Assessing children's understanding of basic time concepts through multimedia software

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of the computer with multimedia software in assessing the perception of the basic time concepts by children. Special multimedia software was developed, using a high level language which simulated standard time perception tests. A random sample of 374 school and pre-school age (4-11 years old) children was used in the comparative study divided into two balanced groups. Results indicated superiority in children's judgements when multimedia software was used. This superiority was most pronounced in experiments that involved motion or action. A positive correlation between age and comprehension was detected. The subject's sex or parents occupation did no seem to make an appreciable difference. The findings of this study are discussed in terms of the applicability of computer multimedia technology, in the area of assessing the concept of time in children.

[1]  W. Bromberg,et al.  THE MEANING OF TIME FOR CHILDREN , 1938 .

[2]  Françoise Macar,et al.  Temporal judgments on intervals containing stimuli of varying quantity, complexity and periodicity , 1996 .

[3]  I. Levin,et al.  The development of time concepts in young children: the relations between duration and succession. , 1978, Child development.

[4]  Richard A. Block,et al.  Chapter 9 Experiencing and Remembering Time: Affordances, Context, and Cognition , 1989 .

[5]  K. Lovell,et al.  THE GROWTH OF THE CONCEPT OF SPFED: A COMPARATIVE STUDY , 1960 .

[6]  William L. Hays,et al.  Essence of Statistics. , 1982 .

[7]  W. Friedman,et al.  The development of children's understanding of cyclic aspects of time. , 1977, Child development.

[8]  Merrill Carlsmith.  Methods of research in social psychology , 1976 .

[9]  S Krauss,et al.  The experience of time. , 1970, British medical journal.

[10]  J. Piaget,et al.  The essential Piaget , 1979 .

[11]  Iris Levin,et al.  The role of cue salience in the development of time concepts: Duration comparisons in young children. , 1980 .

[12]  W. Friedman,et al.  The development of children's knowledge of temporal structure. , 1986, Child development.

[13]  C. Acredolo.  Chapter 6 Assessing Children's Understanding of Time, Speed and Distance Interrelations , 1989 .

[14]  T. Globerson,et al.  The development of time concepts among advantaged and disadvantaged Israeli children. , 1984, The Journal of genetic psychology.

[15]  Dan Zakay,et al.  Time and human cognition : a life-span perspective , 1989 .

[16]  Jean Piaget,et al.  The child's conception of time; , 1969 .

[17]  P. Fraisse.  Perception and estimation of time. , 1984, Annual review of psychology.

[18]  Annemarie Hauf,et al.  Computers in education , 1983 .

[19]  Friedrich Wilkening,et al.  Chapter 3 Measuring Time via Counting: The Development of Children's Conceptions of Time as a Quantifiable Dimension , 1989 .

[20]  F. Wilkening,et al.  Development of time quantification: integration and nonintegration of beginnings and endings in comparing durations. , 1984, Child development.

[21]  A. Angrilli,et al.  The influence of affective factors on time perception , 1997, Perception & psychophysics.

[22]  C. Acredolo,et al.  The understanding of relative speeds, distances, and durations of movement. , 1981 .

[23]  F. Craik,et al.  Aging and judgments of duration: Effects of task complexity and method of estimation , 1999, Perception & psychophysics.

[24]  Simon Grondin,et al.  Duration discrimination of empty and filled intervals marked by auditory and visual signals , 1993, Perception & psychophysics.

[25]  D Hale.  Taking time out. , 1987, Dental economics - oral hygiene.

[26]  T J Berndt,et al.  The development of time concepts through conflict based on a primitive duration capacity. , 1974, Child development.

[27]  I. Levin.  The Development of Time Concepts in Young Children: Reasoning about Duration. , 1977 .

[28]  W J Friedman.  Development of time concepts in children. , 1978, Advances in child development and behavior.

[29]  I. Levin,et al.  Interference of time-related and unrelated cues with duration comparisons of young children: analysis of Piaget's formulation of the relation of time and speed. , 1979, Child development.

[30]  William R. Sorum.  Patterning of Time , 1973 .

[31]  E. Markman.  The essential Piaget , 1978 .

[32]  Frank B. Murray,et al.  Conservation Aspects of the Concept of Time in Primary School Children. , 1969 .

[33]  Dan Zakay,et al.  Chapter 10 Subjective Time and Attentional Resource Allocation: An Integrated Model of Time Estimation , 1989 .