ABSTRACT

In the first decades of television research, a series of studies attempted to answer the question of how far media constrain fantasies, creativity or, for instance, forms of role play. These studies were concerned with evaluating the probably negative impact of the new electronic media, which were becoming increasingly significant. Several early correlational as well as experimental studies found negative relationships

between television viewing and children’s scores on tasks considered to be indicators of creativity and imagination. In one influential study, Williams (1986) began a comparative natural experiment prior to the arrival of television in a Canadian town she named Notel. Comparisons between children in the pre-and post-television period in Notel, as well as with children in two other communities, revealed that the Notel children rated higher on tests of creativity in comparison with children in the two other towns. The Notel scores declined in tests performed two years after the introduction of television (Williams, 1986). Valkenburg’s (2001) review of the literature discussed the Reduction Hypothesis that sug-

gested several possible connections between television and children’s imagination: Television viewing reduces the time children spend “practicing” other more creative things; the fast-pace and action-oriented stories on television sometimes frighten and stress young viewers, and so disrupt more imaginative involvement in contemplative activities; and, the nature of the medium with its “readymade pictures” provides input that is less stimulating. Researchers investigated how various media differ as stimuli of creativity and imagination.

One research area focused on whether a televised version of a story stimulates more or fewer creative ideas, storylines and problem-solving solutions than the same story told verbally (as in

audio or print forms). A series of studies that compared the influence of television with radio (Greenfield and Beagles-Roos, 1988; Greenfield et al., 1986) confirmed the hypothesis that processes of imagination (operationalized as any form of representational activity that creates new entities such as characters or events) were better stimulated by radio than television. Rolandelli (1989) explained in the review of these and other studies that the visual superiority effect of television is confounded by the advantages of the auditory-verbal track for comprehension. Studying television as a stimulant for imaginative play, Singer and Singer claimed that tele-

vision’s visually concrete presentational forms inhibit children’s daydreaming in comparison to the abstract nature of words in print or spoken language (e.g. Singer, 1980; Singer and Singer, 1981; Singer et al., 1984). They assumed that the ready-made fantasy world of television does not require a lot of mental effort and the fast pace of the programmes does not leave room for daydreaming while watching. The researchers claimed that the findings suggest that children who are heavy electronic media users are less likely to engage in pretend play or other forms of creativity (Singer and Singer, 2005). A study by Kumari and Ahuja (2010) added that they score lower in tests on creative imagination. Complementary to this conclusion is the hypothesis that television may stimulate programme-

bound daydreaming. Therefore, daydreaming by heavy viewers of violence, for example, will be preoccupied with aggressive themes and superheroes closely related to their favourite television narratives (Huesmann and Eron, 1986). Thus, children who watched more educational programs specifically designed to foster fantasy were more imaginative than the children in the control group (Singer and Singer, 1998).