Question

Hypothesis: If people are frequently interrupted by messages on their cell phones while working on an assignment, then it will take them much longer to complete the assignment beyond the time it took to read and reply to the messages. Design an experiment that would test this hypothesis. In your description, identify the independent variable (including the experimental and control conditions) and the dependent variable. 

Answer 1

An experiment was conducted in which the participants cognitive abilities were analyzed by giving them mathematics puzzles to solve along with engaging them on cell phone conversations. Different groups were made and in the different groups each group of participants were either asked to put their phones on the desk without vibration and sound alerts or put their phones in their bags, or put their phones in a separate room. The experiment revealed that the participants who put their phones in another room revealed the best results and this group performed the best in the cognitive abilities test results. The group of people whose phones were in the vicinity did not perform well. There were effects of sleep also on the ability to perform in the exams and tests. Humans have an inbuilt mechanism to concentrate on a specific job that is relevant even if they are distracted or performing other tasks. Many students tend to switch off their phones during times of exams and employees also switch off their phones during the most crucial times.

Mobile is an essential requirement in the modern times for regularly interacting with one another and the fear of not possessing a mobile phone is an independent variable in the experiment and the regression analysis of the group possessing the mobile phones during the conduction of the experiment is the independent variable. The quiz performance was less in the group of participants that were distracted due to the appearance of the messages on the cell phones. There were two groups in which one group was given messages during class lectures in the classroom and their attention and the distraction measures were checked whereas the second group of participants were those that were not given the cell phones and no messages were no text messages. The dependent variable is the availability or the absence of the mobile phones in the class during the conduction of the lectures in the classroom.