Children's television programming frequently uses interactive characters that appear to directly engage the viewers. These characters encourage children to answer questions and perform actions to help the characters solve problems in the televised world. Children readily engage in these interactions; however, it is unclear why they do so. To…

Examines the effect of violence advisories and MPAA ratings on parent-child television viewing choices and verbal interactions while making those choices. Parents mainly made negative comments about the advisories and restrictive ratings whereas children, especially older children, were more likely to make positive comments. The presence of an…