Evaluating older adults' retention in hypertext perusal: impacts of presentation media as a function of text topology

摘要

The present study attempts to examine how older adults react to multimedia interface in hypertext perusal. Twenty-four older subjects participated in an experiment where presentation media and text topology were manipulated. A hypermedia system of tourist guide was developed to test the subject's perusal performance in terms of retention accuracy. Results showed that the main effects and interaction were significant. The use of animated graphs, static pictures, and pure text resulted in significantly descending retention when the hierarchical topology was perused. However, the advantage of animated graphs over static pictures disappeared for the referential topology but both media rendered higher retention scores than the text-only presentation. It was suggested that hypermedia interface for the aged should be designed towards the use of graph-based presentations on a hierarchical topology for better retention. Detailed implications were discussed.