Abstract
The lightpen is a simple interactive device allowing easy communication between a naive user and a computer. Very young children (4–6 years old) can use a lightpen interactively to pick out targets displayed on a VDU. Accuracy of target selection and stability of pointing with the lightpen was measured in these young children, and also in an older group of children (10–11 years old), who showed superior performance on both measures. In the younger group, both postural factors and physical fatigue sometimes affected lightpen handling. However, children of both age groups failed to compensate for parallax near the edges of the curved display screen. Recommendations are made for the programming and design of lightpen-interactive displays.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, N. H., &Cuneo, D. O. The height + width rule in children’s judgments of quantity.Journal of Experimenta/Psychology: General, 1978,107, 335–378.
Cavanagh, P., &Anstis, S. M. Visual psychophysics on the Apple II: Getting started.Behavior Research Methods Instrumentation, 1980,12, 614–626.
Goodwin, N. C. Cursor positioning on an electronic display using lightpen, lightgun or keyboard for three basic tasks.Human Factors, 1975,17, 289–295.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors are co-workers on the Microprocessors in Education research project at the University of Manchester. We thank the Leverhulme Trust for financial support, the staff of Chorlton Church of England Primary School for their cooperation, and L. Farrell for exquisitely machining the collimator.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Avons, S.E., Beveridge, M.C., Hickman, A.T. et al. Considerations on using a lightpen-interactive system with young children. Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation 15, 75–78 (1983). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03203443
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03203443