The Mere Presence of a Cell Phone May be Distracting

Implications for Attention and Task Performance

Bibliographic Data

ID5338541
AuthorsBill Thornton (University of Southern Maine), Alyson Faires (University of Southern Maine), Maija Robbins (University of Southern Maine), Eric Rollins (University of Southern Maine)
Year2014
Volume45
Issue6
Pages479-488
Publication date2014-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1864-9335 • E-ISSN: 2151-2590
PublisherHogrefe Publishing Group (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1027/1864-9335/a000216
OpenAlexW2135698944
LanguageEN
Citations received73
References cited39

Research consistently demonstrates the active use of cell phones, whether talking or texting, to be distracting and contributes to diminished performance when multitasking (e.g., distracted driving or walking). Recent research also has indicated that simply the presence of a cell phone and what it might represent (i.e., social connections, broader social network, etc.) can be similarly distracting and have negative consequences in a social interaction. 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 (e.g., productivity in school and the work place

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Distraction · Human multitasking · Phone · Task (project management) · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Mind wandering and attention · Neuroscience · Personal Information Management and User Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology

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