You Asked: Are My Devices Messing With My Brain?

DESCRIPTION

The answer to the question:  Are My Devices Messing With My Brain?  is a resounding YES.  Simply put, the distractibility value of checking a phone, tablet, computer for messages and email is extremely high.  High enough to pull us off an important task that may take up to 25 minutes to get back on track to where we were.  “…you have a near-perfect, un-ignorable stimulus that will pull your focus away from whatever task your brain is working on.”  The article hypothesizes that our brain has a built in signal detection system that might have evolved to help us detect danger in our environment.  The same system is at work when we see flashing lights or hear beeps and buzzes from our devices.  The only way to avoid the distractibility is to turn the device off during important tasks.    The article also briefly discusses “phantom text syndrome” wherein the individual reflexively checks a device (smartphone) for text messages and may even “…think you hear a text or alert, but there isn’t one.”

SOURCE

Time Magazine, May 13, 2015, by Markham Heid

LINK TO RESOURCE

http://time.com/3855911/phone-addiction-digital-distraction/

(shortened URL)   http://tinyurl.com/q9vhtdh

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•What constitutes distractibility?
•Ask by way of a general show of hands, whether they experience distractibility due to phones, tablets, computers, and other devices.  Do they agree with the findings that it takes them time to get back on task?
•Ask students whether this is similar to the condition of ADD.  Ask those with ADD if their devices are distracting.
•If asked, will the students verify a phenomenon such as “phantom text syndrome?”
•What would be the behavioral solution to stopping the distraction?
•This article can be coupled with the previous update on “nomophobia.”