Computer Presentational Features for Young Children's Preferential Selection and Recall of Information

Abstract

Preschool children's preferential selection and recall of words presented in a computer microworld was assessed as a function of action and sound. Forty preschoolers, equally distributed by sex, were randomly assigned to one of four versions of a microworld. Within each version, twenty-four sprite objects were randomly assigned properties of action and sound. The design was counterbalanced so that across the four versions, each sprite assumed all possible factorial combinations of action and sound. As expected, children preferentially selected and later recalled more words presented with action than words presented without action. Although children selected sounds, sounds interfered with children's recall of linguistic information. Results support an action superiority hypothesis and an auditory interference hypothesis. The practical application is to use action as an integral component of educational computer software designed for young children.