Abstract:

College students participated in a study on the “psychology of note taking” during which they took notes on video content and later completed a multiple-choice test on the material. Researchers assigned 71 participants to either the ringing condition (the video was disrupted by a ringing cell phone) or the control condition (no cell phone rings disrupted the video). The hypothesis that the cell phone rings would impair  performance was confirmed. Compared to the control group, participants in the ringing condition performed significantly worse on the disrupted test items and were less likely to include the disrupted information in their notes. Citing empirical evidence of academic impairment in course syllabi may improve regulation of cell phone use in the classroom.

Comments:

In the age of the smart phone, the influx of cellular disruptions in the classroom is an issue for every instructor and for every student.  This research article provided evidence that cell phone ringing disrupts retention of information presented during the interruption.  Participants note-taking ability was also found to be impacted by the disruption of cell phone ringing.  The authors suggested that presenting students with empirical evidence of the negative impact of cell phone ringing in the classroom might help encourage students to adhere to policies regarding classroom cell phone use.