The mere presence of a smartphone reduces basal attentional performance

The smartphone has become an indispensable part of everyday life. It enables endless possibilities and offers persistent access to a multiplicity of entertainment, information, and social contacts. The development towards a greater use and a persistent presence of the smartphone does not only lead to advantages, but also raises potential for negative consequences and a negative influence on attention. In this research, the hypothesis of the mere smartphone presence leading to cognitive costs and a lower attention is being tested. The smartphone may use limited cognitive resources and consequently lead to a lower cognitive performance. To investigate this hypothesis, participants aged 20–34 perform a concentration and attention test in the presence and absence of a smartphone. The results of the conducted experiment imply that the mere presence of a smartphone results in lower cognitive performance, which supports the hypothesis of the smartphone presence using limited cognitive resources. The study as well as the subsequent results and the resulting practical implications are presented and discussed in this paper.

Jeanette Skowronek, Andreas Seifert, Sven Lindberg