According to research done at the University of Chicago, the presence of smartphones beside us, even when we are avoiding the temptation to check them, has significantly harmful cognitive costs. Moreover, the research also suggests that as the dependence on smartphones increases, the lasting effects get crucially worse.
Smartphones enable us to reach any information through one simple click within seconds. In a certain way, the simplicity and rapidity of reaching information can be remarkably beneficial for improving welfare. One of smartphones’ main functions for humanity is certainly instant gratification, or quick entertainment. We are able to destress and entertain ourselves through our smartphones, which is highly addictive and hard to resist. According to the same research from UChicago, smartphone owners interact with their phones an average of 85 times a day, including immediately upon waking up, just before going to sleep, and even in the middle of the night. Furthermore, 46% of people say that they couldn’t live without them.
The idea the research proposes is that the mere presence of one’s own smartphone may induce “brain drain” by occupying limited-capacity cognitive resources for purposes of attentional control. The abundance of environmental information available through smartphones contrasts with the limited ability of processing information for individuals, which suggests that it is necessary to be selective about where we reflect our attention, given that smartphones serve as consumers’ personal access points to all the connected world has to offer. The increasing integration of these devices into the details of daily life both reflects and creates a sense that they are frequently relevant to their owners’ goals. It lays the foundation for automatic attention, which is the type of attention that occurs when someone calls our name to give an instance. Automatic attention benefits individuals’ lives by making them not require to actively think about certain goals that drive their actions, therefore uses less of their cognitive capacity. Smartphones on the other hand, use this beneficial attention capacity and block it from being redirected toward other productive pursuits.
When consumers engage in activities that do not require smartphones, these devices can obstruct individuals’ attention provided for the relevant task by redirecting the orientation of conscious attention. People tend to attend to their phones during goal driven tasks simultaneously, which is known to hinder their performance remarkably. Moreover, smartphones may visibly impair cognitive performance even when the individual successfully resists the urge to attend to their smartphone. Its presence beside an individual, per se, inhibits their ability to orient attention.
This research concerns nearly the entire population as in today’s world, as we all have some connection with smartphones in our lives. However, there are some countries that are especially affected in the worst way, Türkiye being one of these few. According to a recent research done at McGill University in Canada, Türkiye is ranked 8th among the countries with the most smartphone addiction between the years of 2014-2020. It is also reported that the ranking gradually gets worse for Türkiye, since smartphone addiction relentlessly increases.
By ignoring the cognitive inhibitions of overdependence on smartphones as a country, it is true to say that we discard a significant power of intellectual potential. The harmful effects on cognitive performance impacts almost every Turkish individual’s life notably, but the effects are particularly major for Turkish adolescents. According to a study made by Addicta on Turkish adolescents, smartphone addiction is found to be influential between individuals and it disrupts their academic, social and daily lives in a significantly damaging way.
It is crucial to be aware of that, even the physical presence of smartphones besides us, regardless of fighting the urge to attend to them or not, has negative impacts on our cognitive performance. Türkiye, being one of the most smartphone-dependent countries of the latest years, is vitally affected by this and awareness on this topic should be effectively increased all throughout the country. One way to avoid these cognitive damages is to physically remove the smartphones from the room that we are in for maximum focus towards our target activity. When this is not applicable, putting them in Do Not Disturb mode may be a partially effective method too.
The research makes us realize how much even the passive presence of smartphones can hinder our attentive performance. The research proposes a vitally dangerous problem for all countries and especially Türkiye, and taking action to solve this issue is highly significant for the cognitive well-being.
Edited by: Oya Yamaç, Yağmur Ece Nisanoğlu