3V1201.01 Spontaneous Anthropomorphizing with computer (5/7/81)
A problem for Peggy with the DRAW program has been my not representing which tile on the screen is the active object. this has caused most trouble when she went off screen at the bottom of the display. My original omission was based on the decision that blinking the active tile would slow response too much to be tolerated. Figuring out a fast way to do it, I added the “Blinker” to the programs. Peggy refers to the objects as the “Blinker” and uses a masculine personal pronoun. This could be a surface linguistic vagary.
More striking has been her spontaneous anthropormorphizing. Directing the current tile to assume a clear color, she said “Blinker’s in his home” and when I asked if he would come out, she called “Blinker !” (as a child would call a friend). when the Blinker went off screen at the bottom, she informed me, “he won’t come out of his home.” Changing colors of the blinking tile, Peggy said “Now he’s in his blue clothes.”