Mere Presence Causes Brain Drain Distraction.

• Position: SMARTPHONES - Brief article

Your cognitive capacity is reduced significantly when your smartphone is within reach--even if it is off. That is the takeaway finding from a study at the University of Texas, Austin.

Adrian Ward, assistant professor in the School of Business, conducted experiments with nearly 800 smartphone users in an attempt to measure how well people can complete tasks when they have their smartphones nearby, even when they are not using them.

"We see a linear trend that suggests that, as the smartphone becomes more noticeable, participants' available cognitive capacity decreases," Ward says. "Your conscious mind isn't thinking about your smartphone, but that process--the process of requiring yourself to not think about something--uses up some of your limited cognitive resources. Ifs a...