Think about the most recent time that you were trying to get
some sort of academic work done, whether it was studying for an exam, writing a
paper, or something else requiring a lot of focus and brain power.
Now think about where your cell phone was in relation to
your work. If you’re anything like
me, it was a few inches away and face up so that a text could be easily spotted
and replied to. Or maybe you’re
the type that keeps it face down or out of sight so that you won’t be
distracted…but then you check it every minute just in case you get a text.
A 2011 study by Harman and Sato went about trying to prove
what many of us have told ourselves isn’t true: texting while you work may
impact your GPA, and not in a good way.
Now, when I say it may
impact your GPA, that isn’t because they’re getting questionable results; it’s
simply because the factors involved (GPA and the frequency of sending/receiving
texts) are correlated, meaning they
are related to each other and a change in one factor will produce an effect on the
other. In this case, the two
factors are negatively correlated, meaning GPA will increase as the number of
texts sent/received decreases, and vice versa.
The fact that the two are correlated is relevant because it doesn’t
necessarily indicate which one causes the other (sometimes it’s even possible
for a third, unknown factor to be the cause). What this means is that one possible, but unlikely,
interpretation of the data is that having a low GPA will lead you to text more
often.
Personally, that’s not the interpretation I would make. Mostly because I’ve never thought to
myself, “If I had a low GPA, I’d have so much free time to text people.”
A far more likely interpretation of the data is that the
distraction caused by sending and receiving text messages leads people to focus
less on their work. Skeptical? See if this sounds familiar: You sit down to do
some reading and you make it halfway down the first page when you get a text. Naturally, you reply immediately and
when you go back to reading, you’ve forgotten what the page was about. So you go back a few sentences and
continue reading, and when you get halfway down the page, you get another text.
Naturally, you reply immediately and when you go back to reading, you’ve
forgotten what the page was about. So you go back a few sentences… you get the
idea.
So what can you do to combat this ever-present
distraction? Simple – turn off
your phone or leave it in your room and study elsewhere. Of course by “simple” I mean, “Simple
to say and nearly impossible to actually do.” As evidenced by the average number of texts sent (103) and
received (113) in a day, and the average number of times one’s cell phone was
checked in a day (60), it’s clear that, for some, cell phones are a constant
distraction.
I think most would agree that turning off your phone is the
most effective way to prevent further distraction, but it has the drawback of
completely cutting off communication.
So what are some other options available to you? Well, you could try setting a timer on
your phone and only reply to messages once that timer goes off. Of course, if you have the will power
to do that, you might already have the will power to ignore your phone without
a timer.
Another option is hinted at by an additional measurement in the
Harman and Sato study: the average number of people that were text messaged by
participants. Despite the high
volume of texts sent and received, participants only communicated with an
average of 7 people. This means
you could try studying with those people instead of texting them, if they go to
the same college. Obviously, this
could produce an even bigger distraction, so I wouldn’t recommend it for
everyone.
Cell phones are a relatively recent distraction in our era
of constant communication. Because of this, not much research has been done on
how to eliminate the distraction without eliminating the communication. If you’re like me, you find this to be
less and less of a problem because you seem to have more work to do with every
passing year, “fortunately” giving you less time to text people.
Cell phone-related research is expanding rapidly and it’s
likely that someone will soon find an effective solution to help regulate excessive
phone usage.
If you’re that
person, or you come across that solution, please…text me and let me know about
it.
- Billy Fisher
Harman, B. A. & Sato, T. (2011). Cell phone use and
grade point average among undergraduate university students. College Student Journal, 45, 544-549.
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