of television characters and developmental changes in such perceptions are reviewed. A brief discussion of the role of various audio-visual filmic techniques in aiding or confusing children's understanding of television messages is then offered. Finally, a brief discussion of various types of understandings children acquire about the medium of television, such as understanding of the economic structure of television, completes this section. Children's comprehension of television narratives. The traditional dramatic plotline which is used in most narratives, either in print or on television, has a predictable pattern: There is an initiating event where the scene is set, (boy meets girl); events proceed to a crisis (parents intervene to stop the budding love); followed by a resolution of the crisis (boy and girl win over parents to the romance); and the denouement (boy and girl show parents they can live happily ever after). While many television programs involve subplots or other incidental characteristics, adult viewers of a television program can easily bring a new viewer up to date half-way through a program by reiterating the major points of the plotline. Part of the reason we, as adults, are capable of doing this is because we easily recognize plotline structures, and on the basis of both previous experience with television and experience with social relationships we can often predict fairly accurately the progression and outcome of a plot. Thus, as adults, we are capable of recognizing major events central to the plot as they unfold. There is evidence from research on children's memory for central plotline information that children only gradually develop this kind of understanding of television plotlines. The evidence indicates that (1) young children have difficulty distinguishing essential from nonessential information from a dramatic story, and (2), young children may not be attempting to organize and draw inferences about the b...
