People are distracted by their phone even when they AREN'T using it, study claims
People are distracted by their phone even when they
AREN'T using it, study claims
Researchers from the University of South Maine found that
people were distracted by their mobile - even when it wasn't in use
People who couldn't see their phone scored 20 per cent
higher in a test than those who could see it
Just the presence of a phone was found to severely limit
reaction times
Lead author Professor Thornton said such behaviour is
typical of ‘behavioural addiction’ and ‘diminishes our ability to maintain
attention’
By Daniel Bates for MailOnline
Published: 13:57 EST, 9 December 2014 | Updated: 13:57 EST, 9 December 2014
The mere sight of your mobile phone can distract you -
even if you are not using it.
Researchers at the University of Southern Maine found
that when people are asked to do a complicated task they are less successful if
their mobile is still out.
Those who put it in their pocket or their bag got on
average 20 per cent higher in the test because they were more focused.
The findings suggest that when we need to do some work
the best thing to do is not just turn your phone off - but put it away as well.
The researchers asked two groups of students to carry out
two different attention-sapping tasks, one of which was trickier than the
other.
Firstly they were given a page of 20 rows of numbers and
asked to circle one number in particular whenever they saw it.
Secondly that they had to do the same and also cross off
any two adjacent numbers in different rows that added up to the target number.
During both experiments, half the students kept their
phones on their desks and the other half put them out of sight.
The researchers found that in both experiments, those who
could not see their phones did better and scored an average of 26 compared to
21 if they could see their mobile.
Lead author Bill Thornton, a social psychologist at the
University of Southern Maine, wrote that being distracted by your mobile has
‘obvious consequences’ such as worse reaction times.
He said: ‘The "constant connectivity" afforded
by mobile technology has contributed to a preoccupation with the cell phone -
an overwhelming majority of users check their cell phone upon waking and as the
last thing before they go to bed’.
Such behaviour is typical of ‘behavioural addiction’ and
‘diminishes our ability to maintain attention’, Professor Thornton added.
In his conclusion he wrote: ‘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 (for example, productivity in school and
the work place).’
A previous study illustrated the extent of the problem
when it revealed that mobile users check their devices an average of 150 times
a day as they cannot bear to be apart from them.
We are now so addicted to our phones that we cannot go 10
minutes without fiddling around with them.
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