Does the Mere Presence of a Smartphone Affect Our Ability to Learn New and Complex Information?

Smartphones bring us many benefits, for example by helping us store and retrieve information and socialize with friends and family. However, previous research suggests that a reliance on smartphones can negatively impact some aspects of cognitive functioning. The current experiment explored whether the mere presence of a smartphone would impair people’s ability to learn new and complex information. Participants watched a brief history video lecture and then answered a series of questions about the video. During the video, their smartphone was either in front of them, face down on the desk, or shut off and placed in a locked filing cabinet. Smartphone location did not significantly impact test performance, though overall there was a slight negative correlation between degree of smartphone dependency and test scores. Therefore, more research needs to be conducted in order to gather more data on this important topic.