As part of a larger 1-year examination of the relationship between television viewing patterns and spontaneous play in nursery school, this study focuses on (1) the correlation between children's television viewing patterns in the home and their level of aggression in nursery school, and (2) specific factors within family settings that might determine this correlation. The major sources of data were daily logs kept by parents of the type and frequency of programs watched by their children over two-week periods four different times during the year; concurrent observations and ratings of overt physical aggression directed toward other children on property during free play in nursery school; and family interview questionnaires concerning daily routines in the home, patterns of discipline, leisure activities, TV viewing habits, and indications of family difficulties. Data from the parent logs and observations were based on a sample of 141 three- and four-year-olds, while the interviews were given to a subset of four groups of children (N=10 per group) who represented the extremes in both TV viewing and aggression. Correlations between weekly TV viewing and aggression (r=.35) were significant, even with the effects of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and IQ partialed out. Further analyses suggest a causal direction from heavy TV viewing to aggressive behavior. Results of the family interview study indicated significant differences among the groups of extremes on the level of order and organization in the family, and on the degree of outside activities engaged in by the family. (Author/SS)