Child-computer interaction: The computer as a transitional object.

This dissertation explored the relationship between children and computers and the factors that are related to their experiences and affective reactions to the computer. Three primary research questions were examined. The maternal role as teacher-partner, sensitivity toward their children's needs and perceptions of the children's autonomy and competence were examined in relation to the children's self-perceptions of competence, autonomy and their enjoyment of the computer. Parental attitudes toward the computer were explored as they related to the children's experience, including gender and age differences. The relationship between the presence of early objects and the computer was explored. The theoretical basis for understanding the computer as a transitional object with gender and stage considerations was drawn from an integration of aspects of object relations theory, Winnicott's concepts of the transitional object, Erikson's psychosocial framework and Bowlby's theory of attachment and the internal working model. The computer was viewed as a transitional object with application and extension into the transitional phenomena where it is invested in as a cultural tool for multiple uses and varying personal meanings. Studies on gender differences in styles, attributes and uses of the computer served as a baseline for comparison with the sample that was studied. Twenty boys, twenty girls, ages 6, 7 and 8, also 40 mothers and 20 fathers were interviewed using closed and open-ended questions. Children responded to thematic pictures to elicit affective reactions to the computer. Data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Major findings suggest that parental attitudes and maternal perceptions of their children related to the children's self-perceptions and feelings about the computer. The presence of an early transitional object did not predict later interest in the computer. However, children with early transitional objects and those who retained use of their objects into latency had different perceptions of the computer than those who never had an object or gave it up early. Significant gender differences did not emerge though boys tended to score higher than girls. Positive parental attitudes, home experience and early introduction of computers may have minimized gender differences and influenced the children's positive attitudes toward the computer.Ph.D.EducationEducational psychologyEducational technologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/130815/2/9811175.pd