Cognitive failures in daily life: Exploring the link with Internet addiction and problematic mobile phone use

A questionnaire-based study aimed to explore the link between Internet addiction, problematic mobile phone use and the occurrence of cognitive failures in daily life. Previous research has suggested that individuals who have lower working memory capacity (WMC) and poorer attentional control (AC) maybe poorer at limiting the distraction effect posed by access to communicative digital media such as the Internet and mobile phones (Unsworth, McMillan, Brewer, & Spillers, 2012). 210 participants completed an online questionnaire which comprised of the Online Cognition Scale (OCS; Davis, Flett, & Besser, 2002), the Problematic Mobile Phone Use Scale (MPPUS; Bianchi & Phillips, 2005) and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ; Broadbent, Cooper, FitzGerald, & Parkes, 1982). Both the OCS and MPPUS were significantly positively correlated to scores on the CFQ. Further analysis revealed a significant difference between high and low scoring groups for both the MPPUS and the OCS and scores on the CFQ, with those in the higher groups presenting greater self reported cognitive failures. The results are interpreted as being symptomatic of individuals in the higher OCS and MPPUS groups as being less resilient to the distractions posed by digital media and technology with a suggested link to lower WMC and AC.