A study was conducted to investigate the impact which certain cognitive styles or structures have in mediating the influence of aggressive television on young boys. The subjects were 143 boys, ranging in age from 5-1/2 to 8-1/2 years, attending elementary school in the Santa Monica area. During the first of two sessions, each child was administered various tests. During the second session, the experimental subjects were exposed to one of two experimental conditions: an aggressive film or a nonagressive film. The control subjects saw no film. Following exposure to the film for the experimental subjects, an aggression measure was obtained in the guise of a guessing game played with a second experimenter (male) who acted as a confederate. Four major experimental hypotheses were advanced: (1) For the 7-1/2 and 8-1/2 year olds, it was hypothesized that the more differentiated the level of cognitive functioning, the less would be the impact of the films; (2) For the 5-1/2 and 6-1/2 year olds, it was hypothesized that the more differentiated, organized, and articulated the level of cognitive functioning, the greater would be the impact of variations in the experimental film condition; (3) It was hypothesized that the level of cognitive functioning would be more differentiated, more elaborated, and articulated as a function of maturity; and (4) It was hypothesized that the level of aggression would be a function of the age of the child with the younger children being more aggressive than the older. Hypotheses 1, 3, and 4 were generally supported by the results of the study. Hypothesis 2 was not supported. The findings of this study indicate that the effects of media depend not only on the nature of the content, but also upon the child's individual cognitive styles. (Author/CK)