Restricting mobile phone access during homework increases attainment of study goals

Abstract

Recent research has reported negative consequences, such as increased anxiety, associated with restricting people’s access to their mobile phones. These findings have led researchers to suggest that mobile phone use may pose a legitimately addictive behavior for some people. Other research has suggested negative effects of mobile phones on academic outcomes. To study the effects of phone separation on both anxiety and attainment of academic study goals, we randomly assigned participants ( N = 93) to a restricted mobile phone access condition or a control condition. After setting a list of goals for a study session, participants worked on their own, self-chosen class materials for 60 minutes. Anxiety was measured before and immediately following the study session. Attainment of study goals was assessed through a self-report estimate of the percent of study goals accomplished at the end of the session. We predicted that those who classified as high on a problematic mobile phone use scale and who had their phones taken away would show the greatest increases in anxiety over the session as well as the greatest deficits in attainment of study goals as compared to all other participants. While there was a general tendency for participants who scored higher on the problematic use scale to be more anxious, anxiety did not differ between participants with phone access and those without it. Participants without phone access self-reported attainment of 12% more of their study goals than those who had phones. This study qualified the conditions for which restricting mobile phone access increases anxiety and provided further empirical support for detriments to attainment of study goals when mobile phones are present.

Smartphone Restriction and Its Effect on Subjective Withdrawal Related Scores

“…In another study being unable to answer incoming calls on ones’ smartphone was found to cause increased heart rate and blood pressure, as well as feelings of anxiety and unpleasantness ( Clayton et al, 2015 ). Several other studies have examined smartphone restriction and potential addiction through various designs ( Sapacz et al, 2016 ; Cutino and Nees, 2017 ; van den Eijnden et al, 2017 ). These findings suggest that withdrawal symptoms may be in play when people’s access to their mobile phone is restricted.…”

The Effects of Cell Phone Use and Emotion‐regulation Style on College Students' Learning

“…These distracting effects of cell phone use in the classroom also extend to nearby students who are not using their cell phone (End, Worthman, Mathews, & Wetterau, ). These distractions have even led to the notion that cell phone usage is more disruptive than talking during classroom lectures, which can lead to students' impaired concentration and missing key class concepts (Aagaard, ; Cutino & Nees, ; King, Valença, & Nardi, ; Shaw, ; Wood et al, ). A second mechanism proposed for the negative effects of cell phone usage is suboptimal learning strategies, beyond poor attention.…”

“…In addition to distractions in the classroom, the excessive use of cell phones has found to have some negative impacts on psychological well‐being. Research has challenged the idea of excessive cell phone use of being a clinical disorder (Cutino & Nees, ; Drouin et al, ). Other research found that even the absence of one's mobile device leads to increased anxiety and discomfort.…”

No Evidence that Smartphone Notifications Lead to Goal-Neglect

“…Here, we propose that this negative effect might be explained by smartphone vigilance impairing another executive function, that of working memory. We argue that during vigilance, goals become activated, such as connecting to others (Kardos et al, 2018), that are competing with other goals in working memory, such as reading a paper (Cutino & Nees, 2016). In other words, once the phone vibrates, the notification activates the goal to pursue social or informational goals (i.e., checking the notification content), interfering with other goals kept in working memory (LaRose, 2015).…”