A Cognitive Psychoanalytic Perspective on Interaction Design in the Education of School-Age Children in Museums

Abstract

The education of school-age children is an essential stage in the sustainable educational development of a country. As an important place in children’s learning system, interactive education in museums is of practical significance in stimulating, guiding, and enhancing children’s perception and thinking abilities. The focus of this paper is on how to promote a positive influence on children’s cognitive ability through the interactive design of museum exhibits.

This paper focuses on the interaction design in the education of school-age children (6–12 years old) in museums from the perspective of cognitive psychoanalysis. The main research content includes: 1. Analyzing the characteristics of children’s cognitive psychology at this stage; 2. Taking Suzhou Museum in China as an example, analyzing the exhibition and teaching system and interactive experience mode established by its Children’s Discovery Experience Museum to educate children aged 6–12 years; 3. For the developmental characteristics of school-age children, condensing the design strategies of the museum’s interactive experience to meet the needs of children’s cognitive behaviors, such as strengthening the multidimensional sensory experience, optimizing the critical points of spatial experience, building the form of gamification interactive experience, etc. to create an emotional experience for children, and establish appropriate interface perception from visual elements, information hierarchy, interaction mode, etc. to promote the development of children’s cognitive ability. Finally, based on the analysis and research on the interaction design of the Suzhou Museum Exploration Experience Hall, we put forward the interaction design strategy for museums to enhance the cognitive ability of children aged 6–12.