Television now plays a major role in the socialization of children. Set within a multicultural context, this book identifies the social and cultural impact of television on the psychosocial development of children. The book also analyzes major media organizations and projects policies, practices and research directions for the future. Following an introduction by G. L. Berry on television as a worldwide cultural tapestry, the chapters in the book are: (1) "The Developing Child in a Multimedia Society" (Murray); (2) "Cognitive Developmental Influences on Children's Understanding of Television" (Doubleday and Droege); (3) "From Television Forms to Genre Schemata; Children's Perceptions of Television Reality (Fitch and others); (4) "The Program-Length Commercial: A Study of the Effects of Television/Toy Tie-Ins on Imaginative Play" (Greenfield and others); (5) "Creativity of Children in a Television World (Singer); (6) "Children and Media in Media Education" (Anderson and Ploghoft); (7) "The Medium of Television and the School Curriculum: Turning Research into Classroom Practice" (Berry); (8) "The Medium and the Society: The Role of Television in American Life" (Comstock); (9) "Cultural Diversity on Saturday Morning Television" (Greenberg and Brand); (10) "Rubik's Cube: Developing a Child's Television Worldview" (Palmer and others); (11) "Conceptual Models of an African-American Belief System: A Program of Research" (Allen); (12) Television, the Portrayal of African Americans, and the Development of Children's Attitudes" (Graves); (13) "Developing Television for American Indian and Alaska Native Children in the Late 20th Century" (Geiogamah and Pavel); (14) "They're So Cute When They're Young: The Asian-American Child on Television" (Hamamoto); (15) "The Television Worlds of Latino Children" (Subervi-Velez and Colsant); (16) "Television, the Portrayal of Women, and Children's Attitudes" (Signorielli); (17) "Television, the Portrayal of the Elderly, and Children's Attitudes" (Kovaric); (18) "Changing Channels: The Portrayal People with Disabilities on Television" (Makas); (19) "Policy and the Future of Children's Television" (Kunkel); (20) "Public Television Programming and the Changing Cultural Landscape" (Berry); (21) "The Challenge to Improve Television for Children: A New Perspective" (Stipp); and (22) "The Nickelodeon Experience" (Laybourne). Each of the chapters includes references. An epilogue, entitled "What Children Learn from Television and How They Learn It (Asamen) concludes the book. (HTH)