Is the Medium the Message?: An Experimental Comparison of the Efkts of Radio and Television on Imagination

This study explored the hypothesis that radio would be more stimulating to the imagination than television. The hypothesis was tested using a within-subjects experimental design in which children ot two different age levels (Grades l-2 vs. 3-4) were exposed to one story in o television format, another in o radio format. Our measure of imaginative activity was the ability to complete an incomplete story by introducing original new elements that hod not been port of the audio-visual or audio stimulus. In accord with the hypothesis, radio presentations led to more imaginative story completions than did television presentations. In addition, there was a carry-over effect such that a radio version at Time 1 led to more imaginative responses to a televised story at Time 2, while a television story at Time 1 led to less imaginative responses to a radio story at Time 2. As far as imagination is concerned, our results support Marshall McLuhan’s (1964) thesis that “the medium is the message” (p. 23). While we found some specific effects on imaginative activity stemming from story content, al) the more general effects are attributable to the medium in which that content is presented.