The Effects of Cell-Phone and Text-Message Distractions on True and False Recognition

Chase Flowers
Psychology 201
03-14-12

Flowers 1

Abstract
This study reviewed the effects of communication distractions such as cell-phone and texting on true and false recognition. “Participants who tested the study were presented with 24 Deese- Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists while investigating the presence of absence of cell-phone and text-messaging distractions during study.” The participants were given a list of related words such as mother, crib, and diaper liked to non- related words such as baby. After they studied the list of words, the participants recalled or recognized the words. “Participants not only demonstrate high remembrance for presented words such as crib, but also recollection for non-related words such as baby.” The related words were examples of the true memory and the non-related words were examples of the false memory. “The true memory was highest when the participants were not presented with any distractions during study or DRM words, but poorer when they were required to complete a cell-phone conversation or text message task during study.” The results of this study are examined with respects to both activation monitoring and fuzzy trace theories.

Introduction
There are about 1.5 billion cell phones currently in used with an average of 75 billion text messages sent monthly worldwide. Although cellular use is great for communication, there are some distractions such as driving, parenting, and collegiate courses. “Effects of cell-phone distractions have been found in both naturalistic and laboratory environments.” Throughout the experiment they have found that being distracted by a cell phone during studies will cause distractions and you will not be able to give your full attention to your work.

Method
“A total of 64