Distractions, distractions: does instant messaging affect college students' performance on a concurrent reading...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Educational Technology

Background:

• Instant messaging (IM) is a prevalent computer-mediated communication (CMC) tool, especially among college students.
• Existing research indicates frequent multitasking behavior among IM users.
• The cognitive impact of concurrent IM use during academic tasks remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the cognitive effects of simultaneous IM use and reading comprehension.
• To determine if concurrent IM engagement impacts reading efficiency and comprehension accuracy.
• To explore the relationship between IM usage, reading performance, and academic outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-nine participants completed a reading comprehension task under two conditions: uninterrupted and while concurrently engaged in an IM conversation.
• Task completion time and reading comprehension scores were recorded.
• Correlational analyses examined the association between IM usage duration, reading performance, and self-reported GPA.

Main Results:

• Participants using IM concurrently with reading took significantly longer to complete the task, indicating reduced efficiency.
• Concurrent IM use did not significantly affect reading comprehension scores.
• Higher reported time spent on IM correlated with lower reading comprehension scores and lower self-reported GPAs.

Conclusions:

• Concurrent IM use negatively impacts the efficiency of cognitive tasks like reading.
• While immediate comprehension scores may not be affected, excessive IM use is linked to poorer academic performance.
• Findings suggest a need for strategies to mitigate the negative effects of IM multitasking on academic success.