For many people, the smartphone has become an everyday companion. On the small screen, they scroll through social media, check emails and read news, no matter where they are. How does this affect the cognitive processing of the content? A study now shows that routine smartphone users process information on their smartphone in less time than on a PC. However, they are less vigilant against misinformation.
Smartphones make it possible to consume a variety of content, from entertainment and communication to professional information, whether at home or on the go. Many people now use their smartphones to go online more often than their PCs. Compared to laptops and desktop computers, smartphones have a smaller screen, different input options and are usually used in more variable situations. However, it is still largely unknown whether these differences are also reflected in how users cognitively process the content they consume.
Field tests with our own devices
A team led by Mengqi Liao from Pennsylvania State University has now conducted two field tests to compare how the type of device influences the processing and evaluation of information. In both experiments, participants completed an online survey on their own device outside of the lab, with whatever distractions happened to arise. The research team initially randomly divided the participants into the smartphone or PC group and instructed them to complete the questionnaire on the respective device.
“Normally, when conducting studies, we try to control for as many external factors as possible, but in this case we conducted field experiments because we wanted to test the differences in information processing between the two different devices in a natural way, using all sounds and incorporate distractions that people encounter in their daily use,” explains Liao.
More efficient on your smartphone?
116 test subjects who were recruited via the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform took part in the first field test. They each received two legitimate emails that included a concert announcement and an online seminar on COVID-19, as well as two spam emails that asked to verify Amazon account information and provide tax information in order to claim a claim to receive reimbursement. They also saw several pictures. Using a questionnaire, the researchers recorded how well the test subjects could remember details of the emails and images and whether they had become suspicious of the spam emails.
“In this experiment, we didn’t find any major differences between the two devices in terms of information processing, other than the fact that mobile users process information faster,” Liao reports. Since smartphone users retained a similar amount of information as PC users, but overall spent a shorter amount of time with the individual content, the researchers conclude that information processing can be more efficient on a smartphone than on a PC.
Lack of skepticism
However, the second field test also revealed pitfalls when using smartphones. As in the first experiment, the test subjects – this time 241 students – received serious and spam emails. Instead of the images, they received one of six journalistically edited messages with a false report – such as the claim that former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had been arrested or that a professional boxer had to be treated in the intensive care unit after a Covid-19 vaccination. The researchers recorded how much time the test subjects devoted to the individual content, how skeptical they were about the false information in a subsequent survey and whether they clicked on the fake links in the spam emails.
“In this experiment, we were more likely to see harmful effects when people processed information superficially,” says Liao. In fact, there were significant differences between the smartphone and the PC group: those who had read the fake news on their smartphone were significantly less likely to say that they wanted to check the information again before sharing it with others. Laptop users, on the other hand, proved to be more careless when it came to phishing emails. They clicked on potentially harmful links significantly more often than smartphone users.
Consciously slow down processing
“The attitude on mobile phones seems to be that you are less inclined to follow up on information because of the hassle of switching from one app to another to do so, whereas with email on a PC you are in work mode and perhaps in the “I want to go deeper,” said Liao’s colleague Shyam Sundar. “This may be why mobile users are quick to pass on misinformation without bothering to check the information first, and why PC users tend to click on links they shouldn’t.” It’s also conceivable , that PC users rely heavily on their anti-virus software and are therefore less careful about which links they click.
“With so much misinformation online, it is becoming increasingly urgent that we educate users about these risks,” Liao said. “As a PC user, you shouldn’t click on a new link just because it’s convenient because that can lead to dangerous results. And because cell phones can reduce alertness, you may want to be a little slower and more careful when processing information on these devices.”
Source: Mengqi Liao (Pennsylvania State University) et al., New Media & Society, doi: 10.1177/14614448231209475