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Brain & Nervous System

Cell phone use and visual attention.

No Effects Found

Golden C, Golden CJ, Schneider B. · 2003

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Cell phone conversations impair driving attention as much as face-to-face talk, but both significantly reduce visual processing compared to undistracted driving.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers tested 45 licensed drivers on a visual attention task under three conditions: no distractions, talking to someone in the room, or having a cell phone conversation. Both talking conditions significantly impaired visual attention compared to the control group, but cell phone use wasn't more distracting than face-to-face conversation. This suggests the cognitive load of conversation itself, rather than the phone technology, is the primary factor affecting attention while driving.

Study Details

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate how much cell phones and just speaking (similar to speaking to someone in the car vs a hands-free cell phone task) interfere with visual attention skills as might be required in a driving situation.

Influence of cell phones on attention has been noted but little research has been completed. License...

Overall, there were substantial differences among groups on all variables, but primarily between the...

Thus, while cell phones were distracting to visual attention functions on the Connors task, they were not more distracting than a similarly active conversation without a cell phone.

Cite This Study
Golden C, Golden CJ, Schneider B. (2003). Cell phone use and visual attention. Percept Mot Skills. 97(2):385-389, 2003.
Show BibTeX
@article{c_2003_cell_phone_use_and_3040,
  author = {Golden C and Golden CJ and Schneider B.},
  title = {Cell phone use and visual attention.},
  year = {2003},
  doi = {10.2466/pms.2003.97.2.385},
  url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.2003.97.2.385},
}
DOI: 10.2466/pms.2003.97.2.385

Cited By (13 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

No, a 2003 study by Golden et al. found that cell phone conversations during driving tasks impaired visual attention equally to face-to-face conversations. Both conversation types significantly reduced attention compared to no distractions, but cell phones weren't more distracting than in-person talking.
Yes, research testing 45 licensed drivers found that conversation cognitive load, rather than phone technology, is the primary factor affecting visual attention. Both cell phone and face-to-face conversations equally impaired performance on visual attention tasks compared to no distractions.
No, the 2003 Golden study found no significant additional distraction from cell phone technology itself. When comparing phone conversations to face-to-face talking during driving tasks, both impaired visual attention equally, suggesting the conversation content creates the distraction.
The Golden et al. study found substantial differences between no conversation and both talking conditions during visual attention tasks. Both cell phone and face-to-face conversations significantly impaired performance compared to the control group with no distractions.
No, testing on the Connors visual attention task showed cell phones were distracting but not uniquely so. While phone users had slightly lower mean scores than face-to-face talkers, the differences weren't statistically significant, indicating similar distraction levels.