Children's learning from television was studied in 343 fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who viewed an edited version of a television program and took a posttest. It was hypothesized that children would learn more plot-relevant information (central learning material) as they moved from concrete operational to formal operational stages. The fourth grade students represented the concrete operational stage, while the eighth grade students represented the formal operational stage. Sixth and seventh grade students were used as a transitional group. When interest in the television program, subject sex, and perceptions of the program's reality were controlled, the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students learned more central material than did the fourth grade students. Peripheral learning (plot-irrelevant information) also increased from fourth to seventh grades, but decreased from seventh to eighth grades. When sixth and seventh grade students were treated as a group, peripheral learning increased from fourth to sixth-seventh grades, then decreased from sixth-seventh to eighth grades. The findings on peripheral learning were significant only when the grade levels were not grouped. Student interest and subject sex were significant predictors of learning that seemed to mask developmental differences. The more interested students learned more than the less interested students, and boys learned more than girls. (RL)