Background Television and Reading Memory in Context

Previous research has shown negative background television effects on reading comprehension and memory. This experiment addressed two questions about such negative effects: (a) Are these effects due to interference with processes of initial comprehension and memory encoding, processes of memory retrieval, or both? and (b) Are the effects of background TV stronger for recall or recognition memory? Possible compensating positive effects of background TV were also addressed: Can viewing similar background television content during recall as that viewed during reading improve memory through facilitative context effects? Participants read newspaper science articles with background TV or in silence and completed recall and recognition tests after a filled delay either with TV or in silence. Deleterious effects were obtained for recall memory only and resulted solely from the presence of background TV at the time of comprehension / encoding. No facilitative context effects were obtained by reinstating the same program at the time of recall as experienced at the time of reading.