The Effect of Icon Semantic Distance on Preschool Children's Information Search: Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Study

Icons are frequently employed in children-oriented information systems due to children's limited literacy. However, the inherent semantic distances of icons, which may influence their affordance to children, are often overlooked in the development of such systems and related research. In this study, we apply semantic distance to measure the explicitness of icons in children-oriented book search, utilizing self-developed icons tailored for indexing picture books. We first gathered data from children through questionnaires to assess the perceived semantic distance of each icon. Subsequently, we conducted eye-tracking experiments with 50 preschool children, measuring their search accuracy, response time, and eye movement patterns while using icons to locate specific picture books. Our findings indicate that preschool children are easier to use icons with close semantic distance and single icons for searching. Additionally, the ability to use icons with distant semantic distances and combination icons significantly improves with age. These findings may contribute to the development of more effective and children-friendly information search systems.