The Impact of Smartphone Notifications on Memory Recall

Abstract

In the era of technology, smartphones are a crucial part of everyday life. In fact, more than 86% of the population owns a smartphone. Despite these smartphones being so valuable to the world population, there are cons that come with such devices. This experiment evaluates the impact of smartphone notifications (specifically social media) on memory recall and whether these notifications can cause distractions when focusing on a specific task. The hypothesis was that there will be a significant decrease in average number of words recalled when participants are introduced to a memory test with 10 second intervals consisting of 13 words when smartphone distractions are present. This was determined through opportunity sampling and the experiment confirmed this hypothesis. However, more research can be done in different settings to generalize these results.

In the era of technology, smartphones are a crucial part of everyday life. In fact, more than 86% of the population owns a smartphone. Despite these smartphones being so valuable to the world population, there are cons that come with such devices. This experiment evaluates the impact of smartphone notifications (specifically social media) on memory recall and whether these notifications can cause distractions when focusing on a specific task. The hypothesis was that there will be a significant decrease in average number of words recalled when participants are introduced to a memory test with 10 second intervals consisting of 13 words when smartphone distractions are present. This was determined through opportunity sampling and the experiment confirmed this hypothesis. However, more research can be done in different settings to generalize these results.