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PARTCHILDREN AND TECHNOLOGY

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CHAPTER WHAT IS A CHILD?

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Doug Larson once said, “ A child is a person who can ’ t understand why someone

would give away a perfectly good kitten. ” In a book written for evaluators of interac-

tive products for children, a child who would not give away a kitten is interesting

but not especially illuminating ! This chapter gives the reader a sense of children

and childhood. It outlines some basic child psychology, introduces some of the

developmental theories that might assist in understanding the world of children,

and puts children ’ s worlds into context.

In this somewhat brief chapter, it is impossible to do justice to the enormous

wealth of knowledge about children and their development, so the reader is par-

ticularly encouraged to consult other texts.

There are many defi nitions of childhood and being a child . The most frequently used

defi nition comes from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

(UNCRC), which was ratifi ed by 191 countries in 1989. In the defi nition, a child

is “ every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable

to the child, majority is attained earlier. ” Other defi nitions assume that childhood

ends at the age of 16.

Age and Children It is tempting, and often necessary, to use age as a limiting factor when discussing

children, but age is a very blunt metric because it assumes that at one specifi c point

in time, a person leaves childhood and enters adulthood. Age-related defi nitions

take little account of the gentle shifts and fl uctuations between the states of adult-

hood and childhood (and do not even consider babyhood!). Postmodernists, such as

Le Dasberg (1989) and Philip Veerman (1992), led a movement against age-related

defi nitions with their “ cultural relativist ” view that acknowledges the signifi cant dif-

ferences between peoples and societies and the need to respect and maintain these

differences. They argued that childhood is a relative concept that changes “ accord-

ing to historical time, geographical environment, local culture, and socioeconomic

conditions ” (Kuper, 1997, p. 13).

Age and Children


The authors of this book respect this postmodernist view and believe that although

childhood is generally defi ned by biological age, the differences across cultures

and societies that impact on children and childhood cannot be ignored. Most of

the content of this book is concerned with children between the ages of 4 and 13.

Within these rough boundaries, biological age is for the most part deliberately kept

out of the text, but where we speak of “ young ” children, we are generally referring

to those children under the age of 6 or 7, with “ older ” children being those aged

8 or above. Given the signifi cant differences across cultures and countries, these

distinctions should be used with care, especially when thinking about children who

are 7, 8, and 9.

Learning about Children However children are defi ned, by far the best way to learn about them is to spend

time with them. This is easy for those with their own children, but for the reader

without the appropriately aged children, there are still many opportunities to

interact with this very special audience. Some possibilities include helping out in

schools, coaching a sports team, and working in after-school care centers. More

informal possibilities can include spending time with the children of friends

and family and going to places where children congregate. Having a cup of cof-

fee at McDonald ’ s can provide an illuminating glimpse into the lives of children.

Children ’ s spaces can also be partially investigated from a distance: Watching chil-

dren ’ s TV programs, reading children ’ s books, and observing what kinds of things

they like to buy can all be revealing. It is not always possible to learn about children

in such an interactive way. The remainder of this chapter provides a brief overview

for readers who want to know more.

Theories of Child Development In broad terms, children have similarities and differences. As a population they

change over time in similar ways: They grow bigger, get stronger, and learn more.

However, across a similar population, individual children can also have many dif-

ferences. Child development is the study of these differences and similarities.

An understanding of child development is necessary for individuals who want to

carry out evaluation studies with and for children. This understanding will help

P A R T 1 : C H I L D R E N A N D T E C H N O L O G Y

4 Theories of Child Development


prevent errors in judgment, minimize poor design of evaluation studies, and pro-

vide more believable results.

Studies in child development began in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

with a lively debate as to whether children developed as a result of nurture (a view

held by John Locke, 1632–1704) or nature (Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712–1778). In

the years that followed, many (often confl icting) broad theories of child develop-

ment were proposed, with the intention that these theories could explain and make

predictions about children.

The earlier development theories tended to involve large age groups and offered

explanations for many different general phenomena, but more recent theories have

focused on small age groups or precisely defi ned groups of children, often study-

ing a limited fi eld of interest. Several development theories are outlined in the next

section, and then we examine some of the specifi c fi ndings about child develop-

ment as they relate to the involvement of children in the evaluation of interactive

products.

Perspectives on Child Development Kail (2002) identifi es fi ve major theoretical perspectives in child development: bio-

logical, psychodynamic, learning, cognitive-developmental, and contextual. In this

chapter, we briefl y touch on each of these views. The reader is encouraged to refl ect

on how acceptable these theories are in the modern world and how the ideas pro-

posed might affect evaluation studies.

Biological

Theories that take a biological perspective uphold the nature side of the debate:

that external factors, people, and events have little or no effect on the child ’ s

development. One such theory—the maturational theory (Arnold Gesell, 1880–

1961)—argues that children should be left to develop in their own ways. Another

theory—the ethological theory—assumes that experience has an impact but

only if it occurs at the “ right ” time. Konrad Lorenz (1903–1989) supported this

view by claiming that certain learning can only take place if it happens at the right

moment.

C H A P T E R 1 : W H A T I S A C H I L D ?

5Perspectives on Child Development


Psychodynamic

This perspective on child development includes the works of Sigmund Freud

(1856–1939) and his student Erik Erikson (1902–1994). Freud ’ s work essentially

offers a theory of personality defi ned with these three components:

■ Id (primitive instincts)

■ Ego (practical, rational behavior)

■ Superego (the moral component)

These are supported by a theory of psychosexual development that argues that

development best occurs when the child ’ s needs (which vary at different stages)

are met. Erikson ’ s work was more focused on the social aspects of development,

and he produced a psychosocial theory that a person ’ s lifetime is divided into eight

stages, each with its own challenges. Erikson ’ s work was not only about children; it

considered a person ’ s entire life. The stages that are of most interest to evaluators

of children ’ s products are shown in Table 1.1 .

Erikson made the following assertions:

■ Around the ages of 4 or 5, children become competitive and begin to prefer sex-appropriate activities. They also begin to feel both responsibility and guilt.

■ Children are not able to use their own initiative until around age 7, at which time they also learn to follow rules.

■ By age 13 (adolescence), children are aware of who they are but may experience minor delinquency, self-doubt, and rebellion.

Our own work with children supports these assumptions. The novice evaluator can

take some important lessons from this theory: Almost all children are competi-

tive (see Figure 1.1); the older they are, the more they are able to follow rules; and

Psychosocial Stage Age Challenge

Initiative versus guilt 3–6 To develop a willingness to try new thingsand to handle failure

Industry versus inferiority 6–adolescence To learn basic skills and to work with others

Identity versus identityconfusion

Adolescence To develop a lasting integrated sense of self

Tab le 1 .1

Erikson ’ s Theory


6 Perspectives on Child Development


as they approach adolescence, they sometimes become diffi cult to manage. This

clearly makes the last group a diffi cult one for evaluation studies!

Learning

Early theorists who were concerned with learning upheld the view of John Locke

that children were born as blank slates and that they became who they were

chiefl y by instruction. B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) proposed the idea of “ operant

conditioning ” —that is, the provision of punishment to change errant behavior and

the provision of reinforcement to reward good behavior. Thus, children could be

taught to be good by giving rewards and punishments because they would associate

the reward or punishment with the action that earned it. Skinner ’ s work has greatly

infl uenced much of the current practices in schools and homes.

F i gu re 1 .1

Children playing

competitively at a

computer.

Tip You may fi nd that children of the same age from two different schools will behave

quite differently in your evaluation studies.




More recently, Albert Bandura (1925– ) expanded on the work of Skinner with

his sociocognitive theory of learning. He proposed that when rewarded or pun-

ished, children try to fi gure out what is going on and the reason for the reward or

punishment, and, as a consequence, they begin to understand their abilities and

talents (self-effi cacy).

For evaluators, understanding the infl uence of rewards is critical. If children are

engaged in an evaluation activity for which there is a reward, they will expect cer-

tain things to have taken place. The child may believe that the reward was given

because he gave the correct answer to a question. This, however, may make the

child less critical than the evaluator would like him to be. If no reward is given,

the child might assume that she has done something bad or answered a question

incorrectly. In our view, rewards are seldom needed; taking part is reward enough

(see Figure 1.2).

Cognitive-Developmental

The focus in the cognitive-developmental perspective is on the child ’ s mind and what

is going on inside it. Essentially the domain of Jean Piaget (1896–1980), cognitive-

developmental theories are based on the belief that children act as scientists and

in so doing actively construct meaning as they discover how the world works.

F i gu re 1 .2

Often, the reward

for children in an

evaluation study

is a trip out or an

interesting activity.




Piaget ’ s theory of development (1970) is still much used, and evaluators who work

in the research domain will often encounter references to it in academic texts. The

Piagetian stages of cognitive development are very helpful in describing the key

stages of intellectual and language development. By referring to a Piagetian stage,

writers can address a “ small ” age group of children without getting too concerned

with biological age. The Piagetian stages are shown in Table 1.2 .

Evaluators of interactive technology would do well to examine Piaget ’ s work closely.

He made several interesting observations of the way children behave at the differ-

ent stages, and his observations on children ’ s egocentric behavior before the age

of around 7 are especially informative. In addition, his ideas on learning indicate

that in most instances an evaluation of an interactive product should consider how

learning has an impact or how it takes place.

From around the age of 7, children clearly attempt to work out what is going on

around them, and their ability to do so is central to many evaluation studies. When

you ask a child, “ Did you like this software? ” a complex process happens as the

child contemplates the statement, establishes what was really being asked, and con-

structs an answer.

Sociocultural

The work of Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005) is the most frequently used contex-

tual view of development. His view is of a child developing within a complex system

Stage Ages Key Points for Interactive Product Design

Sensorimotor Birth–2

Preconceptual Thought 2–4

Intuitive Thought 4–7 Children can use symbols and words and can distinguish reality from fantasy. In the latter part, they can take into account the viewpoint of others.

Concrete Operations 7–11 Children can classify things and understand the notion of reversibility and conservation. They can think logically but not abstractly.

Formal Operations 11� Thinking is about ideas. They can consider various solutions without having to act them out and can deal with hypothetical situations.

Tab l e 1 .2

Piagetian Stages

of Development




with many interactions. Bronfenbrenner ’ s work was no doubt infl uenced by the work

of Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), in which the communication from adult to child of cul-

tural systems and belief systems was investigated. In Bronfenbrenner ’ s model (see

Figure 1.3 ), the child interacts with each of the three contexts as part of a system. This

means that as the child acts on the context, the context also acts on the child.

Context is essential in evaluation studies with children. A common problem is

where children take part in an evaluation in school and are asked to be critical

of a product that is placed in front of them. Depending on the school ethos and

culture, criticism may or may not be encouraged, so children in one school who

are faced with a different context will not necessarily answer the same as children

from another school. Evaluators must both consider context and fi nd ways to break

through the potential problems associated with it.

Summary

The preceding theories are important because they explain the differences in chil-

dren across both a single age group and a lifespan. For evaluation studies, however,



F i gu re 1 .3

Bronfenbrenner ’ s

model.

Immediateenvironment

Socialcontext

TheChild

Culturalcontext


it is often necessary to be able to make some assumptions about a cohort of chil-

dren with respect to their abilities and skills at a given point in time. The next

section of this chapter presents some more general statements about child develop-

ment milestones.

Typical Stages of Development Theories of child development are intended to explain the differences and similari-

ties in the three features of children that change with age: physical development,

socioemotional development, and cognitive development.

Physical

Physical development is generally associated with the size of the child, the child ’ s

movement skills, and the related gross- and fi ne-motor skills. Children grow rapidly

in the fi rst two years of their lives, and then they follow standard growth curves,

meaning that their physical size at later ages can be estimated quite easily from their

size at age 2. As shown in Figure 1.4, the diversity in size, both within a cohort and


11Typical Stages of Development

F i gu re 1 .4

The One Laptop per

Child (OLPC) Project has

been producing small

laptops that use no

electricity. Note

that the design is well

suited to small

children. Source:

From www.olpc.com.



12 Typical Stages of Development

F i gu re 1 .5

An example of writing

at age 4. Note the

poor spelling and the

uneven formation of

letters, all indications

of poor motor skills and

language immaturity.

across a time span, is important. It is estimated that children are growing taller at

a rate of about 1 cm (0.40 inch) per decade, and yet within a single cohort children

of a single sex may normally differ in size by up to 15 cm (6 inches) at age 6 and up

to 22 cm (8.5 inches) at age 12. Thus, the design of seating and the position of dry-

wipe boards and the like in a usability lab that will be used by children should take

these variations into account.

Between the ages of 2 and 6, fi ne-motor and gross-motor control improves a great

deal. Children move from barely being able to draw a circle to being able to con-

struct clear images and to write legibly. Figure 1.5 shows a child ’ s uneven and badly

spaced writing. During the same time period, they learn to jump, throw, and balance.

Interestingly, by around age 10 girls have better fi ne-motor control than boys, while

boys perform better than girls at strength-related gross-motor activities. With the

upsurge in technology that incorporates physical play, like the Nintendo Wii, it is also

worth noting that as children become adolescents the strength of boys is signifi cantly

increased as their muscles grow with the onset of puberty.

Socioemotional

The most important aspect of socioemotional development is an appreciation of

how relationships affect development, with the caregiver–child attachment setting


the stage for future relationships, emotional and self-development are both impor-

tant themes. The self-esteem of children is associated with emotional development.

Although it is known that preschool children have very high levels of self-esteem,

with time, and possibly directly as a result of entry into the educational system, this

self-esteem declines, with around 15 percent of those 9 to 10 years old having very

low self-esteem; the self-esteem of girls being, in all cases, lower than that of equiv-

alently aged boys.

Other social habits change in different ways. Prejudice, for instance, is known to

decline as children mature, and friendships become stronger. As children get older,

they demonstrate what are known as prosocial behaviors (see Figure 1.6)—that is,

they act altruistically (for the benefi t of others). This is important when children are

working in pairs or groups as it may result in interference even when children have

been told not to help one another.

Cognitive

Cognitive development includes intellect and language. It is concerned with the way

individuals learn to think, their memory, their problem-solving abilities, and their


13Typical Stages of Development

F i gu re 1 .6

Friends playing

together.


reasoning. In this area, children start to learn language around the age of 1 and,

surprisingly, learn an average of ten words a day for the next 16 years. This learning

is not level—during the early years children learn more slowly, with the greatest

learning occurring in the middle years. Between the ages of 3 and 5, children think

in an egocentric way and solve problems illogically; as they get older, they become

rational and learn to understand other people ’ s points of view.

Cognitive development and, more specifi cally, language is crucial in evaluation

studies. It is worth noting that the variation across children is fairly wide. Although

most children will be able to read simple language by around the age of 7, some

will have great diffi culties with expressing themselves using written language.

Child Development and the Evaluation of Interactive Products Table 1.3 suggests some questions that evaluators might consider when planning

an evaluation.


14 Child Development and the Evaluation of Interactive Products

Tab le 1 .3

Questions about Child

Development

Developmental Features Issues to Be Noted

Physical Development • Is it physically and ergonomically possible for a test participant to operate the input devices or use any other test-related equipment?

• Are input devices suitable for a specifi c age group? • Is the interior design of the test space appropriate for both small

and big test participants?

Socioemotional Development

• Is the test situation socially understandable and safe for a test participant?

• Can a child adapt to a new situation alone and without a peer or a familiar adult?

• Is the number of adults versus children balanced? • How dependent are test participants on adults ’ help and attention? • Do children aim at pleasing or annoying adults? • What behavior of the test administrator might decrease or

increase the openness of the test situation? • Can a child cooperate in a way that is required when performing

a test together with another child? • Can the test situation cause distress or feelings of failure for a

child, and does this affect the situation and results obtained? • Can a test situation make children feel afraid? How can you

prevent that? • Can you encourage a child during a test? Does it affect a child ’ s

subjective assessment of a product ’ s qualities? • Does a child understand that the product is being evaluated

and not the child? How does the child feel about being part of testing and how well he or she is doing in it?

• Does a child have a positive feeling about testing once it is over?


Developmental Features Issues to Be Noted

Cognitive Development • Does a child understand what he or she is expected to do? • Does a child understand what “ carrying out a task ” means? • Are test tasks understandable and memorable? • Can a child use the product independently? • Does a child understand cause-and-effect relationships that are

necessary for using the product? • Are a child ’ s problem-solving skills mature enough in terms of

test tasks? • Are there any features in the test situation that distract a child ’ s

thinking and attention? • Is the cognitive load too big for a child? Do the methods used for

testing add to this load? • Can a child recollect previous activities and thinking? Can

retrospective methods that rely on this recollection be used? • Can a child read? If not, how are test tasks to be presented to

the child and how should an adult remind a child who forgets what he or she is supposed to be doing?

• Can one use written forms or language as a part of testing? • Can a child understand the language and concepts used by a test

supervisor? • Can a child write? Can the child respond in writing? • How well can a child verbalize thoughts? • Can a child respond to questions during an interview? Do

the child ’ s answers contain enough for the purposes of the evaluation?

Tab le 1 .3

Cont'd


15The Temperament of Children

The Temperament of Children Irrespective of stage of development, each child has a unique temperament.

Temperament is especially interesting in evaluation studies because it can have a

signifi cant effect on both the evaluation methods to be used and the results gath-

ered. Differences in temperament can have a considerable effect on the usefulness

and validity of a user study. Unlike many other aspects of children, temperament

is unlikely to change over time, with most children having the same temperament

throughout their lives.

Temperamental Dimensions

Chess and Thomas (1996) have identifi ed nine different temperamental dimensions:

Activity level . Different children work at different paces. Some are quite slow to do tasks whereas others race along.

Distractability . The degree of concentration the child has. Hanna et al. (1999) consider that in a usability study preschool children can concentrate for about 30 minutes, but some children will be distracted as many as 15 or 20 times.


Sensory threshold . How sensitive the child is to noise and other sensory interrup-tions. Some children have a very low threshold to noise, and this affects their performance.

Approach withdrawal . The response of a child to a new situation—whether eager to take part or more hesitant. A reluctance to take part does not always imply a problem with an activity.

Adaptability . The ease with which a child can switch to new things. Some children, especially those with some autistic-spectrum disorders, can be very upset by different situations and will not perform as well as they might had the situation been more familiar.

Persistence . The length of time a child will spend on a diffi cult task. Some children give up more easily than others.

Intensity . The energy level of a response. One child may be extremely enthusiastic about a product whereas another may seem less engaged. Although this might be all about intensity, it can also be attributed to other aspects of temperament.

Mood . Whether a child is pessimistic or optimistic.

It is clear from this list that special care must be taken to accommodate the differ-

ent temperaments of children.


16 The Temperament of Children

F i gu re 1 .7

Younger children are

happy working in mixed

pairs, but as they get

older they are more

likely to want to work

in same-sex groups at

the computer.


Reducing the Effects of Temperament

The following actions will help reduce the effects of temperament on evaluation

studies:

Activity level . If children work in pairs (see Figure 1.7), be sure to allow the slower one ample time to fi nish. Make sure that children who fi nish tasks early don ’ t distract others.

Distractability . Use an area as free from external distractions as possible. Remove clutter from the evaluation space, turn off mobile phones, do all you can to reduce passing traffi c (mainly people, not cars!).

Sensory threshold . Take control of lighting and sound. Where possible, ask the chil-dren if they are comfortable with the surroundings. If feasible, allow children to control the noise level of any sound output and the contrast and brightness of the screen.

Approach withdrawal . Use familiar locations for the children and familiar language. Find out the words generally used by the children—for example, evaluate is not a “ child ” word, and using such words only increases the strangeness of the situation.

Adaptability . Make sure all instructions are very clear, and where possible give chil-dren a chance to practice with any technology. If planning two or three different activities, make the transitions easy by using similar instructions.

Persistence . Prepare for children stopping before the end by putting the most impor-tant tasks fi rst. Encourage persistence by telling the children how long the evalu-ation will take and providing information to show them their progress.

Intensity . Mix different methods so all children fi nd a comfortable way to give their opinions. For instance, don ’ t just rely only on facial expressions to judge a response.

Summary This chapter provided a brief overview of child development theories and high-

lighted the diverse nature of children, their lack of homogeneity, and their widely

Tip Allow for variable sensory experiences. If the child has to react to a noise, don ’ t

assume that because you heard the noise the child should respond as well.


17Summary


differing talents and motivations. Of great importance in evaluation studies is rec-

ognizing this variance in children and taking account of their differences, abilities,

and needs.

Further Reading You can fi nd an easy-to-read overview of child development and child psychology

in Kail (2002) and Smith, Cowie, and Blades (2003). Hundreds of books on child

development are available; some are based at high-level audiences, so care should

be taken!

It is also worth reading the educational curricula from the county (or state in the

United States) in which you are working. These documents specify what children

will learn in their school years and can give you a good indication of children ’ s abil-

ities at different stages.

Exercises

1. A local usability company has been asked to evaluate a website that is primarily aimed at English-speaking children aged between 5 and 8. Based on what you learned in this chapter, write a short e-mail (fewer than 200 words) that outlines the most important things you think the evaluator should know about children.

2. Several published guidelines for designing interactive products for children are available—for example, “ Children like bright colors. ” Identify a specifi c guideline, and discuss how it matches the developmental and temperamental needs of children.


18 Further Reading


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