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The Mere Presence of a Cell Phone May be Distracting: Implications for Attention and Task Performance

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Abstract

Research consistently demonstrates the active use of cell phones, whether talking or texting, to be distracting and contributes to diminished performance when multitasking (e.g., distracted driving or walking). Recent research also has indicated that simply the presence of a cell phone and what it might represent (i.e., social connections, broader social network, etc.) can be similarly distracting and have negative consequences in a social interaction. Results of two studies reported here provide further evidence that the "mere presence" of a cell phone may be sufficiently distracting to produce diminished attention and deficits in task-performance, especially for tasks with greater attentional and cognitive demands. The implications for such an unintended negative consequence may be quite wide-ranging (e.g., productivity in school and the work place).
Original Article
The Mere Presence of a Cell Phone
May be Distracting
Implications for Attention and Task Performance
Bill Thornton, Alyson Faires, Maija Robbins, and Eric Rollins
University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME, USA
Abstract. Research consistently demonstrates the active use of cell phones, whether talking or texting, to be distracting and contributes to
diminished performance when multitasking (e.g., distracted driving or walking). Recent research also has indicated that simply the presence of a
cell phone and what it might represent (i.e., social connections, broader social network, etc.) can be similarly distracting and have negative
consequences in a social interaction. Results of two studies reported here provide further evidence that the ‘‘mere presence’’ of a cell phone may
be sufficiently distracting to produce diminished attention and deficits in task-performance, especially for tasks with greater attentional and
cognitive demands. The implications for such an unintended negative consequence may be quite wide-ranging (e.g., productivity in school and
the work place).
Keywords: cell phone, distraction, attention, performance
Mobile cell phones are ubiquitous and ‘‘smartphones’’ in
particular are becoming increasingly prevalent. Recent sur-
veys indicate that at least 85% of people in the United
States have cell phones, and that over 50% of these users
now have smartphones (Duggan & Rainie, 2012; Nielsen,
2013; Smith, 2012; Time Mobility Poll, 2012). Overall,
users note that mobile technology has changed their lives
with most indicating it has helped them maintain or
enhance their relationships with friends and family. Aside
from calling, it is texting that has become the predominate
use of the cell phone, followed by email and social net-
working. Indeed, in the 10 years since 2002, text messaging
in the United States alone has gone from 31 million per day
to 6 billion (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Associ-
ation, 2012).
The ‘‘constant connectivity’’ afforded by mobile tech-
nology has contributed to a preoccupation with the cell
phone an overwhelming majority of users check their
phone upon waking and as the last thing before bed, are
continually checking for calls and texts, and report they
could not go without their phone for one day (Perlow,
2012; Smith, 2012; Time, 2012).
Such ‘‘cognitive salience,’’ when the cell phone domi-
nates ones thoughts or focus, along with ‘‘behavioral sal-
ience,’’ a preoccupation with checking/using the cell
phone, are primary symptoms of behavioral addiction
(Walsh, White, & Young, 2008). Moreover, this constant
connectivity throughout the day provides for a continual
source of interruptions and distractions and potentially dimin-
ishes our ability to maintain attention and to concentrate and
think deeply about things (Carr, 2010; Wajcman & Rose,
2011). Yet, a majority of users report ‘‘no problem’’
with regard to being able to disconnect from work at
home, give people undivided attention, or focus on a task
without being distracted (Smith, 2012).
Distraction Associated With Cell
Phone Use
Multitasking is very common with mobile technology (e.g.,
talking/texting while driving, walking, shopping, or watch-
ing television) and perhaps contributes to the usersbelief
that the cell phone makes it easier to stay in touch with peo-
ple, helps coordinate daily activities, and contributes to
greater productivity (Smith, 2012). Indeed, multitasking
with the cell phone has the appearance of not taking up
extra time; instead, it creates the illusion of ‘‘giving you
more time’’ (Turkle, 2011).
Distracted Driving and Walking
However, multitasking with the cell phone has obvious
negative consequences as is apparent with delayed detec-
tion and reaction times, inattentional blindness, and
increased incidents of accidents associated with distracted
driving (Caird, Willness, Steel, & Scialfa, 2008; Strayer,
2014 Hogrefe Publishing Social Psychology 2014; Vol. 45(6):479–488
DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000216
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... Most research considering smartphone-related distraction tends to focus on interferences associated with the actual use of the device -multitasking -and the impacts that this can have on task-performance (for systematic reviews and meta-analyses see Parry & Le Roux, 2021;Van Der Schuur et al., 2015;Wiradhany & Koerts, 2021;Wiradhany & Nieuwenstein, 2017). Alongside this line of inquiry, a second body of research focuses on interferences associated with the mere presence of a smartphone (Thornton et al., 2014;Ward et al., 2017). Such work is based on the premise that smartphones are especially salient stimuli that can attract the allocation and orientation of attention, even without the device needing to be used. ...
... These similar, albeit distinct, papers provide the theoretical and empirical basis followed in most subsequent research. Thornton et al. (2014) first investigated the possibility that the mere presence of a smartphone might negatively impact attentional performance. To do so, these researchers conducted two experiments. ...
... In both experiments, the control condition kept their phones in their pocket/bag, and effects of device presence on performance in tasks assessing two aspects of a participant's cognitive capacity -sustained attention and cognitive flexibility -were evaluated. While the results were nuanced across the various metrics and versions of these tasks, overall, the pattern of findings supported Thornton et al. (2014)'s conclusion that the mere presence of a phone reduces attentional capacity and performance when the primary task is attentionally and cognitively demanding. ...
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... At the same time, the majority of positive effects were detected in comparatively small samples, while negative effects were also reported in samples that tended to be larger. The funnel plot does not indicate a possible bias or possible outliers, as we also found and took into account studies in which low effect sizes were reported for a small [3,8,9,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]]. ...
... It is possible that the variance that continues to exist is due to the use of different measurement instruments. For example, some study designs used "Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices Test" or the "Spanboard Test" [16], while others used a "trail making test" or a test to capture "digit cancellations" [30]. An analysis of possible moderators suggests that the nationality of the individuals studied contributes to this variance. ...
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... In one study, participants were divided into three groups: one group was allowed to use their phones during a lecture, one group was asked to place their phones face down on the desk, and one group was asked to leave their phones outside the room. The results showed that the group that used their phones during the lecture had the lowest recall of the lecture material (Thornton et al., 2014). In fact, just the mere presence of a cell phone alone and the digital accessibility it represents itself was found to be distracting. ...
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