2004/12/15 by Sandra L. Calvert, Bonnie L. Strong, Lizann Gallagher
Social Sciences · #Child Development and Digital Technology #Gender and Technology in Education #Impact of Technology on Adolescents
paper · doi:10.1177/0002764204271507
openalex publication_date 2004/12/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
This article examines a study in which young children were exposed to a computer story that varied the amount of control that children had over the visual and verbal content. Children who controlled the computer demonstrated more attention and involvement than those who watched an adult control the experience. Boys who had an adult control the program were more likely to try to gain control of the activity by making attempts to get the mouse or by asking to change activities. Control, however, had no effect on children’s memory of visual or verbal content. The implication is that control is an engagement feature that has its greatest impact when examining attention and interest, a lesson that may facilitate constructive early adult-child interactions with educational computer software.