Stroop effect in smartphone addiction among college students

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Smartphone addiction (SPA) is a growing concern among college students.
• The cognitive mechanisms underlying SPA, particularly the impact on cognitive control, are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the psychological mechanisms behind decreased cognitive control ability in college students with SPA.
• To compare cognitive control performance between students with and without SPA.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Smartphone Addiction Tendency Scale (MPATS) to recruit participants.
• Identified 64 undergraduates with SPA (MPATS > 45) and 64 matched controls (MPATS < 30).
• Administered the Stroop task to assess cognitive control, measuring reaction time (RT) and errors under conflict and consistent conditions.

Main Results:

• The SPA group exhibited significantly slower RTs and more errors under conflict conditions compared to controls.
• SPA group's reaction delay was significantly higher than controls.
• A positive correlation was found between SPA severity and errors in the Stroop task's conflict state.

Conclusions:

• Smartphone addiction is associated with a significant deficit in cognitive control abilities among college students.
• Impaired cognitive control, evidenced by slower responses and increased errors, is a key psychological mechanism in SPA.
• Findings suggest that excessive smartphone use negatively impacts executive functions crucial for academic and daily functioning.