Television-Evoked Thoughts and Their Relation to Comprehension

Two studies of thoughts in relation to viewing of expository television programs are presented. In one study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 subjects immediately after watching a program about acid pollution of the environment. In the other study, 62 subjects answered a questionnaire in writing after watching a program about natural science. Comprehension as well as thoughts were measured in both studies. The expository programs gave rise to a good number of thoughts, which were classified into different categories. The studies show a close relationship between comprehension and thoughts and demonstrate that viewers can be engaged in deep cognitive activities by expository television discourse. Further, different reception profiles among the viewers were found, which correlated closely with topic-relevant previous knowledge.