ABSTRACT
Television's potential effect on children's reading performance has become an issue of concern among educators. The estimate that by the end of the high school years, children will have spent more time watching television than attending school is frequently quoted and has both alarmed and intrigued researchers. The presumption that television displaces reading activities, that it thereby contributes to declining Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and to a lack of skills for concentration is most likely a simplistic response to a complex problem. The research literature, for the most part, consists of small-scale studies conducted with different age-groups and using diverse methodological strategies. As a result, there has been a lack of convergence across studies regarding the relationship between television and reading. Studies of television viewing and reading have examined the relationship between the number of hours viewed and performance scores on reading achievement tests.
