Douglas A Parry
Biographic Data
| ID | 1854487 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Douglas A Parry |
| GIVEN NAMES | Douglas A |
| FAMILY NAME | Parry |
| SIGNATURE | PARRY D A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stellenbosch University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6443-3425 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The promise and peril of social media: How context shapes online risks and digital literacy among adolescents in a semi-rural South African community
Debates about online risks often overlook the realities of young people navigating structural adversity and inequality. This qualitative study explores how adolescents in a low-income, semi-rural South African community navigate the double-edged nature of social media. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we show how offline violence, gendered power dynamics, and structural inequalities are entangled with online experiences, creating overlapping risks…
Does the mere presence of smartphones impact cognition in the high school classroom
The regulation of smartphone use in high schools is a contentious issue. Among others, a key question is whether the location of learners’ phones affects their cognitive performance in the classroom. While some studies have found that a smartphone’s mere presence can impair cognition, others suggest that the evidence is weak, or that when separated from their phones, adolescents may experience anxiety which can also harm cognitive performance. We…
Connect to disconnect: What an online community for digital disconnection can tell us about digital well-being
Digital media profoundly shape modern life, offering benefits while also prompting concerns that lead many to seek disconnection. This study investigates r/NoSurf , a large online community paradoxically dedicated to digital disconnection. Through computational and qualitative analysis of discussions from over 26,000 active members, we study users’ complex and often ambivalent relationships with technology and their pursuit of digital well-being.…
Do mindsets really matter? A second look at how perceptions of social media experiences relate to well-being
Building on the idea that subjective evaluations of social media use (SMU) may shape well-being effects, this study investigated how two “social media mindsets”—agency (perceived control over SMU) and valence (perceived effects of SMU)—relate to self-reported and logged SMU, and four well-being indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction) in a South African sample of young adults (N = 1,858; M age = 21.01). Agency mindsets were…
Does the Mere Presence of a Smartphone Impact Cognitive Performance? A Meta-Analysis of the “Brain Drain Effect”
A growing body of research investigates the general possibility that the mere presence of a smartphone might negatively impact cognitive performance, with some researchers posing the “brain drain” hypothesis which posits that smartphone presence will impair working memory capacity and fluid intelligence, but not sustained attention and response inhibition. To assess the strength of evidence for the claim that the mere presence of a smartphone can…
Mapping a pluralistic continuum of approaches to digital disconnection
The study of digital disconnection – the voluntary non-use of digital media – is a growing research domain characterized by increasingly pluralistic approaches. To map this diverse terrain, we offer an analytical heuristic: a continuum of approaches to digital disconnection. This tool proposes one primary dimension – viewing digital disconnection as individually functional to socially meaningful (ontology) – and two secondary, concomitant dimensi…
Digital wellbeing applications: Adoption, use and perceived effects
Platform-controlled social media APIs threaten open science
Investigating predictors of online vigilance among university students
Purpose Online vigilance is a novel construct which describes individual differences in users' cognitive orientation to online connectedness, their attention to and integration of online-related cues and stimuli and their prioritisation of online communication. Its proponents argue that it is acquired through the processes of instrumental and attentional training that underlie media use behaviours. The purpose of the present study is to investiga…
Media multitasking, online vigilance and academic performance among students in three Southern African countries
“Cognitive control in media multitaskers” ten years on: A meta-analysis
In the decade since Ophir, Nass, and Wagner’s (2009) seminal study numerous researchers have investigated possible associations between media multitasking and cognitive control. Extending recent reviews, the present study provides a synthesis of extant research into this association across measurement approachs and cognitive functions. Following a systematic search and selection process, 118 assessments were included in the meta-analysis. Overall…
A systematic review and meta-analysis of discrepancies between logged and self-reported digital media use
Testing the feasibility of a media multitasking self-regulation intervention for students: Behaviour change, attention, and self-perception
Investigating differences in the attention distribution strategies of high and low media multitaskers through a two-dimensional game
The rapid advancement of mobile computing devices and the ever-growing range of infotainment services they enable have cultivated high levels of media multitasking. Studies have considered the effects of this form of behaviour for cognitive control ability, with findings suggesting that chronic media multitasking is associated with reduced inhibitory control. In this study we advance knowledge in this domain by investigating differences in the at…
Platform-controlled social media APIs threaten open science
Mapping a pluralistic continuum of approaches to digital disconnection
The study of digital disconnection – the voluntary non-use of digital media – is a growing research domain characterized by increasingly pluralistic approaches. To map this diverse terrain, we offer an analytical heuristic: a continuum of approaches to digital disconnection. This tool proposes one primary dimension – viewing digital disconnection as individually functional to socially meaningful (ontology) – and two secondary, concomitant dimensi…
Do mindsets really matter? A second look at how perceptions of social media experiences relate to well-being
Building on the idea that subjective evaluations of social media use (SMU) may shape well-being effects, this study investigated how two “social media mindsets”—agency (perceived control over SMU) and valence (perceived effects of SMU)—relate to self-reported and logged SMU, and four well-being indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction) in a South African sample of young adults (N = 1,858; M age = 21.01). Agency mindsets were…
Investigating differences in the attention distribution strategies of high and low media multitaskers through a two-dimensional game
The rapid advancement of mobile computing devices and the ever-growing range of infotainment services they enable have cultivated high levels of media multitasking. Studies have considered the effects of this form of behaviour for cognitive control ability, with findings suggesting that chronic media multitasking is associated with reduced inhibitory control. In this study we advance knowledge in this domain by investigating differences in the at…
Testing the feasibility of a media multitasking self-regulation intervention for students: Behaviour change, attention, and self-perception
Media multitasking, online vigilance and academic performance among students in three Southern African countries
“Cognitive control in media multitaskers” ten years on: A meta-analysis
In the decade since Ophir, Nass, and Wagner’s (2009) seminal study numerous researchers have investigated possible associations between media multitasking and cognitive control. Extending recent reviews, the present study provides a synthesis of extant research into this association across measurement approachs and cognitive functions. Following a systematic search and selection process, 118 assessments were included in the meta-analysis. Overall…
A systematic review and meta-analysis of discrepancies between logged and self-reported digital media use
Investigating predictors of online vigilance among university students
Purpose Online vigilance is a novel construct which describes individual differences in users' cognitive orientation to online connectedness, their attention to and integration of online-related cues and stimuli and their prioritisation of online communication. Its proponents argue that it is acquired through the processes of instrumental and attentional training that underlie media use behaviours. The purpose of the present study is to investiga…
Digital wellbeing applications: Adoption, use and perceived effects
Platform-controlled social media APIs threaten open science
Does the Mere Presence of a Smartphone Impact Cognitive Performance? A Meta-Analysis of the “Brain Drain Effect”
A growing body of research investigates the general possibility that the mere presence of a smartphone might negatively impact cognitive performance, with some researchers posing the “brain drain” hypothesis which posits that smartphone presence will impair working memory capacity and fluid intelligence, but not sustained attention and response inhibition. To assess the strength of evidence for the claim that the mere presence of a smartphone can…
Mapping a pluralistic continuum of approaches to digital disconnection
The study of digital disconnection – the voluntary non-use of digital media – is a growing research domain characterized by increasingly pluralistic approaches. To map this diverse terrain, we offer an analytical heuristic: a continuum of approaches to digital disconnection. This tool proposes one primary dimension – viewing digital disconnection as individually functional to socially meaningful (ontology) – and two secondary, concomitant dimensi…
Does the mere presence of smartphones impact cognition in the high school classroom
The regulation of smartphone use in high schools is a contentious issue. Among others, a key question is whether the location of learners’ phones affects their cognitive performance in the classroom. While some studies have found that a smartphone’s mere presence can impair cognition, others suggest that the evidence is weak, or that when separated from their phones, adolescents may experience anxiety which can also harm cognitive performance. We…
Connect to disconnect: What an online community for digital disconnection can tell us about digital well-being
Digital media profoundly shape modern life, offering benefits while also prompting concerns that lead many to seek disconnection. This study investigates r/NoSurf , a large online community paradoxically dedicated to digital disconnection. Through computational and qualitative analysis of discussions from over 26,000 active members, we study users’ complex and often ambivalent relationships with technology and their pursuit of digital well-being.…
Do mindsets really matter? A second look at how perceptions of social media experiences relate to well-being
Building on the idea that subjective evaluations of social media use (SMU) may shape well-being effects, this study investigated how two “social media mindsets”—agency (perceived control over SMU) and valence (perceived effects of SMU)—relate to self-reported and logged SMU, and four well-being indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction) in a South African sample of young adults (N = 1,858; M age = 21.01). Agency mindsets were…
The promise and peril of social media: How context shapes online risks and digital literacy among adolescents in a semi-rural South African community
Debates about online risks often overlook the realities of young people navigating structural adversity and inequality. This qualitative study explores how adolescents in a low-income, semi-rural South African community navigate the double-edged nature of social media. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we show how offline violence, gendered power dynamics, and structural inequalities are entangled with online experiences, creating overlapping risks…
Computer Science (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Impact of Technology on Adolescents (8 works) · Cognitive psychology (7 works) · Cognition (5 works) · Media Influence and Health (5 works) · Human multitasking (4 works) · Social media (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works) · Technology Adoption and User Behaviour (4 works)