How phone distraction effects memory recall

Hi, my name is Hailey Whitesell and I am from Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba. I attend Sagkeeng Anicinabe High School and am graduating this year.

Phones have a significant impact on our daily lives. We rely on them to stay connected with family and friends, to entertain ourselves, and in some cases, we may even develop a dependency without fully realizing it.

Consider how often someone tries to speak to you and you’re absorbed in your phone, whether you’re reading an article, watching a video that caught your attention, replying to a message, or playing a game. There is always something competing for your focus. It makes it harder to retain and recall what someone has told you while on your phone.

This observation led me to investigate the impact of phone use on cognitive performance. I began to consider how I could evaluate and experiment with its influence on a persons performance. I then came up with an experiment to evaluate how phone interaction effects memory recall. Does engaging with phone enhance cognitive function, or does it negatively affect the brains ability to recall information?

The purpose of this study is to compare an individuals ability to retain and recall information with and without the presence of phone related distractions.

I was particularly interested in how the brain responds to interruptions in attention. Participants were asked to actively listen to information and were then actively listen to information and were briefly exposed to a phone distraction before asked to recall what they heard. This study aims to determine whether short periods of phone use negatively influence memory retention following a social interaction.

To begin my research, I have read through different articles to help learn more about the differences of active listening and passive listening. I have researched about the different lobes of the brain and their functions to help me understand how they work in regards to listening and memory. I’ve also researched about phone distractions and its effects on individuals in their relationships with others.

With this information I was able to begin and conduct an experiment on “how phone distraction affects memory recall”.

I started off by designing an experiment that consists of a memory test of 10 words that need to be recalled by the participants. I tested two separate groups, one group without the distraction and the other with the cellphone distraction. I used 30 second timer, and had participants use their own phones for the “distraction” part of this experiment.

Group 1: the control group listened to me read the 10 word list once and then sat in silence for 30 seconds. After the 30 seconds I had them write down as many words they could recall on the memory test.

Group 2: the test group also listened to the 10 word list but this time during the 30 seconds they were to use their phone as a distraction. This is where participants had access to phone distraction to see if a 30 second time span of them being on their phone effects cognitive functioning.

I had 44 participants for this project 14 female without distraction, 11 female with phone, 7 male without distraction and 12 male with phone.

23 participants with phone distraction and 21 participants without distraction. With this data I would compare the results of each group and analyze the differences.

The purpose of this project is to see if social interaction with your phone in a 30 second time span has effects on memory recall.

This has led to the design of an experiment comparing two groups to determine which was able to recall more words.  By creating a 10 word memory recall test, I would read once to each participant. Once I finished reading the list, I started the timer and either let them in in silence for 30 seconds or they would have access to social interaction on their own phone for that time being.

In this study, group 2 was assigned phone access as a form of distraction in order to evaluate its impact on recall performance.

I have decided to use phone as the source of distraction for the 30 second time span because many individuals are naturally drawn to their phones, even by something as minor as a notification.

This project was very interesting to me as I noticed various differences between each recall sheet, finding results such as the females age range of 14-18 without social interactions on their phones had a harder time recalling words then the older females without, younger females tended to only have a recall average score of 3/10, 4/10, no female within that 14-18 age range without social interaction on their phones has achieved a recalling score higher than 5/10 and with observing I have noticed this group lacked active listening techniques.

The older females without distraction were able to recall more as I noticed they paid closer attention and showed more active listening skills then the younger females.

Although SOME of the females within that age range of 16-18 with phone distraction, tended to recall more than same age range of females without social interaction on their phones. I have also noticed some in this group tended to show more active listening skills then the females without. By making eye contact with me while I read the words.

The highest recall score out of all was 7/10, female without social interaction on her phone. The highest recalling score from a male was 6/10, without social interaction on his phone. Females with phone distraction did not get a score above 5/10. And no males with phone distraction was able to achieve a score higher than 4/10.

Lowest recall score from a male without social interaction on their phone was a 60 year old male who received a score of only 2/10.

With this data collected from each participant, I’ve compared each group’s answers from genders, without distraction and with social interaction on their phones and organized them to create a graph for this data.

The results from the 10 word memory recall test, I found out that females without social interaction on their phone as a distraction have a higher averaging recall score which is 57% all scores combined, while females with social interaction on their phones as distractions have an average score of 37%. Males without distraction average 33% while the males with social interaction on their phones as a distraction got 29%. Group 1 has recalled more than group 2, answers vary from each individual and their active listening skills, participants who showed signs of listening they had a better recall score then others.

Throughout my research on phone distractions and the effects it has on a person such as excessive smartphone use can disrupt memory, reduce focus and impair cognitive function

The conclusion to my question: Does phone distraction effect memory recall? The time span of them having social interaction on their phone as a distraction, participants recalled and said that the 30 seconds of them having phone access caused them to lose focus as soon as they looked on their device. Phones have an effect on our cognitive abilities, and our memory recall.  It’s also difficult to do two tasks at once when you are on your phone.

Things I would do different, would be to include a third and fourth group of participants and have them write down each word, instead of just listening. These two groups would do the same test as groups 1 and 2; the only difference is the writing of the words as I say them. Analyzing data from each four groups and debate on whether the act of writing, has any measurable effect on memory recall afterwards with or without the distractions. This would also enhance my project as it has a wider range of variables with the third and fourth group.

I am writing this to express my gratitude for everyone who helped me throughout my project, My teacher Natasha Gray who has been basically like a mentor for the past three years, for her encouraging me keep going at this and believing in me, she has helped me put together my data graphs and has gave me many helpful tips on how I could improve this project.

Sagkeeng Anicinabe High School with their staff and students for their support, and the participants who took time out of their day to help me collect data for my graphs.

Rudy  Subador of Manitoba Indigenous Science Engineering Fair.

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