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Sudden changes is volume, cuts, zooms, scene changes, or sudden movements on TV cause you to look at TV. Repeated changes have effect of "holding" your attention. Commercials, action movies, and music videos are notorious for containing large numbers of these sudden changes that "grab" and "hold" your attention.
Test it for yourself
Watch your own responses next time you watch TV. For a fun experiment, turn on a TV in a room full of people to watch how orienting response works. It is pretty amazing to watch, if you can keep from getting sucked in. The next time TV is playing see how many cuts, zooms, loud noises, and scene changes you can count.
What are major symptoms of TV addiction?
*You want to watch less, but find it difficult to turn off TV. *You tried in past to limit your TV watching--but failed. *You feel anxious when TV is not on. *You think about TV when you are not watching it. *TV replaces other meaningful activities, like spending time with family and friends.
Television has become so common in our society that it may be difficult to recognize a TV addiction. When everyone at office is discussing latest episode of "Desperate Wives", it may be difficult to see that an unhealthy addiction is at work.
The Media *Addicted* Generation
The latest study by Kaiser foundation indicates that next generation is already addicted to TV. The study found that kids, age 8-18, still watch about 4 hours of TV per day. On top of TV, they spend a couple hours playing with video games and computers. The grand total for kids was 6 hours 20 minutes per day. The study avoids "A" word, but how else would you describe a generation who watches so much TV, videos, and games that they are labeled "M" (Media) Generation?
Sources: Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor by Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Scientific American 2004 Generation M: Media in Lives of 8-18 Year-olds Kaiser Family Foundation Report
Katherine Westphal is the founder of a daring new website TrashYourTV.com, that makes it fun and easy for people to get control of their TV set. Are you addicted to TV? Take our TV Addiction Quiz (http://www.trashyourtv.com/survey) and find out!