Should it Stay or Should it Go? Smartphone Dependency

Abstract

As smartphones grow in use and popularity, it is important to understand the possible effects that varying levels of smartphone use may have on human cognition. Although smartphones provide many advantages for daily activities, one must also recognize the potential disadvantages. For example, smartphone use may lead to nomophobia, which is defined as the modern fear of not being able to access your smartphone or the internet (Yildirim & Correia, 2015). The present study used a pilot and main study to examine the effects smartphones have on human cognition. The pilot study was conducted to measure nomophobia, mobile phone involvement, smartphone attachment and dependency, and general smartphone use. This portion was also used to determine the paradigm for the main study. Participants in the main study completed the 12 Cambridge Brain Science tasks, which measured different aspects of cognition' while leaving their smartphones in one of two locations: on their desk, or outside of the testing room. Additionally, participants completed the same four questionnaires from the pilot study. Results from both studies reveal the majority of individuals show moderate levels of nomophobia, dependency and attachment, and involvement. Subsequent data analysis focused on the double-trouble task, which is an attention-based task. Results found that there was no significant difference in performance on the double-trouble task between the two locations. Contrary to common belief, it seems that the mere presence of one’s smartphone does not affect performance on a cognitively demanding task.