US EditionStudy Finds Smartphone Restrictions Fail to Reduce Overall Distraction
- Dr. Maxi Heitmayer, a senior lecturer of psychology at the University of the Arts London and a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science, authored a new study published Friday in the journal Frontiers in Computer Science examining smartphone usage and distraction.
- Societal pressure to be productive and a device-centered narrative contribute to unwanted phone use and blaming phones for distractions, though distractions occur with or without smartphones.
- Heitmayer's study involved 22 participants completing two 5-hour computer-based work sessions, one with smartphones nearby and the other with phones out of reach, revealing users engage more with phones when accessible, but the amount of time spent on activities and workday fragmentation remains similar regardless of accessibility.
- Heitmayer stated, "While users, unsurprisingly, engage more with the smartphone when it is easily accessible, the amount of time spent on work and non-work activities and the fragmentation of their workdays does not depend on the smartphones accessibility," and also noted, "We have this device-centered narrative: 'We are addicted to the phone, and the phone is the problem, and therefore someone else should take care of it for me.'"
- While the study is small, keeping phones out of reach and focusing on personal habits may help limit phone use, and Dr. Paul Pavlou's 2021 research indicated students with unlimited smartphone access performed worse than when phones were banned, suggesting broader implications for managing technology and attention.
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39 Articles
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