The Influence of "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" on Children's Social Behavior in the Preschool

This study was designed to assess the influence of "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," 2 popular children's television programs, on children's social behavior in the preschool. Observations of the children's behavior were conducted before (baseline), during (treatment), and after (posttest) 1 week of exposure to each of the programs. These observations consisted of the frequency of the children's giving of positive reinforcement and punishment to other children and to adults in the preschool. The children's social contacts with other children and with adults were also measured. For children whose baseline scores were low for an observational category, "Sesame Street" significantly increased the giving of positive reinforcement and punishment to, and social contacts with, other children and with adults in the preschool. For children whose baseline scores were high, "Sesame Street" had no significant effect on behavior. For all children (high and low in baseline scores), "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" significantly increased the giving of positive reinforcement to, and social contacts with, other children and with adults in the preschool. These results are generally consistent with expectations based on a content analysis of the 2 programs (Coates & Pusser 1975).