By Anna Salleh, ABC
For a decade, Maxi Heitmeyer's research has involved using cameras to record exactly how people interact with digital devices. Photo: 123RF
- A UK study has found people in a simulated work environment who could not easily reach their smartphone distracted themselves on their laptop instead.
- Researchers say it's not devices themselves that distract us, but how we've been trained to constantly check them.
- To reduce digital distraction, experts say we need to change the way we're using all devices.
With their notification pings and trills, we may think smartphones are responsible for us being constantly distracted.
But perhaps the issue lies not with the devices, but with the users.
That's according to a study published this week in Frontiers in Computer Science, which found people tend to find another way to divert their attention when their smartphone is out of reach.
"If your goal is to spend less time scrolling social media, putting the phone away when you have a computer or a tablet or something else next to you is just not going to cut it," Maxi Heitmeyer, a social psychologist at the London School of Economics and study author, said.
For a decade, Heitmeyer's research has involved using cameras to record exactly how people interact with digital devices.
He has previously found that people tend to check their smartphone without being prompted.
"It turns out that 89 percent of the time it's actually people themselves picking up the phone without any notification or any sound," he said.
For his most recent study, he decided to test what happened if the phone was out of reach - far away enough that they couldn't pick it up without having to stand up and walk to it.
He filmed 22 young "knowledge workers" - students and other people who handle information - using a laptop and smartphone sitting at a desk in a laboratory space.
Half the time, their phone was out of reach.
Not surprisingly, Heitmeyer found people spent less time on the phone when they couldn't grab it from their seat.
But they made up the time they would've spent on their phone on leisure activities, such as social media, on their laptop.
It's not the device, it's how we use it
Heitmeyer put his findings down to the way smartphone apps train our brain to be distracted.
"The problem is not the device ... It's very much the overall habits that people have formed.
"Rather than getting up [for a break and] eating an apple or talking to someone, we end up somehow being roped into scrolling on social media and having our attention monetised."
While the study is yet to be replicated in a variety of different populations, experts not involved with the research agree that our brains are being shaped by the numerous apps that battle for our attention.
Heitmeyer put his findings down to the way smartphone apps train our brain to be distracted. Photo: Victor Okhrimets / 123RF
"The brain is being trained to attend to tasks that have a very limited duration ... and to not focus on any one given thing," Michoel Moshel, a PhD candidate in clinical neuropsychology at Macquarie University, said.
"When we take the phone away ... we're finding it difficult in other contexts to apply our attention in any way that would be different from how we apply it with the smartphones."
Once we are trained by notifications to check our phones constantly, we no longer need them to continue the habit, according to Macquarie University neuroscientist Mark Williams.
He also said the fact that people in Heitmeyer's study used their laptop to distract themselves once their phone was inaccessible underscored that the issue was not specific to smartphones.
"Devices are all giving us the same experience, and so we need to change the way we're using all devices."
The problem with endless distraction
Our ability to pay attention for any length of time is important for all kinds of cognitive functions, including memory.
The more we are distracted, the less time we have to take in information, Williams said.
"Every time you get distracted, you lose about 90 seconds."
Part of this is because of the limited capacity of what's called our working memory.
If we don't focus on one thing for long enough, working memory will get wiped before it can process the memory and transfer it for longer storage.
Williams likens it to needing to re-read passages of a book after an interruption.
"Because we're constantly switching from one thing to another ... we don't have as much information being downloaded."
Heitmeyer emphasised he was no "luddite" and that "amazing" digital devices like the smartphone helped to keep us connected, entertained and organised.
"Evidently, whenever your mind is free for a second, you reach for that thing in your pocket that provides a solution to everything.
"Unfortunately ... this knowledge is being abused by people who harvest our attention."
He said it helped to be more "mindful" about "those little habits" that led to digital distraction, but pointed to the bigger picture.
"I believe we need to have a broader debate around technology, social media and device literacy ... and educate users from the youngest age."
- ABC
