INTRODUCTION

Computers have played a significant role in all aspects of American life ever since they came into existence in the late 20th century. They have shaped and molded the way people live and interact. People once questioned the harms and benefits a computer would give a child. Their belief was that children who relied on these machines would lose their individuality, get out of touch with their own cultural roots, and confuse actual reality with virtual reality [5].

Researchers were afraid that computers would instigate a loss of socialization among young children. Numerous experiments, such as ones performed by Allison Druin and Michael Scaife, have been targeted at the effects computers have on children. For many people, the basic definition of socialization would be the adoption of the behavior patterns around the surrounding culture [6]. Many experiments have been targeted at the effects computers have on children’s socialization skills. For example, one of the various questions that has arisen is if the lack of physicality in the virtual world is an aid to a child’s self-expression or a hindrance to his or her individuation [3]. Despite the large number of research projects, scientists still do not know all the behavioral, cognitive, or emotional influences that these interactive products have on children.

A different argument made was that with on-line technologies, children would have the opportunity for more immediate communication with many diverse individuals [2]. This would give them the freedom to express themselves more openly with like-minded people without the fear of being criticized for who they are. Scientists conducted a study using Logo, a computer programming language, to see how it would affect children’s reasoning, logic, and cooperation skills [1]. They found that after the Logo experience, young children showed an improvement in their social skills, self-esteem, and mental progress [2]. Other studies have found that working on the computers has instigated collaborative work among children. Scientists have found that placing computers close to each other can also facilitate the sharing of ideas among children [4]. This course of action encourages more spontaneous peer teaching and helping. Contrary to popular belief, some studies suggest that computers do not isolate children; rather, they serve as potential catalysts for social interaction [1,7].

If the literature were correct, we would expect to see substantial communication using computers and no particular reluctance to engage in a social task. On the other hand, if computers compelled the child to become absorbed to the point of preferring computers to social interaction, we might see a reluctance to leave the computer for a social game.

My hypothesis for this research was that the Vietnamese children would talk less than the Hispanic children while on the computers and the coloring books. Also, both ethnic groups would socialize less while on the computers than on the coloring books.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects computers had on young children. The primary focus was to understand which ethnic group was more influenced by computers. The information derived from this study can, with further research, be used to develop stronger and more efficient computer and socialization programs for young children. Socialization plays an enormous role in a child’s life – whether it is with peers or the family. Understanding the interpersonal effect upon the socialization aspects of a child when exposed to a computer will help better prepare various organizations, schools, and families as computers are integrated into our society.

METHODOLOGY

Eight trials were conducted to observe how computers affected children’s desire to interact with one another and how the desire to socialize varied in the two different ethnic groups. The two ethnic groups used were Hispanic and Vietnamese children ages five to eight. Thirty-two children from Hispanic and Vietnamese background were studied at their two churches respectively. This ensured that each child was comfortable in his or her own surroundings and was familiar with the other children. Each group consisted of four children ranging from the same ethnic background. The program used on the computers was an educational game targeted at children ages 3-8 called “Freddie Fish 4”.

1. Starting off with Computers

Four groups started off in this stage. In phase one, each small group was given access to computers and had a set time of thirty minutes either to play on the computers or switch over to a group game. The children were given instructions to play on the computers for as long as they liked. After they got tired of the computers, they were allowed to play Twister for the remainder of their session. Immediately after the thirty-minute session, the children were asked to start on phase two.

In phase two, the computers were taken away; in the computers’ place, coloring books were given to the children for another thirty-minute session. If they got tired of the coloring books, they again had the option of playing Twister. They were timed on how long a coloring book kept their interest before they played a board game.

2. Starting off with Coloring Books

The remaining four groups started off in this stage. For phase one, instead of starting off on computers, the children started off on coloring books. The children again had the choice of playing Twister if they chose. For phase two, the children were able to play on the computer. If they got tired of the computers, Twister was again an available option.

Data and observations were made on how long each element kept the children’s attention and how each it differed in each ethnic group. In this experiment, the independent variable was the child playing on the computer or the child playing with the coloring book. The dependent variable for the project was how long it took until the child left to play the board game. A secondary dependent variable was a measure of how long the children talked during the coloring and computer tasks.

RESULTS

In this experiment, eight sessions were performed in total. Both Hispanic and Vietnamese children spent most of their time on computers. When the Hispanic children were exposed to coloring books, they spent an average of 18 min. on the task before engaging in a social activity; the Vietnamese children spent 22 minutes. The results also show that while the Hispanic children talked less when engaged in an individual task, they still spent less time on that activity. The Vietnamese children’s attention span was sustained over a longer amount of time on the coloring books, and they also conversed more during this period.

As can seen from the graphs, computers maintained both minority groups’ attention for nearly the thirty-minute session. While the children were on the coloring books, there was a significant decrease in their attention span on that particular individual activity compared to the computer task. This is also reflected in the minimal time the children talked while on the computers as compared to that on the coloring books. As shown on Figure 1, the sessions that started on coloring books stayed more focused on that first task than the sessions that started on computers. While the sessions that started on computers stayed focused on that activity almost the entire time, they had a more difficult time focusing afterwards on the coloring books.

CONCLUSION

Analyzing, comparing, and contrasting the social activeness of children on individual tasks illustrate the effect of computers on young children’s habits during an individual and social task. With the presence of a computer, the motivation to socialize of both Asian and Hispanic children was hindered. Hispanic children were engaged on computers for a longer period of time than the Vietnamese children. The differences in ethnicity and in the basic standards of living for each child may contribute to this difference of interest in individualized tasks. There was also the suggestion that working with computers had an effect on the socialization of tasks that follow, in this case the coloring book. While the 5 - 8 age group might not present the lowering of age of when computers are introduced, the studies also suggest that computers could affect a mental growth.

In conclusion, although computers do not completely hinder kids from socializing, computers do play a part for the lack of conversing among children during and after the exposure.

FURTHER RESEARCH

The objective of this research was to encourage further investigation into the involvement of computers in children’s daily lives. Because using computers showed a decrease in socialization among children, more research could be conducted on the psychological effects of computers. Only a minimal number of children and sessions were tested and an extension of these sessions would be a natural furtherance of this research. Testing different pieces of technology on a wider range of ethnic children would be a natural direction for this research to be taken.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank St. Andre Dung Lac and Mr. Brauser’s church for graciously allowing me to use their facilities. I would like to express my gratitude to Quoc Pham for making a big part of my project a success. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Frank Durso from the University of Oklahoma for his insight and research help on my paper. To my parents, thank you for all of your unending spiritual support, help, and guidance. Last, I would like to thank Mr. Bradley O. Brauser for his continuous support and confidence in my project.

WORKS CITED

[1] Clements, D.H., Swaminathan, S. “Technology and school change: New lamps for

old?” 1995. Online. Internet. 22 October 2000. Available WWW:

http://www.gse.buffalo.edu/org/buildingblocks/newsletters/tech_and_school_dhc.htm

[2] Druin, Allison. “Computers and Kids: My Kid Doesn’t Need A Computer…” January

1998. Online. Internet. 19 September 2000. Available WWW:

http://www.acm.org/sigchi/bulletin/1998.1/kids/html

[3] “Early Connections: Technology in Early Childhood Education.” July 1998. Online.

Internet. 28 September 2000. Available WWW:

http://www.netc.org/earlyconnections/questions.html

[4] Haughland, Susan W. “Computers and Young Children.” ERIC Digest. March 2000.

Online. Internet. 22 October 2000. Available WWW:

http://www.ericeece.org/pubs/digests/2000/haugland00.html

[5] Stutz, Elizabeth. “Some thoughts on the arguments concerning children and

computers.” Online. Internet. 6 October 2000. Available WWW:

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~estutz/computer.html

[6] “Technology and Young Children – Ages 3 through 8.” April 1996. Online. Internet.

24 August 2000. Available WWW:

http://www.naeyc.org/about/position/pstech98.htm

[7] “Technology in Early Childhood Programs.” 1996. Online. Internet. 28 September

2000. Available WWW:

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content3/technology.early.p.k12.2.html

ADDENDUM

			*STATISTICS*


		Time Talked During Individual Activities


Subject	Trial Block 1	Trial Block 2	Sums		Subject	Trial Block 1	Trial Block 2	Sums
V1	17	5.75	22.75		H1	16.5	4.5	21
V2	13	4.75	17.75		H2	14.25	10	24.25
V3	11.5	7.25	18.75		H3	9.25	6	15.25
V4	14	5.5	19.5		H4	11.75	6.25	18
Sums	55.5	23.25			Sums	51.75	26.75

STEP 3	55.5 + 23.25= 78.75
	51.75 + 26.75= 78.5

STEP4	Added up scores for each group

STEP 5	(17)(17) + (13)(13) + (11.5)(11.5) + (14)(14) + (5.75)(5.75) + (4.75)(4.75) +
	(7.25)(7.25) + (5.5)(5.5) = 924.6875

	(16.5)(16.5) + (14.25)(14.25) - (9.25)(9.25) + (11.75)(11.65) + (4.5)(4.5) + (10)(10) + (6)(6) +
	(6.25)(6.25) = 894.25

	924.6875 + 894.25 = 1818.9375

STEP 6	55.5 + 23.25 + 51.75 + 26.75 = 157.25

STEP 7	(157.25)(157.25) / 16 = 1545.472656

STEP 8	1818.9375 - 1545.472656 = 273.464844

STEP 9	(22.75)(22.75) + (17.75)(17.75) + (18.75)(18.75) + (19.5)919.5) + (21)(21) + (24.25)(24.25) +
	(15.25)(15.25) + (18)(18) = 3150.0625

	3150.0625 / 2 = 1575.03125

	1575.03125 - 1545.472656 = 29.558594

STEP 10	(78.75)(78.75) / 8 + (78.5)(78.5) / 8 = 1545.476563

	1545.476563 - 1545.472656 = .0039065

STEP 11	29.558594 - .0039065 = 29.5546875

STEP 12	273.464844 - 29.558594 = 243.90625

STEP 13	55.5 + 51.75 = 107.25(Trial Block 1)
	23.25 + 26.75 = 50(Trial Block 2)

	(107.25)(107.25) / 8 + (50)(50) / 8 = 1750.320313

	1750.320313 - 1545.472656 = 204.8476565

STEP 14	(55.5)(55.5) / 4 + (23.25)(23.25) / 4 + (51.75)(51.75) / 4 + (26.75)(26.75) / 4 = 1753.609375

	1753.609375 - 1545.472656 - .0039065 - 204.8476565 = 3.285162

STEP 15	243.90625 - 204.8476565 - 3.285162 = 35.7734315

STEP 16			df
	SSt	273.464844	16-1=15
	SSb	29.558594	8-1=7
	SSc	0.0039065	2-1=1
	Sserrorb	29.5546875	7-1=6
	SSw	243.90625	15-7=8
	SStr	204.847657	2-1=1
	SStr x c	3.285162	1x1=1
	SSerrorw	35.7734315	8-1-1=6

STEP 17	MSt= .0039065 / 1 = .0039065
	Mserrorb = 29.558594 / 6 = 4.926462333
	MStr = 204.8476565 / 1 = 204.8476565
	MStr x c = 3.285162 / 1 = 3.285162
	Mserrorw = 35.7734315 / 6 = 5.962238583

STEP 18	Source	SS	df	MS	F	p
	Total	273.464844	15	----------	----------	----------
	Between subjects	29.558594	7	----------	----------	----------
	Conditions	0.0039065	1	0.004	----------	----------
	Error b	29.554875	6	4.926	2.4324	>.05
	Within Subjects	243.90625	8	----------	----------	----------
	Trials	204.847657	1	204.8	----------	----------
	Trials x conditions	3.285162	1	3.285	----------	----------
	Error w	35.7734315	6	5.962	2.3782	>.05

			*STATISTICS*


		Time Until Social Activity


Subject	Trial Block 1	Trial Block 2	Sums		Subject	Trial Block 1	Trial Block 2
V1	25	28	53		H1	21	30
V2	15	30	45		H2	8	30
V3	30	30	60		H3	30	30
V4	16	30	46		H4	11	30
Sums	86	118			Sums	70	120

STEP 3	86 + 118 = 204
	70 + 120 = 190

STEP4	Added up scores for each group

STEP 5	(25)(25) + (15)(15) + (30)(30) + (16)(16) + (28)(28) + (30)(30) + (30)(30) + (30)(30) = 5490
	(21)(21) + (8)(8) + (30)(30) + (11)(11) + (30)(30) + (30)(30) +(30)(30) + (30)(30) =5126

	5490 + 5126 = 10616

STEP 6	204 + 190 = 394

STEP 7	(394)(394) / 16 = 9702.25

STEP 8	10616 - 9702.25 = 913.75

STEP 9	(53)(53) + (45)(45) + (60)(60) + (46)(46) + (51)(51) + (38)(38) + (60)(60) + (41)(41) = 19876

	19876 / 2 =9938

	9938 - 9702.25 = 235.75

STEP 10	(204)(204) / 8 + (190)(190) / 8 =9714.5

	9714.5 - 9702.25 = 12.25

STEP 11	235.75 - 12.25 = 223.5

STEP 12	913.75 - 223.5 = 690.25

STEP 13	86 + 70 = 156(Trial Block 1)
	118 + 120 = 238(Trial Block 2)

	(156)(156) / 8 + (238)(238) / 8 =10122.5

	10122.5 - 9702.25 = 420.25


STEP 14	(86)(86) / 4 + (118)(118) / 4 + (70)(70) / 4 + (120)(120) / 4 = 10155

	10155 - 9702.25 = 452.75

STEP 15	690.25 - 420.25 = 452.75

STEP 16			df
	SSt	913.75	16-1=15
	SSb	235.75	8-1=7
	SSc	12.25	2-1=1
	Sserrorb	223.5	7-1=6
	SSw	690.5	15-7=8
	SStr	420.25	2-1=1
	SStr x c	452.75	1x1=1
	SSerrorw	270	8-1-1=6

STEP 17	MSt= 12.25 / 1 = 12.25
	Mserrorb = 235.75 / 6 = 39.291667
	MStr = 420.25 / 1 = 420.25
	MStr x c = 452.75 / 1 = 452.75
	Mserrorw = 270 / 6 = 45

STEP 18	Source	SS	df	MS	F	p
	Total	913.75	15	----------	----------	----------
	Between subjects	235.75	7	----------	----------	----------
	Conditions	12.25	1	0.312	----------	----------
	Error b	223.5	6	39.29	----------	----------
	Within Subjects	690.5	8	--------	----------	----------
	Trials	420.25	1	420	9.3333	p < .025
	Trials x conditions	452.75	1	452.8	10.062	p < .025
	Error w	270	6	45	----------	----------

Computers

Coloring Book

Vietnamese

5.8125

13.875

Hispanic

6.6875

12.9375

Vietnamese

Hispanic

Coloring Book

11.5

16.5

14.25

9.25

11.75

Computers

5.75

4.75

7.25

5.5

4.5

6.25

How Do Computers Affect Children’s Desire to Socialize?

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INTRODUCTION

METHODOLOGY