University of Missouri. US: Cell phone use has become a common part of life as mobile devices
have become one of the most popular ways to communicate. Even so, very
little research exists on the impact of cell phone usage and
specifically what happens when people are separated from their phones.
Now, research from the University of Missouri has found
that cell phone separation can have serious psychological and
physiological effects on iPhone users, including poor performance on
cognitive tests.
The researchers say these findings suggest that iPhone
users should avoid parting with their phones during daily situations
that involve a great deal of attention, such as taking tests, sitting in
conferences or meetings, or completing important work assignments, as
it could result in poorer cognitive performance on those tasks.
“Our findings suggest that iPhone separation can negatively impact performance on mental tasks,” Russell Clayton,
a doctoral candidate at the MU School of Journalism and lead author of
the study, said. “Additionally, the results from our study suggest that
iPhones are capable of becoming an extension of our selves such that
when separated, we experience a lessening of ‘self’ and a negative
physiological state.”
Clayton, along with Glenn Leshner, former professor at MU, now at the
University of Oklahoma and Anthony Almond, doctoral student at Indiana
University-Bloomington, found that when iPhone users are unable to
answer their ringing iPhones while solving simple word search puzzles,
their heart rates and blood pressure levels increased, as did feelings
of anxiety and unpleasantness. Also, performance (number of words found
on word search puzzles) decreased as compared to when iPhone users
completed similar word search puzzles while in possession of their
iPhones.
For their study, the MU researchers asked iPhone users to sit at a
computer cubicle in a media psychology lab. The researchers told the
participants that the purpose of the experiment was to test the
reliability of a new wireless blood pressure cuff. Participants
completed the first word search puzzle with their iPhone in their
possession and the second word search word puzzle without their iPhone
in their possession or vice versa while the researchers monitored their
heart rates and blood pressure levels.
While completing the first puzzle, the researchers recorded
participants’ heart rate and blood pressure responses. Participants then
reported their levels of anxiety and how unpleasant or pleasant they
felt during the word search puzzle. Next, and while in possession of
their iPhones, participants were informed that their iPhones were
causing “Bluetooth interference” with the wireless blood pressure cuff,
and that they needed to be placed further away in the room for the
remainder of the experiment. The researchers then provided the
participants a second word search puzzle. While working on the puzzle,
the researchers called the participants’ iPhones. After the phones
finished ringing, researchers collected blood pressure and heart rate
responses. Participants then reported their levels of anxiety and how
unpleasant or pleasant they felt during the word search puzzle. The
researchers found a significant increase in anxiety, heart rate and
blood pressure levels, and a significant decrease in puzzle performance
when the participants were separated from their iPhones as compared to
when iPhone users completed similar word search puzzles while in
possession of their iPhones.
Clayton, Leshner and Almond’s study, “The Extended iSelf: The Impact
of iPhone Separation on Cognition, Emotion, and Physiology,” was
published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication and
was awarded the Top Paper Award at the Association for Education in
Journalism and Mass Communication by the Communication Technology
Division this past August in Montreal, Canada. A full copy of the study
can be viewed here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291083-6101/earlyview