With your smartphone close at hand, even when it’s turned off, your cognitive capacity may be significantly reduced. That’s exactly the finding from a new study by the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas.
McCombs Assistant Professor Adrian Ward and co-authors conducted experiments with nearly 800 smartphone users to measure how well they could complete tasks when close to their smartphone, even if they weren’t using it.
In one experiment, researchers asked study participants to sit in front of a computer and complete a series of tests that required full concentration to score well. The tests were intended to measure the participants’ current cognitive capacity, that is, the brain’s ability to hold and process data at any given time. Before starting, participants were randomly asked to place their smartphones face down on the table, in their pockets or personal bags, or in another room. All participants were also instructed to put their phones on silent.
The researchers found that participants whose phones were in another room performed significantly better than those whose phones were on the desk, and slightly better than participants who kept their phones in their pockets or purses. This result suggests that the mere presence of a person’s smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity and impairs cognitive function even though people feel they are fully focused and focused on the task at hand.
“As the smartphone becomes more prominent, we see a linear trend showing that the available cognitive capacity of the participants decreases,” said Ward. . It’s a brain drain.”
In another experiment, the researchers looked at how a person’s self-reported smartphone addiction—or how strongly a person feels they need a smartphone to get through a typical day—affects cognitive capacity. Participants performed the same series of computer-based tests as the first group and were randomly assigned to keep their smartphones in plain sight on a table, in a pocket or purse, or in another room. In this experiment, some participants were also told to turn off their phones.
The researchers found that the participants who were most addicted to their smartphones performed worse than their less addicted peers, but only when they kept their smartphones on a desk, in a pocket, or in a bag.
Ward and colleagues also found that it doesn’t matter if a person’s smartphone is on or off, or whether they are lying face down on a table or inverted. Having a smartphone within sight or within easy reach reduces a person’s ability to focus and perform tasks, as part of their brain is actively working to not pick up or use the phone, researchers say.
“Participants were not distracted by receiving notifications on their phones,” Ward says. “The mere presence of their smartphones is enough to reduce cognitive capacity.”
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