Experimental Psychology 

Experimental Psychology

            Phones are an essential part of modern life not only for children, teens, and young adults but also for adults and seniors. Baby boomers to xennials tend to mock the generations that come after about their constant need to text, tweet, gram, or snap-in order to keep in constant communication with friends and family. Little do they realize that without social media, they would also be cut off from the world, their friends and families at this point in the advancements of technology. Without cell phones being in one’s reach at any point in time, breaking news would not come as quickly as it does today. Also, in case of emergency, it would be harder to get in contact with any emergency services or family members if need be. Baby boomers love to downplay the importance of mobile phones and immediate access to the internet, mostly because their knowledge of such devices is little. The concept is foreign, and they need back in their day was nonexistent. Their need to belittle technology comes as unnecessary. However, their comments about social media’s influence on the generations that come after have the world talking. They often comment on the way it distracts them from their work and makes them lazy. Has social media taken priority over education? Is the world’s current generation not as smart as past generations? Do they move slower, are they focused enough? Phones these days have everything one would need to succeed in the current world. People can buy tickets and show them on their phones, or for example, search for research articles to cite for their papers. People can shop, spend time winding down with mindless games, or transfer money from their savings to their checking by just clicking a button on their banking application.

The versatility of a mobile phone allows for seamless integration of work, play, and social interaction and enriches life in many ways. However, the constant use of the mobile phone may also interfere with work.   (David, P., Kim, J.-H., Brickman, J. S., Ran, W., & Curtis, C. M., 2015) This interference can cause a drop in focus, attendance, and the worst outcome: a drop in grades.              In a study done regarding social media and education performance done by Divya Goel, the focus was to examine social media and students’ usage trends along with their attitudes towards social media and their beliefs in technology. This study was essential to read when preparing to conduct the survey project that will be explained later in this paper. The results of the survey by Goel provided information that social media has a positive effect on students. Also, by being able to exchange academic achievements and activities, the performance of the students is enhanced. Students‘ beliefs and attitudes towards social media tools and their use in education are positive. Students welcomed using social media tools for providing supplementary information related to their curriculum. Most students depicted a favorable opinion towards the efficacy and utility of social media tools and their use in education (Goel, 2016).

Multitasking is a skill that some people have and others lack. Some excel, while others become distracted when trying to do more than one thing at a time. Some things are easy to do concurrently, such as singing and playing guitar, or cleaning and listening to music. Other activities, such as driving a car and texting or counting a wad of cash while also having a conversation, are much more complicated and are not recommended. Especially the first one mentioned. When doing coursework, many people tend to take a break and get distracted. However, they tend not to believe this has any effect on their efficiency and ability to do their work. Although in the study done by Goel says that social media has a positive impact on students. This is because study students are reporting that sharing work and ideas is what helps them with their homework. What if social media breaks taken by students are used for scrolling through Instagram just because the student has been writing the same paper for an hour? The students could tell themselves they are going to take a ten-minute break, lose track of time, and wind up scrolling for thirty minutes. By this time, they have lost interest in studies. Ready to close up, and they lay in bed going through news articles, snapchat stories, or tweeting about how much they hate writing papers. This can cause students to give up on their assignments, throwing them to side altogether, or rushing to get it done, providing incorrect or lazy information.

Experiments have been done with students to see if they could complete assignments without their phones on them or anywhere near them. Though separation from one’s phone seems to be related to unfavorable outcomes, research has shown negative impacts on the presence and use of mobile phones. Use of phones and the related tasks that phones enable affect the performance of concurrent academic- and work-related tasks (Cutino, C. M., & Nees, M. A., 2017). During this study, it was found that those who multitasked messaging while trying to complete the task assigned by researchers took longer than others to complete the task at hand. People who were on their phones during lectures, observed by the researchers, helped conclude that students who were on their phones took less detailed and fewer notes in general. Students who were phoneless during these lectures were more engaged with the speech and took better notes. A dilemma exists, then, in that mobile phones seem to detract from the performance of other concurrent tasks, particularly in academic and work domains. Yet when mobile phone usage is restricted, anxious feelings (possibly indicative of withdrawal) could negatively impact educational goal attainment and learning. In the context of attentional control theory, worrisome thoughts can cause people to allocate attention resources widely rather than on the primary task (Cutino, C.M., & Nees, M.A., 2017).

Students in this day are connected continuously. Through social media being readily available right in their hands, there are pros and cons and cons to this as there are to everything. The most focused on when studying this topic is the impact social media has on grades and if there truly is a negative correlation between cell phone usage and academic performance. Is there addiction also involved? In a study done by Fausto, Giunchiglia students kept time diaries as well as their smartphones on hand. When these two factors are combined, researchers were able to look at time management skills students had and also take a look at their academic successes and failures. Results show the negative impact of social media usage, distinguishing different influence patterns of social media on academic activities. It also underlines the need to control the smartphone usage in academic settings. (Giunchiglia, F., Zeni, M., Gobbi, E., Bignotti, E., & Bison, I., 2018). By limiting the amount of time that children can have on smartphones, you will teach them time management skills beneficial to their futures. Also, a system relating to rewards, once assignments are done, the child can go and enjoy their time on social media.

The younger children are when they begin learning time management skills, the better. Lately, children as young as the age of five know how to use technology, and as the years’ progress, their technological abilities will strengthen along with the advancements of technology. College students, now we’re not as immersed in social media as children and had a life without the distraction of a screen that was not the television. One would think that because of this, the distraction from social media would be lessened. Through this survey project experiment, the question to be answered is, “does social media have an impact on education and grades”?.

This research was conducted by creating a survey asking basic questions such as age, race, and gender.  They also asked more in-depth questions to benefit research findings, such as the participant’s most frequently used app. The amount of time they spend on their phones vs. on homework throughout the day, GPA, and break amounts and time to use social media while doing their homework. This survey was handed out to fifteen people, all college students ranging from the ages of eighteen to twenty-four. Based on responses to this questionnaire, it was assumed that people who spent the most time on social media would have lower GPAs. They tend to spend less time on their homework and take longer breaks while doing their homework. Participants were asked to answer honestly for research to be precise and truthful.

In conclusion, this study established that people spent an ample amount of time on homework but took significant breaks in between. The longer the pause, the easier it was for them to push off doing there work until the last minute and the lazily completing it. The less time spent on social media with participants perhaps by sometimes leaving their phone in a separate room, or turn it off completely. It was said that they got more work done in a shorter period. There is a negative correlation between social media and coursework, and the only way to make this a positive relationship is by ditching the phone during the period and focusing solely on your coursework. By doing this, teachers and students will see a rise in focus and grades/GPA.