The interference effect of low-relevant animated elements on digital picture-book comprehension in preschoolers: An eye-movement study

Abstract

Digital picture-book (DPB) with animated elements can enhance children’s engagement, but irrelevant animations may interfere with their comprehension. To determine the effect of the relevance of animated elements on preschoolers’ comprehension, an experimental study was conducted. Thirty-three preschoolers between the aged 4-5 years engaged with DPB in three conditions: high- and low-relevant animations and a static control while listening to the story; their eye movements were recorded simultaneously. The study found that preschoolers had lower comprehension when exposed to low-relevant animation, but had comparable scores to the static condition with high-relevant animation. The results of eye-movement analysis showed that children who focused less on high-relevant or more on low-relevant elements had poorer comprehension. Those exposed to low-relevant animations looked less at high-relevant elements and more at low-relevant elements than those in the static and high-relevant conditions. These results suggested that low-relevant animations in DPB interfered with children’s comprehension by directing their visual attention away from crucial, high-relevant elements and more to less relevant elements. Therefore, designers creating DPBs, as well as parents and caregivers selecting DPBs for children, should consider the importance of the relevance of animated elements. And the corresponding mechanism of animation effect in DPB comprehension was discussed.