Traditionally, research on the effects of television has assumed that children are passive recipients on whom television has a powerful influence. Since the mid-1970s, however, media-effects research has increasingly recognized the child viewer as an active and motivated explorer, rather than a passive receiver. Research now suggests that children are critical evaluators of what they see in the media. Even very young children have been shown to actively screen television offerings for attractiveness and understandability and to make an effort to interpret television images in their own terms.

Children might enjoy media content for a variety of reasons, including differences in experiences, differences in temperament, and differences in cognitive and emotional development. According to the research that has been conducted, two factors that have been shown to be important predictors of children's media preferences are...