An examination of icons,signal words,color,and messages in warnings for children on the Internet

Abstract

Most minors have unrestricted access to the Internet, which, along with educational content, contains deleterious content not appropriate for minors. A system of warnings targeting minors on the Internet was developed and tested. The present study examined selected icons in combination with signal words, color, and warning messages. Three hundred and fifty-three adults and ten children participated in the study. Five most effective icons from a previous study were paired with signal words (STOP and WARNING) printed in black and red, along with warning messages, ranging in severity and explicitness. Results indicated that the signal word STOP was rated higher overall than WARNING, red was rated higher than black, and ratings for warning messages increased as the message explicitness and severity increased across a range of dependent variables including understandability and carefulness. A four-way icon x color x signal word x warning message interaction was found. Implications for warning design are discussed.

References

ANSI (2007). American national standard for product safety signs and labels (Z535.4) Retrieved from http://www.nema.org/stds/

Bartau-Rojas

Aierbe-Barandiaran

Oregui-González

(2018). Parental mediation of the Internet use of primary students: Beliefs, strategies and difficulties. Media Education Research Journal, 26(54), 71-79. doi: 10.3916/C54-2018-07

Braun

C.C.

Kline

P.B.

Silver

N.C.

(1995). The influence of color on warning label perceptions. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 15, 179-187.

Braun

C.C.

Sansing

Silver

N.C.

(1994). The interaction of signal word and color on warning labels: Differences in perceived hazard. Proceedings of the 43rdAnnual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Santa Monica, CA, 878-882.

Braun

C.C.

Silver

N.C.

(1995). Interaction of signal word and colour on warning labels: Difference in perceived hazard and behavioural compliance. Ergonomics, 38 (11), 2207-2220.

Brelsford

J.W.

Wogalter

M.S.

Scoggins

J.A.

(1994). Enhancing comprehension and retention of safety-related pictorials. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Santa Monica, CA, 836-840.

Castells

(2001) Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society. New York: Oxford University Press.

Child Trends Data Bank. (2015). Home Computer Access and Internet Use: Indicators of Child and Youth Wel-Being. Retrieved from https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/69_Computer_Use.pdf

Dombrowski

S.C.

Gischlar

K.L.

Durst

(2007). Safeguarding young people from cyber pornography and cyber sexual predation: A major dilemma of the Internet. Child Abuse Review, 16, 153-170.

10.

Farber

B.A.

Shafron

Hamadani

Wald

Nitzburg

(2012). Children, technology, problems, and preferences. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 68(11), 1225-1229. doi: 10.1002/jclp.21922

11.

Flesch

(1948). A new readability yardstick. Journal of Applied Psychology, 32, 221-233.

12.

Mendez-Baldwin

Cirillo

Ferrigno

Argento

(2015). Cyberbullying among teens. Journal of Bullying and Social Aggression, 1(1). Retrieved from http://sites.tamuc.edu/bullyingjournal/article/cyber-bullying-among-teens/

13.

Ringseis

E.L.

Caird

J.K.

(1995). The comprehensibility and legibility of twenty pharmaceutical warning pictograms. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting Santa Monica CA, 974-978.

14.

Sabina

Wolak

Finkelhor

(2008). The nature and dynamics of Internet pornography exposure for youth. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 11(6), 691-693. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2007.0179

15.

Silver

N.C.

Wogalter

M.S.

(1991). Strength and understanding of signal words by elementary and middle school students. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 35th Annual Meeting Santa Monica CA, 590-594.

16.

Williams

K.S.

(2005). Facilitating safer choices: Use of warnings to dissuade viewing of pornography on the Internet. Child Abuse Review, 14, 416-429.

17.

Wogalter

M.S.

(2006a). Purposes and scope of warnings. In Wogalter

M.S.

(Ed.) Handbook of Warnings (pp.3-9). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

18.

Wogalter

M.S.

Silver

N.C.

(1995). Warning signal words: connoted strength and undestandability by children, elders, and non-native English speakers. Ergonomics, 38, 2188-2206.

19.

Wogalter

M.S.

Silver

N.C.

Leonard

S.D.

Zaikina

(2006). Warning symbols. In Wogalter

M.S.

(Ed.) Handbook of Warnings (pp.159-176). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

20.

Zaikina-Montgomery

(2011) The dilemma of minors’ access to adult content on the Internet: A proposed warnings solution. (944). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. Retrieved from https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/944