CRITC was founded in 1978 at the University of Kansas in 1978 by John C. Wright and Aletha C. Huston. In 1996, it moved to the University of Texas at Austin. From 2002 -2007, it was directed by Elizabeth Vandewater under an expanded title "Center for Research on Interactive Technology, Television & Children." Its archive of publications is available (click here), but it is no longer an active research center. CRITC research falls in four major topics.

Forms of TV. Grounded in developmental psychology and communication research, one early focus of the research in the center concerned how children decode the medium of television, how they understand its forms and formats, as well as its content. Formal features of TV were analyzed, and children's attention to and comprehension of televised messages presented in different formats were investigated.

Determinants of Media Use. Children in America spend more time watching television than in any other waking activity. They also devote time to video and computer games and to using the Internet. CRITC has conducted studies of the properties of programs and interactive games that boys and girls of different ages use most often, as well as characteristics of families, neighborhoods, and social groups that predict who uses what media.

Educational Media. According to CRITC's longitudinal studies, viewing informative and educational programs in the preschool years enhances children's school readiness when they enter school. Educational viewing predicts achievement in English, math, and science many years later when they reach high school. Numerous experimental studies explore how educational content can be presented most effectively on TV and in interactive game formats.

Perceived Reality of TV. TV programs are likely to have particular impact on children if they believe the content is real. CRITC research identified two attributes of perceived reality. Perceived factuality is the belief that fictional content exists in real life. With age and cognitive maturity, children learn to differentiate fact from fiction. Perceived social realism is the belief that the content is like real life even though it is fictional. These beliefs do not decline as children get older. Instead, the more children watch TV, the more they believe its content is truly representative of the real world.

CRITC's research was funded by grants from both private foundations and federal agencies, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Children's Television Workshop, and the Markle Foundation.