Is a Silent Smartphone Still a Distraction?

The smartphone represents a device that is becoming more and more widespread around the world. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2021 100% of Americans aged 18–29 owned a cellphone of some type, while 96% owned a smartphone. The fact that smartphone usage is increasing is a result of the many advantages it offers. From unlimited communication options to unlimited access to knowledge, the smartphone enables endless possibilities. However, the societal shift toward a greater use of the smartphone raises potential for negative consequences.

People are permanently surrounded by distractions, such as the smartphone. To suppress an impulse like “I want to play on my smartphone now!”, a higher instance must control this impulse to be able to perform. The ability to organize, plan, analyze, and compare past and present actions and to control impulses are described as executive functions. The executive function, as part of a working memory model, was firstly mentioned by Baddeley (1974). In the context of this model, Baddeley proposes that cognitive resources are limited.

In accordance with Baddeley, other scientists assume as well that the working memory is limited in its processing capacity. This has been proven several times. The extent to which the cognitive processes are influenced by this is described in John Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory (1988). In the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), the load which arises, for example from new information, is described.

According to the CLT, different tasks may have different requirements as well as different levels of complexity. The intrinsic load of a task can thus be different. If the available working memory resources needed to process the intrinsic and extraneous load are exceeded, the cognitive system cannot process all the necessary information to some extent, which results in poorer cognitive abilities. The extraneous load in a given situation can differ as well. The smartphone could therefore represent a load, namely in the form of an extraneous load.

Smartphones receive notifications, which can trigger noises (sounds) and vibrations. These notifications and potential sounds can be a distraction for humans. Studies show the significant distraction of smartphone notifications, even when participants do not respond to the messages. Another study shows that an involuntary attention system becomes active, which actively listens to the smartphone. It was found that hearing one’s own name activates the same system as the ringing of one's own cell phone or smartphone. Distracting effects of the cell phone could also be shown for college students in the context of a lecture. It was shown that participants who kept their cell phones with them during a lecture performed worse and had a worse recall of the contents of the lecture than participants who did not have their cell phones with them.

According to a review that particularly focused on the smartphones influence on areas of attention, inhibition, and working memory, strong effects of the smartphone can be seen on precisely these areas. Many studies indicate that the smartphone has negative effects on sleep, stress, and academic performance. Liebherr et al. point to the fact that the smartphone has the potential to negatively affect human cognition. Besides being evident in the context of media multitasking, Liebherr et al. point out that the mere presence of the smartphone can already have effects on cognition.

Some of the research claims that even the mere presence or the availability of a smartphone, without having an interaction with it, may already be distracting. Although many of the following studies claim to examine the influence of the effect of the mere smartphone presence, it should be noted that most of these studies only examine the influence of smartphone availability. Smartphone availability describes the continuing ability to receive messages and notifications, while the mere smartphone presence describes a smartphone that is turned off, so that no messages and notifications can be received. In contradiction to that, more recent research does not support the hypothesis that the mere presence of a smartphone influences attention.