ic a te d in Figure k, 78# of the Ss watched from 91% to 100# of tape two. None of the Ss watched le s s than 61# of the tape. Tw enty-eight Ss viewed tape th re e, a 22-minute tape concerning anim al ag g ressio n. Figure 5 shows the amount of o rie n tin g behavior d u ring th is p re se n ta tio n. A very high o v e ra ll ra te of looking a t the screen was s u sta in e d throughout the m ajor p o rtio n of the tap e. As in d ic a te d, the low p o in ts in a tte n tio n are c o rre la te d w ith m inutes of ex p lan atio n by the n a r ra to r. Figure 6 p re se n ts the amount of time Ss spent w atching the screen. E ighty-nine p e rc e n t of the Ss watched between 91$ and 100# of the tape and 11# watched 81# to 90#- No S watched le s s than 81# of the tap e. To compare the th ree v id e o -ta p e s in r e la tio n to d u ra tio n of v is u a l images on the sc re e n, a sample of the f i r s t 18 consecutive image changes were se le c te d from each ta p e. The length of time the images were exposed was determ ined fo r a l l th re e sam ples. The d is t r ib u tio n in Figure 7 dem onstrates the frequency of v ario u s exposure tim es fo r each sam ple. Tapes two and R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. 3* Amount of time every su b je c t spent w ith "eyes on the te le v is io n screen" throughout tape one. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

20 (0 20 S 15 lu 1 0 (0 20 40 60 80 % TIME SPE N T WATCHING MONITOR 100 R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. h-. Amount of time every su b jec t spent w ith "eyes on the te le v is io n screen" throughout tape two. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

22 100 (/) I- 80 ^ 6 3 OQ Jo40 a s 20 20 40 60 80 100 % TIME S P E N T WATCHING MONITOR R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. j. Percentage of su b je c ts looking a t the screen d u ring each minute of tape th re e. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

24 TALK Z SUBJECTS WATCHING MINUTES R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. 6. Amount of time each su b jec t spent w ith "eyes on the te le v is io n screen" throughout tape t h r e e. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

26 100 80 (0 J Llj60 3 CD D (040 20 20 40 60 80 100 % TIME SPE N T WATCHING MONITOR R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig.?. R e la tiv e frequency of len g th s of image exposure on ta p e s one, two, and th re e. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

8C 6C / 13 t a p e o n e 13 t a p e t w o 0 TAPE THREE / 40 / 20 X X m / i, r. 30 60 DURATION B -, FI 90 100 150 OF IMAGE

th ree p resen ted the s h o rte s t image exposures w ith 83% of the images appearing fo r a d u ra tio n of 0 to 15 seconds. The lo n g est exposure fo r tape three was 6l to 75 seconds fo r 11% of the images. The lo n g est d u ratio n fo r tape two was between 16 and 30 seconds fo r 17% of the s tim u li. A wide d iffe re n c e in exposure times was employed in tape one, ranging from 0 to 10 seconds fo r kk%, to 136 to 150 seconds fo r 6% of the v is u a l s tim u li. These d ata concerning d u ra tio n of exposure fo r the th re e v id eo -ta p e s are c o n s is te n t with the data on the amount of looking b ehavior per ta p e. Tapes two and th re e, which m aintained high le v e ls of looking, were a lso found to p re sen t v is u a l images fo r the s h o rte s t amounts of tim e. Frequent camera s h i f t s did not allow fo r prolonged d isp la y of images on the screen, thus r e ta in in g the re in fo rc in g value of each v isu a l stim u lu s. As a r e s u l t, the o v e ra ll v is u a l stim u la tio n is maximally re in fo rc in g. During the two segments of n a r ra tio n, a t the beginning and end of tape th re e, lo o k in g a t the screen d ecreased. Although camera angles were changed during these segm ents, the speaker was the so le c h a ra c te r p re sented, For example, d u ring the f i r s t segment, v is u a l exposures had a mean of 38 seconds throughout the two R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

30 and o n e-h alf m inutes of u n in te rru p te d n a rra tio n. A red u ctio n of both v is u a l and au d ito ry s tim u li, because of the in creased d u ra tio n of each, corresponded to a d eclin e in looking. These s tim u li did not o f fe r s u f f ic ie n t reinforcem ent fo r the maintenance of the looking response. When d u ra tio n of stim ulus exposure decreased, reinforcem ent in creased and Ss again o rie n te d toward the screen. When the n a r r a to r again came on the screen during the l a s t one and o n e -h a lf minutes of the ta p e, the camera remained on him fo r the f u l l 90 seconds w ithout change. At t h i s p o in t, looking dropped to 66%. The long p erio d s of camera fix a tio n in tape one is re la te d to the g e n e ra lly low le v e l of looking behavio r. The lengthy exposure of v is u a l s tim u li lowered i t s re in fo rc in g e ffe c tiv e n e s s and weakened the response of looking. With minimal rein fo rcem en t coming from what is on the sc re e n, th e re is an in creased p ro b a b ility th a t the view er w ill o rie n t towards some more r e in f o r c ing stim u li in h is environm ent. These lengthy v is u a l images coupled w ith extended verbiage of one c h a ra c te r produced inadequate rein fo rcem en t for su sta in e d looking responses. In terv iew s itu a tio n s o ffe r a minimum of v is u a l and a u d ito ry s tim u la tio n. Two c h a ra c te rs are presented in a re p e a tin g form at of q u estio n s and, usua lly len g th y, answ ers. This re c u rrin g design becomes R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

31 monotonous, r e s u ltin g in the h a b itu a tio n of the o r ie n t a tio n response (Tecce, 1970). Because of the re g u la r, r e p e titiv e p re s e n ta tio n and long d u ra tio n of s tim u li, there is a re d u ctio n in re in fo rc in g power and a weakening of the response. Although the sp e a k ers' statem ents are not rep eated, the view er becomes s a tia te d w ith the re g u la r a u d io -v isu a l p a tte r n. According to Back (1963), redundancy is lik e ly to lead to low prominence, or a low re in fo rc in g s tre n g th as compared to other s tim u li in the view ing environm ent. I t becomes a re a ssu rin g background to which the view er does n o t have to a tte n d. The d u ra tio n of au d ito ry s tim u li was measured over the same sample of tape one as the v isu a l d u ratio n s and is p resen ted in Figure 8. The mean length of a c h a r a c te r 's u n in te rru p te d speech was 1.3 m inutes. F ifty - fiv e p ercen t of the audio p re se n ta tio n s had a d u ratio n of g r e a te r than 71 seconds. Rather than employing freq u en t camera s h if t s to compensate fo r th is r e p e t itiv e p a tte r n, camera changes were in fre q u e n t and f o l l owed c lo se ly w ith the speaker changes. S h o rter image d u ratio n s could be used as an e f fe c tiv e means of o r ie n t ing and m ain tain in g the s u b je c t's "eyes on the t e l e v i s ion". Reeves ( I 97O) found th a t ra p id ly paced programming evokes a h ig h er degree of looking behavior among R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. 8. R elativ e frequency of le n g th s of a u d ito ry stim u li during sample of tape one. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

33 RELATIVE 30 > O Z 2 0 LU ^ a D U-l - if \ O' 1(J IL 40 80 120 160 AUDITORY DURATION R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

ch ild re n than do slow er paced program s. This p o in t can be applied to a d u lt view ers as w ell as to ch ild re n. Slow-moving program s, in terms of audio and v is u a l stim u l i a v a ila b le, p re se n t a minimum of re in fo rc in g stim u li while fast-m oving programs o f fe r a co nsiderable amount of reinforcem ent. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

STUDY 3 Study 3 was d e s i r e d to confirm the r e s u lts on two of the tapes from Study 2, one m ain tain in g a high ra te of looking behavior and the o th er m ain tain in g a low r a t e, by combining se c tio n s of both tap es in an a lte r n a tin g fa sh io n. In th is way, each s u b je c t serves as h is own c o n tro l thereby e lim in a tin g s u b je c t- to - su b jec t and d ay-to-day v a r i a b i l i t y. Responses to segments of both tap es could be measured w ith the same su b je c ts and d u rin g the same se ssio n. METHOD S u b je c ts : F ifte e n stu d en ts e n ro lle d in an In tro d u c to ry Psychology course a t Western Michigan U n iv e rsity viewed the v id eo -ta p e on a v o lu n tary b a s is. Each su b je c t r e ceived th re e bonus p o in ts towards h is course fo r1p a r tic ip a tin g. None of the su b je c ts had seen e i t h e r tape one or tape two d escrib ed in Study 2. approximate age range of 18 to 25. S u b jec ts had an e * A pparatus: An Ampex VR 5100 re co rd e r was used to tr a n s f e r segments of tape one and tape two, from the previous study, to a new ta p e. A ll other ap p aratu s used was the 35 R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

36 same as th a t described in Study 2. P ro ced u re: The v id eo -tap e was made from a com bination of tap es one and two from the previous study. R esu lts of tape one, showing a low o v e ra ll r a te of a tte n d in g beh a v io r, and tape two w ith a high o v e ra ll r a t e, were graphed. Five five-m inute segments of tape one were a lte r n a te ly combined w ith fiv e five-m inute segments of tape two in which a t l e a s t 90% of the Ss had watched. Segments were cut c a re fu lly so th a t no speaker was in te rru p te d in m id-sentence. This sometimes caused a segment to be ju s t under or over fiv e m inutes. The r e s u l t was a ^9-minute v id eo -ta p e which a lte r n a te ly s h ifte d from one o rig io n a l tape to the o th er approxim ately every fiv e m inutes. This tape was then shown to the Ss w ith the same procedure as th a t used in Study 2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The looking b ehavior of the Ss during a l t e r n a t ing segments throughout th is tape is p resen ted in F igure 9* Looking c o n s is te n tly decreases w ith tape one segments and in c re a ses w ith tape two segments. The amount of time the 15 Ss spent w atching segments of tape one, the in te rv ie w, and segments of tape two, w ith the psychotic c h ild re n, are shown in Figure 10. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. 9* Percentage of su b je c ts w ith "eyes on the te le v is io n screen" d u rin g each minute of the tap e. The a lte r n a tin g segments of ta p es one and two are i n d i cate d. H o rizo n tal lin e s in d ic a te medians. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

38 TAPE ONE TAPE TWO Tff M INUTES R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. 10. Amount of time every su b je c t spent looking a t the screen during segments of tape one and tape two. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

AO TAPE ONE TAPE TWO SUBJECTS 80-60- 4C 2C 20 40 60 80 100 % TIME SPENT WATCHING MONITOR R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Seventy p ercen t of the Ss watched between 91% and 100%> of the tape two segm ents, and the o th e r th ir d were spread evenly over the b0%> to 70%> range. S u b je c ts, however, watched f a r le s s of tape one segments. The purpose of th is method was to place p o rtio n s of one tape, w ith low re in fo rc in g v alu e, and p o rtio n s of an o th er tap e, w ith high re in fo rc in g v alu e, s id e -b y -sid e on one tap e. This tape could then by shown to one group. These s u b je c ts served as t h e i r c o n tro l thereby e lim in a tin g v a r i a b i l i t y which may e x i s t when showing two tapes to two sep arate groups and the comparing. The r e s u l t s of th is procedure are c o n s is te n t w ith the d ata of the previous study concerning the r e i n fo rc in g e ffe c tiv e n e s s and th u s, the response m ain tain ing c h a r a c te r is x ic s. The in s u f f ic ie n t v is u a l stim u la tio n and au d ito ry change in tape one again evoked a low ra te of looking b eh av io r. S im ila rly, the high frequency of stim ulus change and the re in fo rc in g e ffe c tiv e n e s s of tape two r e s u lte d again in a high view er r a te of looking. There are c e r ta in drawbacks w ith the use of th is method of stu d y in g te le v is io n view ing. When segments of d if f e r e n t programs are combined in t h i s way, ch aract e r i s t i c s of one tape a f f e c t the o th er. For example, i t was noted th a t some stu d e n ts f e l l asleep d u rin g tape one segments and remained asleep during tape two segments. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

42 T herefore, the looking b eh av io r d u ring tape two segments was s li g h t l y decreased from the looking b ehavior em itted when the tape was shown alone in Study 2. L ikew ise, the high re in fo rc in g e f fe c tiv e n e s s of tape two su sta in e d more looking b eh av io r d u rin g tape one segments than when the tape was shown alo n e. ev id en t by comparing Figures 2 and 9. These e f f e c ts are The o v e ra ll looking behavior of tape one was ra is e d and of tape two was lowered u sing the second procedure. These kind of r e s u l t s could be d e s ira b le in some s it u a t i o n s. When a n ecessary but m inim ally r e i n fo rcin g segment must be in c lu d e d, c a re fu l programming can m a in tain view ing through t h i s p o rtio n. I f i t is placed between two fast-m oving segm ents, the r e in f o r c ing power of th ese segments may s u s ta in a h ig h er amount of looking than would otherw ise occur during th is p o r tio n. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

STUDY if Study k sought to determ ine the e f f e c t s of manip u la tin g d u ra tio n of sound and v is u a l s tim u li on the amount of looking b eh av io r of te le v is io n view ers when co n ten t rem ained c o n sta n t. Again, s u b je c ts were used as t h e i r own c o n tro l as they viewed a v id e o -ta p e composed of a l t e r n a t in g segments employing d i f f e r e n t p re s e n ta tio n p rocedures, METHOD S u b jects t F o rty stu d e n ts e n ro lle d in an In tro d u c to ry Psychology course a t W estern Michigan U n iv e rsity viewed the v id e o -ta p e. The su b je c ts were d iv id ed in to two c la s se s w ith 20 stu d e n ts each. The tape was shown to both c la s s e s only once. The age range of the su b je c ts was approxim ately 18 to 25, A pparatus: Two persons p a r tic ip a te d as " a c to rs" in the p ro d u ctio n of the v id e o -ta p e. Since p erso n s w ith f a i r l y w e ll- tr a in e d speaking v o ices were p r e fe r r e d, two stu d en t announcers from WIDR, the campus ra d io s t a t i o n, were s e le c te d. The a u d io -v is u a l equipment used in the production ^3 R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

44 of the tape included a Sony camera model #7201, an Ampex YR 5100 recorder* a one-inch 3M v id e o -ta p e, a M otorola 23-in ch screen te le v is io n m onitor, and a microphone. The m a te ria l s e le c te d as the s c r ip t co n sisted of th re e p o p u larized a r t i c l e s concerning autism. Three copies of the s c r i p t were needed, one fo r each speaker, and one fo r the observer. In playbacks, the v id eo -tap e was b ro ad cast from the campus te le v is io n stu d io over classroom m onitors. S lid es and a Kodak Carousel AV 900 s lid e p r o je c to r were a lso used in the classroom during playbacks. The clock and d a ta sh e e ts were the same as those in the previous study. - Procedures The a u d io -v isu a l equipment was positioned., facin g \ V~ * the speakers who s a t m c h a irs s itu a te d s id e - b y - s id e. ;. The microphone was placed on a ta b le between them. One hour before ta p in g began, copies of the s c r i p t were given to the speakers fo r re h e rs a l. On camera, the mate r i a l was m erely to be read as o u tlin ed ; no m em orization was n ecessary. The.m aterial was divided in to e ig h t segments w ith a mean reading time of fiv e m inutes each. During the f i r s t segment, both speakers read a lte r n a te ly from the s c r i p t fo r approxim ately 10 seconds. During th is segment, th re e camera angles were used: angle one R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

on speaker one alo n e, angle th ree on speaker two alone, and angle two on both speakers to g e th e r. Camera angles were interchanged in a mixed order approxim ately every 30 seconds throughout the segment. During the next seg'- ment, speaker one read alone fo r the e n tire fiv e m inutes, and only camera angle one was used. Techniques of the f i r s t segment were again employed in the th ir d segment. Speaker two read alone in segment fo u r and only camera angle th ree was used. This procedure was rep eated I through the l a s t fo u r segm ents. There were no i n t e r ru p tio n s d uring ta p in g to change segments. Segment s h i f t s were in d ic a te d on each of the sp e a k e r's s c r ip ts. The p o rtio n s to be read by each announcer were underlin e d on t h e i r se p a ra te s c r i p t s. The end product was a continuous 40-m inute tape w ith a lte r n a tin g read in g p ro cedures. The tape was then shown to the two groups over te le v is io n m onitors d u rin g t h e i r c la sstim e. With one group, s lid e s were randomly s e le c te d and p ro je c te d onto a screen to the r ig h t of the m onitor. The caro u sel s lid e p ro je c to r was s e t au to m atica lly on a 15-second d elay, th a t i s, each s lid e was presen ted fo r 15 seconds and then changed a u to m a tic a lly. With the second group, no s lid e s were shown. The in s tr u c tio n s given the Ss and the method of re c o rd in g were the same as those in R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

s tu d ie s two and th re e. Any ex p lan atio n s as to the pro cedures or purposes of the se ssio n requested by the Ss were given a t the end of the tap e. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION During the playback in which s lid e s were p re sented as the d i s t r a c t o r, those segments in which both announcers read fo r 10 seconds each, "both" segments, receiv ed a somewhat h ig h er le v e l of looking behavior than those segments in which one speaker read fo r the e n tir e five m inutes, the "alone" segments. These r e s u l t s are shown in Figure 11. The medians of each segment are in d ic a te d by h o riz o n ta l lin e s. Both speake rs read during the f i r s t segment in which a median of 70% of the Ss watched the m onitor. The median then dropped to 35f fo r the second segment in which only one speaker read. Responses in c re a sed in each ad jacen t "both" segment and decreased in each "alone" segment, w ith the exception of segments fiv e and s ix. Figure 12 p re se n ts the amount of time Ss spent w atching the "alone" and the "both" segments. None of the Ss watched more than 90%> of the "alone" segments. As many as 15%> of the su b je c ts watched from 0 to 10%. F ifte e n percent of the Ss, however, watched 91% to 100% and only $%> watched 0 to 10% of the "both" segments. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

^7 Pig. 11. Percentage of s u b je c ts looking a t the te le v is io n screen w hile s lid e s were a lso being p ro je c te d. A lte rn a tin g read in g procedures are in d ic a te d. R ep roduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

SUBJECTS WATCHING KDQ * ALONE SEGMENTS - BOTH SEGMENTS 10 20 30 40 MINUTES R ep rod uced with p erm ission o f the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited w ithout perm ission.

Fig. 12. Amount of time each su b je c t looked at the screen d uring "alone" and "both" segments. S lid es were also p rese n te d. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

5 0 30 (D h o a o i ~3 DQ SlO X X XX / XX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X f ALONE SEGMENTS BOTH SEGMENTS x x x l X X X m X X X X m m X X X X X X.X x 20 40 60 80 100 % TIME SPENT WATCHING MONITOR R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

51 When s lid e s were not shown during the ta p e, r e sponding was h ig h er in the "both" than in the "alone" segments fo r the f i r s t four segments but the d is tin c tio n was lo s t a f t e r th a t, as seen in Figure 13. Also, when no s lid e s were p re se n te d, Ss spent a g r e a te r amount of time watching the screen during "both" than "alone" segm ents. Ten p e rce n t watched 91% to 100$ of the "alone" segm ents, and 15$ watched 91$ to 100$ of th e ; "both" segm ents, as i l l u s t r a t e d in Figure Ik. Although the o v e ra ll le v e l of looking a t the screen was lower wii;h the presence r a th e r th an the absence of the s lid e s, more Ss watched the "both" segments than did the "alo n e segments when the s lid e s were shown. The o-rocedure of th is study was an attem pt to apply the method of study th ree to the p ro d u ctio n of a v id e o -ta p e. The "alo n e segments were slow-moving with long audio and v is u a l d u ra tio n s, producing l i t t l e r e inforcem ent. The "both" segments were fast-m oving with b r i e f stim ulus exposures, producing g r e a te r reinforcem ent on a concurrent schedule, th a t i s, reinforcem ent was a v a ila b le co n c u rren tly on d if f e r e n t schedules on the two screen s. The presence of a co n cu rren t schedule r a is e s the s e n s i t i v i t y of the response to reinforcem ent. Reynolds (1961; 1963) holds th a t in c re a se s in ra te of reinforcem ent in one component g e n e ra lly produces R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

52 Fig. 13* Percentage of su b je c ts looking a t the screen when s lid e s were not being shown. Segments in d ic a te a lte r n a te reading procedures. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

1 0 0 ALONE SEGMENTS BOTH SEGMENTS SUBJECTS 80 60 40 - M a 20 10 20 30 40 MiNUTES R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

Fig. Ik. Amount of time each su b jec t spent w ith "eyes on the screen" d u ring "alone" and "both" segments. Lined bars in d ic a te "alone" segments. No s lid e s were p resen ted. O R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

ss 30 (0 h OpQl I / "D CD D 0)10 - d 20 40 60 80 100 % TIME SPENT WATCHING MONITOR R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

d ecrease s in ra te of responding in the o th er component. When the p ro b a b ility th a t f u r th e r reinforcem ent i s, fo r a tim e, not forthcom ing, cay, from the te le v is io n, the S can tu rn to the a lte r n a te sch ed u le, the s lid e s. When two responses are co n cu rren tly a v a ila b le, the choice of response depends on the s tr e n g th of the re in fo rc e r provided. R elatin g to the co n cu rren t v id e o -ta p e -s lid e s p re s e n ta tio n, the S d ire c ts h is looking to th a t which provides him w ith the g r e a te s t rein fo rcem en t. I f the tape i s more re in fo rc in g, he w ill o rie n t toward th a t. But when the tape loses i t s r e in fo r c in g e ffe c tiv e n e s s, th ere is an a lte r n a tiv e to which he may respond, the s lid e s. He does not look a t the v id eo -ta p e when i t is no lo n g er re in fo rc in g sim ply because i t is the only response a v a ila b le but looks a t i t because i t is more r e in fo r c in g at th a t time than are the s lid e s. P resen t a tio n of s lid e s w ith the v id e o -ta p e, th e re fo re, did not serve to d i s t r a c t the v ie w e r's o rie n ta tio n from the tape but in ste a d s e n s itiz e d the response to the more r e in fo r c in g schedule. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.