Scare Tactics

By Debra Viadero

After filming the spine-tingling shower scene in the 1960 Hitchcock thriller "Psycho," actress Janet Leigh was too petrified to set foot in a shower again. Although Leigh's fear may have been more intense than most, she was not alone. Most adults who witnessed the bathtub murder on the silver screen had at least one or two disturbing thoughts the next time they stepped into a warm shower.

Any parent can testify that children have similarly strong reactions to the television shows and movies they watch. But adults are often baffled by the sorts of images and stories that strike fear in the youngest members of their households.

"How a child will respond to a particular television show or movie is not always intuitively obvious," says Joanne Cantor, a communication-arts professor at the University...