The hidden cost of a smartphone: The effects of smartphone notifications on cognitive control from a behavioral and electrophysiological perspective.

Upshaw, Joshua D; Stevens, Carl E; Ganis, Giorgio; Zabelina, Darya L · 2022 · DOAJ

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277220

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Summary

This study investigates the cognitive and neural impacts of smartphone notifications on attention and cognitive control, addressing a gap in understanding the neurophysiological mechanisms behind the known behavioral deficits associated with mobile technology use. While prior research links heavy smartphone use to reduced executive function, the specific effects of notification sounds on millisecond-level cognitive processes remain poorly understood. The authors aimed to determine if smartphone notifications impair cognitive control and attention compared to control sounds, and whether individual differences in smartphone addiction proneness moderate these effects. The researchers employed an adapted Local/Global Navon letter oddball paradigm combined with event-related potential (ERP) recording. Seventy-three college students participated, with final analyses including 69 participants for behavioral data and 54 for ERP data. Participants performed a visual detection task requiring them to identify target letters while ignoring hierarchical distractors. Each trial was paired with one of three auditory stimuli: a smartphone vibration sound, a computer-generated control sound, or a lawnmower sound (the latter excluded from analysis due to technical confounds). Cognitive control was assessed via reaction time (RT) and the N2 ERP component, while attentional engagement was measured using the P2 ERP component. Individual differences were quantified using the Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale (SAPS). Behavioral results indicated that participants responded significantly slower on trials paired with smartphone notification sounds compared to control sounds. Electrophysiologically, smartphone trials elicited a larger overall N2 amplitude and a larger N2 oddball effect than control trials. The authors interpret the larger N2 oddball effect as evidence of increased recruitment of cognitive control resources, suggesting that participants exerted greater effort to maintain focus despite the distracting notifications. Regarding individual differences, participants with higher SAPS scores exhibited lower P2 ERP amplitudes on smartphone trials compared to control trials. This reduction in P2 suggests that individuals prone to smartphone addiction demonstrated lower early attentional engagement or stimulus classification when exposed to notification sounds. The findings suggest that smartphone notifications impose a cognitive cost by slowing response times and triggering increased cognitive control efforts to suppress distraction. However, the neural response varies by addiction proneness; those more addicted to smartphones show reduced early attentional processing of the notifications, potentially reflecting a different attentional bias or habituation. These results contribute to the debate on smartphone effects by providing causal, temporally specific evidence that notifications disrupt cognitive processes, with the nature of the disruption dependent on the user’s relationship with their device.

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